Professional Development Reflection Example Paper
To start with, this is professional development reflection example where I will share personal experience. Being able to display and practice excellent communication skills in a healthcare environment is essential whilst treating patients. Excellent communication skills improved patient satisfaction scores in researched conducted by by Stein, Frankel and Kurpat. Due to there being a direct link between good communication skills and increased patient satisfaction scores this proves that emphasis should be placed on communication in healthcare. The regulatory body for Physiotherapy states that members should be able to “communicate effectively” and this is documented in the Physiotherapy Codes and principles so therefore I believe it is important to focus on communication as it will be essential in my chosen career.
Throughout the professional development module there have been an array of different techniques which I have learned to help improve my communication ready for treating patients in a healthcare setting. In this essay I will be reflecting on two specific skills I have learn which are active listening and teamwork in a multi-disciplinary team.
Active listening is described by John M. Grohol as being able to build a “rapport, trust and understanding” through listening. Being a good active listener allows me as professional to be engaged with a patient which can consequently lead to more information being obtained due to the patient being open and honest. This is due to showing more enthusiasm towards the patient which can consequently allow the allow them to trust me as previously stated. A study by Potter, Gordon and Hamer within their journal gathered comments from patients after their treatment when assessing the patient’s perspective of good qualities of a physiotherapist; “My physiotherapist listened, was friendly and considerate towards me and gave a lovely massage. We were usually able to laugh and have light hearted conversation as well as serious and she could read between the lines.” This quote shows that patients enjoy being treated holistically and seeing a clinician showing genuine interest. This is where developing the skill of active listening helps to improve my body language when listening to an individual
Professional development enlightened me to the Egan Soler theory of active listening which consists of; facing the patient squarely, having open posture, leaning forward, maintaining good eye contact and looking relaxed. In a seminar we put into pairs and had to have a back to back conversation about something we had done that week. Due to not being face to face with my partner I could not see their facial expressions and I also could not show that I was engaged in the conversation which lead to my partner becoming disinterested. After the initial conversation we then had to sit face to face and take part in the same conversation. I felt that the conversation flowed better, and my partner also said more information about her topic without me having to ask many extra questions. In a clinical environment I can see why some patients are not engaged or enjoy their Physiotherapy sessions due communication from the Physiotherapist is poor. The journal that I have previously referred to Potter, Gordon, Hammer gives evidence that “Patients most often attributed good experiences to effective communication ability, followed by the high-quality service provided by the physiotherapist.” Therefore, it is important to work on communication.
Before learning about communication and active listening I did not realise that it would allow patients to gain your trust in a clinical setting and consequently provide more information about a condition or event in their life. Therefore, when out on placement, I am going to ensure that I use the Egan Soler theory of communication to ensure I show enthusiasm to my patients to ensure that communication does not act as a barrier when treating patients.
Multidisciplinary working is defined by the NHS as “appropriately utilising knowledge, skills and best practice from multiple disciplines and across service provider boundaries.” This quote states that the NHS is reliant many different health care professions working together to achieve a common goal of improving a patient’s health and discharging them. For example, when discharging patients from hospital, the discharge team will consist of physiotherapists, consultants, occupational therapy and the patient to ensure that the patient is physically fit to return to home life. There is a direct link between teamwork and quality patient care according to Mickan and Rodgers who state that “teamwork has become an essential tool of quality management, which links efficient organisation practice with high quality patient care.” If there is not teamwork in a multi-disciplinary team it can lead to catastrophic errors as seen in the David ‘Rocky’ Bennet case. In Carvel’s article “there was inadequate resuscitation equipment in the ward. A doctor who might have been able to help took more than an hour to arrive at the clinic.” Unfortunately, David Bennet passed away due to members of a multidisciplinary team not working in unison and not understanding the situation so therefore if we can promote teamwork in a multidisciplinary team we can limit consequential risks to our patients.
I learned how important it was to work as part of a team during a challenge we were set during week three of professional development. I was put into groups with student midwives and student nurses and we had to compete against other multidisciplinary teams to build the furthest travelling paper projectile. During the task there was not much verbal interaction between the group so as a confident individual I had to try and incorporate the whole group into the exercise. I felt that there was no option but to do this as I had no experience in the task and other group members could have potentially contributed. Consequently, one of the group members felt confident in crafting paper aeroplanes and we managed to build a successful projectile. This is relevant to a working NHS environment if you exchange the paper aeroplane for a patient you have never seen before. When taking on a new patient it is important that healthcare professionals who have already treated them previously pass on a true rapport of the patient so that correct information is passed on through departments. This consequently means that there is less chance of a mistake being made. I will ensure that when I go on clinical placement I will know the members of my multidisciplinary team and also what their job roles are, so I can gain an insight into other professions and also know who to ask if I don’t know some information about a patient.
To conclude, I believe that the Professional Development Module has been very influential in my understanding of working in the NHS. It has taught me the professional values that I will have follow and comply with when under regulation for my professional bodies which are the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Health and Care Professions Council. I learnt that these regulations are applicable at the work place and when out living normal daily life; whether it is on social media or socialising with friends, as a physio I must abide by the professional standards. I will therefore follow the applicable regulations to insure I always maintain a high degree of professionalism.
