Personal effectiveness for professional practice
Summative Assessment Guidelines for the Personal Effectiveness for Professional Practice Module: Reflective Commentary and Development Plan (1500 words)
You are required to write a single document including: Part (1) a reflective commentary based on your experiences in one of the module sessions identifying an aspect of personal effectiveness that you need to develop and Part (2) a development plan which details how you will improve on the aspect of personal effectiveness identified in the commentary.
The reflective commentary and development plan must demonstrate achievement of the Module Learning Outcomes and make links to NMC Code (2018).
Guidelines in Respect of Confidentiality e.g. in group discussions and written assessments
During the module you will be required to draw on and reflect on your experiences and use these in group discussions and formative and summative assessments. It is therefore important that service user and peer (e.g. student, health care professional, lecturer, etc) confidentiality should be maintained at all times. It is your responsibility to ensure that information that would identify an individual, group or placement is omitted from all written assessments. You can achieve this by being selective and only using information which is absolutely essential, and by using appropriate pseudonyms e.g. ‘a service user’, ‘a children’s ward’.
Introduction (150 words)
State the aims of the reflective commentary and development plan.
Include which module session and aspect of personal effectiveness is the focus of the reflective commentary and development plan
Include which reflective framework will be used to structure the reflective commentary i.e. Borton (1970) or Gibbs (1988).
Part 1: Reflective Commentary (800 words)
Use the stages of the chosen reflective framework to structure the commentary and demonstrate reflection (MLO 1).
In your reflection demonstrate an understanding of the effect of emotions on behavior and the potential impact on others (MLO 2).
In your reflection discuss what support and feedback will be needed to develop the selected aspect of personal effectiveness (MLO 1)
Part 2: Development Plan (400 words)
Use the template provided to write a development plan that details how you will improve on the aspect of personal effectiveness discussed in the commentary (MLO 3).
Conclusion (150 words)
Summarise the key issues in your reflective commentary and development plan.
Identify implications for future reflective practice and personal development.
Reference list
Template for your Personal Effectiveness in Professional Practice Module essay
Introduction (150 words)
Part 1: Reflective Commentary (800 words)
Part 2: Development Plan (400 words)(Adapted from Esterhuizan, 2019, p 173)
What is your personal effectiveness development need? (State what your development need is and goals for achieving it) (MLO 3)
What do you want to gain from this development? (MLO 3)
What support and feedback will you need and from whom? (MLO 1)
How will you evaluate and when will you review your development? (MLO 3)
Conclusion (150 words)
Reference list
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Solution
Personal effectiveness for professional practice
This study is a reflection of my experiences working as a student nurse at a medium-sized hospital in my first year of placement. I was assigned to work in the emergency room department. This study does not provide the personal names of the parties involved as it follows the guidelines concerning confidentiality. The model that will be employed is the Gibbs Reflective cycle (1888) which breaks down an experience and allows an individual to reflect upon their experiences as they occur. It is a crucial strategy for professionals who provide high-quality lifelong learning opportunities (Adeani et al., 2020, p.141). Reflective practice is defined as the process of learning something about oneself or one’s practice by observing or participating in an event or action (Adeani et al., 2020, p.139). The article also includes the NMC’s guidelines that will help improve my expertise and skills in nursing practice. Thus, this paper consists of a reflection on an incident I observed my reaction and how I will apply learned skills and experiences in the future.
Description
I was helping out in the waiting area of the emergency department following an accident emergency that had occurred in the middle of the day. The nurses and medical staff were held up, attending to the hurt patients requiring immediate medical attention. The triage in the emergency department requires attending to patients in order of urgency and severity of a patient’s condition (Toloo et al., 2016, p.3). This helps optimize service delivery and ensure quality care and safety for patients in critical conditions (Toloo et al., 2016, p.3). While attending to emergencies, a middle-aged patient came in complaining about an ear infection and a slight headache. The patient grabbed my attention as he was so adamant about receiving immediate care. He was, however, instructed by receptionists to wait for his turn as his complaint was not a priority one emergency. He adamantly went and sat down. After around twenty minutes of waiting, the patient stood up and complained of feeling dizzy, and was instructed to wait a little longer.
The hospital was understaffed, and the ongoing emergency attendance made it worse for patients as they had to wait longer to be attended to by providers. While the patient was going back to his seat, I heard a huge thud and turned around only to realize the patient had collapsed. I immediately ran to his aid. At this point, thoughts and anxiety ran through my mind as I had no idea if the patient required CPR or just a proper positioning while waiting for him to wake up.
When I reached the patient, I monitored if he was breathing, which he was, and started positioning him on his back while observing for any visible injuries. The other nurses came to help take him to the emergency room at this point, and he woke up after 30 minutes. My presence and swift action helped reduce the chances of the patient requiring CPR and getting more harm from undetected sustained injuries when he collapsed (Hidayat et al., 2020, p.201). The patient was later observed, and I helped in explaining the situation to the patient. The patient’s condition was reported to the physician, and his records and report were charted. After the incident, I felt anxious and scared about my ability to help patients if such scenarios recur.
Feelings
This incident left me confused about my feelings. On one end, I was happy I helped the patient promptly and reduced further harm to him, and on the other end, I was anxious, and my confidence was significantly reduced. The anxiety I had when the incident occurred made my intervention process more difficult. Moreover, I was overwhelmed with guilt because if the patient had been attended to earlier when he insisted, the fall could have been avoided, and the outcomes could have been different. This incident made me realize the need for adequate staffing in the hospital to reduce waiting time in the emergency department (Sun et al., 2017).
