Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care: A Reflective Account

This report critically evaluates the author's personal and professional development during their time as a trainee nurse at Care UK. It explores the effectiveness of their contributions to patient care, identifies limitations in their work role, and analyzes their role in minimizing barriers to effective teamwork. The report also discusses strategies for improving personal contributions to the collective effectiveness of the team, applying innovative and creative thoughts.

Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
2. Produce an evaluative report on your own effectiveness as a health and social care practitioner
(Evidence type: REFLECTIVE ACCOUNT) due date: 30th July 2017. Your report should cover the
following:....................................................................................................................................................4
(AC 4.1) Evaluate the effectiveness of personal contributions when working with others in health and
social care practice using critical reflection on activities undertaken and self-criticism of approaches used
in the workplace (D1)..................................................................................................................................4
(AC4.2) Explain how the limits of own work role impacts on work with others.........................................4
(AC 4.3) Analyze own role in minimizing barriers to effective teamwork in health and social care
practice. To achieve M1 you should apply an effective approach to study and research (M1)....................5
(AC 4.4) Discuss how to improve personal contributions to the collective effectiveness of a team applying
innovative and creative thoughts (D3).........................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
Reference List.............................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
In this section, the researcher will critically evaluate her Personal and Professional Development
during her tenure at Care UK. After completing her diploma course on nursing, the researcher
had joined Care UK as a nursing staff. She worked there for three months as a trainee nurse. As a
trainee nurse, she was entrusted with many responsibilities of patient care.

2. Produce an evaluative report on your own effectiveness as a health and social care
practitioner (Evidence type: REFLECTIVE ACCOUNT) due date: 30th July 2017. Your
report should cover the following:
(AC 4.1) Evaluate the effectiveness of personal contributions when working with others in
health and social care practice using critical reflection on activities undertaken and self-
criticism of approaches used in the workplace (D1)
As a part of my job, I was trusted with full care of at least 3 patients at a time. My job
responsibilities included monitoring and observing their vital status i.e. weight, blood pressure,
blood sugar level etc, administering medicines as advised by the physician, providing emotional
and psychological support, sometimes feeding and others. In case of any pathological tests I
needed to draw blood samples, urine samples and others. Co-coordinating with physicians and
updating them about patients’ condition on a regular basis were also part of my job.
Other than in house patients, I needed to visit patients at their home and providing required care
to them. Reporting about their health to the physicians correctly and communicating physician’s
advice to them were my duties too. It was also part of my job to guide the care givers according
to the patient’s needs. Listening to the concerns of the caregivers and advising them if there is
any change of plan is required were included in my job responsibilities.
(AC4.2) Explain how the limits of own work role impacts on work with others
Anyone who is working as a part of organization involved in a health and social care needs to
possess a number of qualities (Blais et al., 2015). Providing health care is a group work and
needs strong co-ordination among the people involved in the process. For example, a nurse needs
to co-ordinate with doctors, pathological lab technicians, care givers, other nurses and most of all
with the patients. While working as a nurse at Care UK, I realized that my co-ordination skills
are not as good as it is required to be a good nurse. I was unable to communicate the needs of the
patients to the doctors flawlessly and was missing one or two information while reporting to the

doctor about the patients health condition. This was leading to an incomplete evaluation of the
condition of the patients and the doctors were not being able to advise the required measure for
it. This was leading to late detection of some diseases and eventually taking longer recovery time
for the patients as they were not receiving full medical care when it was needed. Similarly, my
colleagues who were attending my patients in different shifts were also not getting the required
information and it was hampering their work too.
Another thing that I was lacking in is communication skill. A good nurse is required to have
excellent communication skill as interacting with patients tactfully can provide valuable
information about their health condition to the nurse. If a nurse possesses good communication
skill, she will be able to win patients trust and confidence and patients will feel comfortable in
sharing their problems with them without any hesitation (Manners, 2017). My lack of
communication skill was preventing me from getting full information from the patients and
ultimately obstructing their treatment.
(AC 4.3) Analyze own role in minimizing barriers to effective teamwork in health and
social care practice. To achieve M1 you should apply an effective approach to study and
research (M1)
Upon identifying my short comings, I realized that it was important to rectify my problems.
Otherwise, it can lead to a catastrophic situation. Since, I was working in a critical sector such as
health and social care and was handling critical patients, it was crucial for me to perform
flawlessly. One little mistake can cause serious damage to patients health and even cause death
of the patient. Moreover, any mishap with the patients will not only hamper mine and my
organization’s reputation but also dent my career permanently. Hence, it was essential for me to
improve these skills to become an efficient and reliable nurse. In order to improve my co-
ordination and communication skills, I decided to join professional courses which will help me
enhance my skills. There are number of professional training courses available in UK which
helps people who require assistance in improving such skills and help in their career. These
courses provide real life situations and guide us working in such situations. Apart from attending
the courses I also need to work on these skills personally and become more attentive during

work. So, that I do not miss collecting any vital information from my patients and pass it along to
the concerned doctors and my colleagues to minimize the mistakes.
(AC 4.4) Discuss how to improve personal contributions to the collective effectiveness of a
team applying innovative and creative thoughts (D3)
While working at Care UK, I realized that the organization can improve its service and efficiency
in various ways. For instance, I noticed that the nursing staff in general lacks co-ordination
among them. In order to leave for home in hurry, they are leaving after their shifts without
waiting for the next nurse to join the duty. This is leading to two basic problems mainly. One,
they are not being able to brief the next nurse about the patients’ current health condition or in
case there any changes are made by the doctor in the treatment course. This was creating a gap in
treatment and at times, inappropriate treatment was provided. Two, in case the patient developed
any complication during the time gap between two nurses shifts it can create major problem. In
order to avoid these situations the authority should create a system where the nurses will be
required to brief the next attending nurse about the patients’ condition in details and then only
leave the duty. The lack of co-ordination and teamwork among the staff can also be the result of
the fact that the staff members do not have personal bonding among themselves (Redmond,
2017). In order to change that the authority needs to engage them in various activities other than
work, so that they can bond beyond working relation and enjoy each other’s company. Once they
develop healthy bonding among them other than working relation the co-ordination will be easier
at the workplace and teamwork will improve.

Conclusion
In the above report, the researcher has stated the various duties she had to perform during her
tenure at Care UK. The researcher also stated the several limitations she realized she had while
working at the organization. In the study the researcher also explained the strategy she will
follow in order to overcome those barriers. The study also identified the problems which are
existing in the system of the organization and its probable solutions.

Reference List
Blais, K., Hayes, J.S., Kozier, B. and Erb, G.L., 2015. Professional nursing practice: Concepts
and perspectives (p. 530). NJ: Prentice Hall.
Manners, R.A., 2017. Professional dominance: The social structure of medical care. Routledge.
Redmond, B., 2017. Reflection in action: Developing reflective practice in health and social
services. Routledge.