Reflective Diary and Report on Work Experience in Healthcare

Running head: WORK EXPERIENCE
WORK EXPERIENCE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1WORK EXPERIENCE
Table of Contents
PART ONE: REFLECTIVE DIARY..............................................................................................2
JOURNAL 1................................................................................................................................2
JOURNAL 2................................................................................................................................4
JOURNAL 3................................................................................................................................6
JOURNAL 4................................................................................................................................8
JOURNAL 5..............................................................................................................................10
PART TWO: REFLECTIVE REPORT.........................................................................................12
PORTFOLIO.................................................................................................................................15
Skills Audit................................................................................................................................15
Legislation.................................................................................................................................20
Participation on work experience..............................................................................................23
Your own role while on work placement..................................................................................26
Evaluation of work experience and future plans.......................................................................28
References......................................................................................................................................31

2WORK EXPERIENCE
PART ONE: REFLECTIVE DIARY
JOURNAL 1
Entry No. 1
Date:
I would like to firstly highlight the fact that I work as a healthcare assistant in one of the
residential care homes of Ireland and on an everyday basis I am required to take care of a large
number of elderly patients and also look after their medications. I am normally required to offer
care to the English speaking elderly people and I am well suited for doing that. However, on the
date mentioned above one of my colleagues had to take a leave due to some unavoidable
circumstances and I was asked to take care of her patients one of whom was from Spain and not
well versed in the English Language. Furthermore, I myself was not fluent in the Spanish
language and thus I was not being able to understand the things that she was trying to say or for
that matter the things that she wanted me to do. Needless to say, I was completely at sea and
apart from the prescribed medication I was not being able to cater to any of her needs which in
made the patient very irate. Luckily, one of our health care assistants speaks fluent Spanish and
thus I took his help to cater to the needs of the patients and fulfill her treatment needs.
The most important thing that I learned from this incident was the importance of the
process of communication within the work which is being performed by me. The issues that I
faced with the patient arose since we were not being able to effectively undertake the process of
verbal communication because both of us did not speak the same language. More importantly,
the communication challenge that I faced with the patient not only adversely affected the quality

3WORK EXPERIENCE
of care which was offered by me to her but at the same realize the importance of non-verbal and
gestural communication processes within the field of my work. Thus, I should have taken the
help of the process of non-verbal communication or for that matter taken the help of different
kinds of gestures for effectively communicating with the patients. This in turn would have
substantially helped me to overcome the issues that I faced and therefore I would say that this is
the most important thing that I learned from the concerned incident.
The incident clearly indicates that I need to develop the skill of non-verbal or gestural
communication and I am positive that undertaking different kinds of workshops, skill
development programs and others would help me to effectively acquire this particular skill.
Furthermore, I am optimistic that the acquisition of this particular skill would not only enable me
to effectively communicate with the patients or understand their needs but would also help me to
offer the best quality healthcare treatment services to them. Thus, I would say that the incident
that I mentioned in this journal is likely to positively affect me at the professional level by
facilitating my acquisition of the non-verbal and gestural communication skills.

4WORK EXPERIENCE
JOURNAL 2
Entry No. 2
Date:
The incident that I would like to discuss in this journal actually helped me to understand
the importance of the concept of cultural competency and the different benefits that the
healthcare professionals can derive through the effective usage of the same. A few days ago we
received a patient who is from the indigenous background and he was suffering from food
poisoning. Furthermore, after diagnosing him our healthcare professionals tried to administer
him the required medication through injections but he refused vehemently to take any injections
and also objected to intake the medications. Some of the healthcare assistants tried to calm him
down and urged him to take the medication yet there was no change in his mindset. Finally, I
approached the patient and tried to understand why he didn’t want to have the medications,
which is actually going to relieve his pain and also cure him. He replied the usage of injections
was not allowed in his culture and thus he was refusing to take the same. I assured the patient
that we will not force him to take the injections and after consulting the doctor we will certainly
find a middle ground. The doctor who had checked on the patient after listening to what I have to
say agreed to replace the injections with capsules and tablets of the same medicine which the
patient readily agreed to intake.
The major challenge that we faced in this incident can be ascribed to the aspect of
cultural differences between the culture that we followed and the cultural background from
which the patient hailed from. Thus, it can be said that the most important learning experience
that I derived from the concerned incident is the knowledge about the concept of cultural

5WORK EXPERIENCE
intelligence or cultural competency and also the benefits that the healthcare professionals can
derive through the effective usage of the same. For example, had I been able to this concept then
the treatment services would have been offered to the patient in a much better manner and that
too without any confusion which adversely affected the quality of care which was offered by us
to the patient. Therefore, I have decided to take the help of different kinds of workshops and
other kinds of programs for the effective development of my cultural competency or cultural
intelligence. I am hoping that this would facilitate my understanding of the treatment needs or
that matter the treatment requirements of the patients in the best possible manner and thereby
help them to offer the required amount of care or treatment services to them. This in turn is likely
to facilitate the process of my own professional development as well. Thus, I would say that
rather than being a negative one the incident under discussion here was a positive one and helped
me to understand the significance of the skill of cultural competency and also the need of the
healthcare professionals to use the same for offering treatment to the patients.

6WORK EXPERIENCE
JOURNAL 3
Entry No. 3
Date:
The incident that I would discuss in this journal is related to the issue of effective
management practices and also the benefits that the residential care homes can derive through the
adequate usage of the same within the clinical setting. We have around 15 registered nurses, 5
doctors, 15 healthcare assistants in our residential care home and it is the duty of the nurse leader
to prepare the roaster of all these healthcare professionals. However, on the given day it
happened that the majority of the healthcare workers of our care home took their week-offs on
the same day and thus it became very difficult for the remaining healthcare workers to
effectively manage the patient flow. Furthermore, around 8 healthcare workers who were present
in the given day had to complete the job role of the entire care home while offering the required
care or treatment services to the patients who belonged to the doctors and the registered nurses
who were absent on the concerned day. Thus, the doctors have to firstly go through all the
reports of the patients and after that administer the required treatment which consumed a
substantial amount of time since they were not aware of the medical history of the patients. This
in turn adversely affected the quality of healthcare services or for that matter the care that was
offered to the patients in the care home on that particular day.
The most important challenge that I face in the incident under discussion here can be
attributed to the fact that in the absence of the required number of healthcare workers due to
ineffective planning of roasters I was required to handle a substantial amount of workload while
ensuring to offer the best quality treatment services to the patients. Thus, I would say that the

7WORK EXPERIENCE
most important lesson that I learned from the concerned incident can be ascribed to the
importance of effective management practices within the healthcare setting and also the need on
the part of the nurse leaders to effectively plan the roaster of the healthcare workers. This in turn
is likely to facilitate the adequate completion of the work of the healthcare organizations and also
ensure the fact that the desired quality of healthcare treatment services or care is being offered to
the patients as well.
In the light of the incident under discussion here I have realized the fact that in order to
attain adequate professional development I need to improve my management skills which in turn
would help me to effectively manage the different affairs of the healthcare organizations. I am
hoping to attain effective management skills by way of attending different vocational courses,
training programs, workshops and others so as to acquire the kind of skills that would enable me
to effectively plan the roasters of the various healthcare workers, the work that we are required to
perform and others within the healthcare organizations. Thus, I would say that the concerned
incident was an important one for me since it taught me the importance of effective management
practices within the healthcare setting.