Evaluation
In the patient’s case in this incident, I heard a thud on the floor and quickly rushed to help the patient regain consciousness and check for any injuries. My prompt actions and first-aid services before the nurses arrived to take him to the emergency room helped reduce the severity of the issue (Emergency Nurses Association, 2019). First aid helps preserve life and bring relief from severe pain (Kano et al., 2005, p.61). It also prevents the medical condition from deteriorating until the patient is attended to by a physician. Life-threatening hazards occur anywhere. Thus, it is crucial for nurses, receptionists, and other healthcare support staff to receive first aid training, which will help in identifying and preventing potential hazards (Kano et al., 2005, p.72). In this case, I was alert of danger immediately I heard a thud and rushed to help. The incident left me with anxiety, guilt, and low confidence in myself to a point I took some time to calm down so as to explain the situation to the patient. This case made me reflect on the incident and its progress until the patient’s discharge (Dubé & Ducharme, 2015). Although I had mixed feeling about the incident, I was still eager to continue working in the emergency department and have new experiences to reflect on.
Analysis
Supervision during practice is crucial for the safety of the patient and the provider. According to NMC (2018) standards, supervision during practice helps in preventing injuries to the patient being treated and the care provider. In this case, I was assigned duties that I was qualified for, like supervising the emergency department waiting area. I also had superior nurses watch me when doing some duties. Moreover, NMC requires nurses to act professionally and prioritize patients’ health and safety while conducting care. They should deliver care that protects both patient and public safety (NMC, 2018). In this case, I was not careful not to harm myself while rushing to care for the patient. I should have considered that both the patient’s and my personal safety were paramount.
Part 2: Development Plan
My development plan from assessing the incident above will equip me with the skills necessary for more effective handling of such incidences. This is crucial because it will help me prepare myself for such circumstances as they are never-ending. Individuals should be confident and emotionally capable of handling self-reflections. Self-reflections reveal an individuals’ weaknesses and help them to transform these weaknesses into strengths for handling future problems and dilemmas (Dubé & Ducharme, 2015). Therefore, my action plan entails different strategies to boost my confidence and, ultimately, my nursing practice.
Firstly, my personal development need is researching more on the provision of the NMC standards and the code of professional practice. This will help me practice under these guidelines and avoid errors during practice that may result in a suit against me. Moreover, this will help me engage more in learning, training, education, and development to improve my skills and performance in school and ultimately nursing practice.
I will need support and updates from my learning facilitator after every two months because it will help me understand my progress and identify areas of improvement. I will also look for a role model like an RN who will show me the care process in nursing practice (Price & Reichert, 2017, p.17). This will enhance my skills and help me to be more knowledgeable about my practice.
I will evaluate and review my development by setting attainable, measurable, realistic, and achievable goals for my future student nurse placements for the experience. I will engage with my facilitator to understand my learning needs and discuss with him as we evaluate my future goals through assessment and interview sessions.
Conclusion
This study has helped me do a thorough self-reflection using the Gibbs reflection cycle, which entails the description of the situation, my feelings about the incident, evaluation, analysis, action plan, and conclusion. I am now more confident in dealing with future incidences that require my prompt but effective actions as per NCM guidelines. The NCM emphasizes patient and provider safety in the nursing practice. Moreover, First aid training is crucial in this day and age as it helps save lives and prevent adverse or fatal consequences. Furthermore, I realized that the healthcare system should look at the condition of hospital departments and solve issues such as understaffing to reduce patient wait time and prevent worsening of patient conditions as they await care. Finally, this reflection has boosted my confidence to handle the same incidences like the one above in my future practice.
Reference List
Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020. Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle in Making Reflections of Literary Analysis. Indonesian EFL Journal, 6(2), pp.139-148. https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IEFLJ/article/view/3382/2034
Dubé, V., & Ducharme, F. (2015). Nursing reflective practice: An empirical literature. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 5(7), 91-99. https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/jnep/article/view/6760/4213
Emergency Nurses Association. (2019). Sheehy’s Emergency Nursing: Principles and Practice. St. Louis, Mosby https://www.worldcat.org/title/sheehys-emergency-nursing-principles-andpractice/oclc/1124544026
Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Oxford Further Education Unit
Hidayat, N., Ahsan, A., Rahayu, M. and Lestari, R., 2020. Response time, waiting time and service quality in emergency department. International Journal of Public Health, 9(3), pp.199-204. http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijphs.v9i3.20435
Kano, M., Siegel, J.M. and Bourque, L.B., 2005. First‐aid training and capabilities of the lay public: a potential alternative source of emergency medical assistance following a natural disaster. Disasters, 29(1), pp.58-74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0361-3666.2005.00274.x
Price, S. and Reichert, C., 2017. The importance of continuing professional development to career satisfaction and patient care: meeting the needs of novice to mid-to late-career nurses throughout their career span. Administrative Sciences, 7(2), p.17.
Sun, J., Lin, Q., Zhao, P., Zhang, Q., Xu, K., Chen, H., Hu, C.J., Stuntz, M., Li, H. and Liu, Y., 2017. Reducing waiting time and raising outpatient satisfaction in a Chinese public tertiary general hospital-an interrupted time-series study. BMC Public Health, 17(1), pp.1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33201-4
The Nursing & Midwifery Council. (2018 ). Professional judgement. https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/code-in-action/professional-judgement/
Toledo, G.S., Aitken, P., Crilly, J. and FitzGerald, G., 2016. Agreement between triage category and patient’s perception of priority in emergency departments. Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 24(1), pp.1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13049-016-0316-2