Introduction to Professional Practice

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
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1INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Part A
Question 1
The midwife Michelle, demonstrated inconsistency with patient centered care, which
include principles of engaging, empathizing, educating and enlisting (Tongue, Epps & Forese,
2005). Engagement requires that the clinician in question develops rapport and a positive
therapeutic relationship with the patient, by adhering to empathetic listening and inquiring the
patient of their personal experiences (Moore et al., 2015). Michelle made no attempts whatsoever
on knowing Kaylene’s experiences with her previous pregnancy and directly proceeded to ask
questions on the father of her baby - resulting in an alarming harm to patient privacy and
confidentiality. Empathizing is associated with the health professional directly involving the
patient’s personalized needs into the decision-making process and care plan development
(Bauchat, Seropian & Jeffries, 2016). Michelle displayed no enthusiasm to know what may have
contributed to Kaylene’s dislike towards attending a hospital and made no attempts to involve
this emotional need of her in the maternal care plan. The principle of education in patient
centered care requires the health professional to provide appropriate information to the patient
(Oh & Ell, 2018). It can be observed that Michelle did not adequately educate or explain Kaylene
on the how she may quit smoking and the ways in which it may benefit the growth and
development of the baby. Enlisting requires involving the patient in the decision-making process
which Michelle did not adhere to (Moore et al., 2016). She merely informed Kaylene of the need
to attend to hospital and a healthy diet without any attempt to involve Kaylene’s and her mother
views concerning the same and even largely ignored Corrine’s opinion on the diet she provides
to her daughter.

2INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Question 2
In this video, it is evident that Michelle adequately adhered to the patient centered
principles of engagement, empathy, education and enlistment. Engagement in patient centered
care involves building a rapport with the patient and engaging in empathetic interpersonal
communication which results in the patient feeling safe, secure, dignified and cared for (Frank et
al., 2015). Hence, as compared to the previous situation, Michelle demonstrated a significant
change by engaging in an interactive session and allowing Kaylene to express her experiences of
her previous pregnancy and on her feelings considering her present condition and her
apprehension towards hospital based treatment. The patient centered principle of empathy
demonstrates health professional’s eagerness to understand the situation by being in the patient’s
shoes followed by demonstration of involving the patient’s personal views and experiences. This
not only results in improved therapeutic relationships but also ensures that the patient is feeling
that his or her needs are being adhered (Haley et al., 2017). In the video, Michelle demonstrates a
significant change by patiently understanding Kaylene’s reasons for not engaging in a hospital
and also involves her needs by ensuring that she need not engage in a hospital to receive
adequate maternity care. Patient centered principles of education and enlisting, involves
educating the patient on reasons underlying healthcare interventions and involving the patient in
the decision-making process (Hadden et al., 2018). Michelle actively adheres to the same, by
educating Kaylene on effects and strategies of smoking cessation as well as using family
centered approaches of involving her mother’s culinary preferences in cooking and nutritional
sessions, followed by involving Kaylene’s consent in referring her to a counselor.