Research Critique: Community Care and Professional Development

This research critique explores the evolution of understanding community care principles, highlighting the importance of communication, independence, respect, and safety. The author reflects on personal experiences within community care centers, emphasizing the satisfaction derived from caring for vulnerable populations. The report discusses the Australian Health and Community system, advocating for client-centered care based on hygiene, safety, independence, and respect. It further delves into self-care practices, particularly emotional growth, and their impact on professional development. The author also assesses personal skills and qualities, setting goals for maximizing potential in healthcare, including ethical decision-making and the application of health information. The critique concludes by acknowledging the influence of technology and the importance of values like autonomy and altruism in healthcare.

Research Critique 1
RESEARCH CRITIQUE
by [NAME]
Course
Professor’s Name
Institution
Location of Institution
Date

Research Critique 2
Understanding Community Care Principles
At the beginning of the semester, I understood that community care is in most cases
intended for members of the society that need care and support to live with independence and
dignity and thus avoid isolation. Usually, these services are meant for the elderly in society along
with the mentally and physically disabled (Bulmer, 2015). I can confidently ascertain that these
mentioned facts are still true but my understanding has slightly changed over the semester. When
I visited some of the local community care centers within my neighborhood, I realized that
community care is about communication and information, promotion of independence, respect of
people, and safety among others. This change in understanding was greatly influenced by a one
on one interaction with the members of the community.
This has further changed my attitude towards community care and I feel more positive
about being able to help people who are in need of these community care services. I realized that
there is so much satisfaction in caring for the vulnerable people like the elderly, the mentally
sick, and the physically challenged among others. The Australian Health and Community system
should be based on the principles of hygiene, ensuring safety, promoting independence, and
respect of people. Some of the dominant values that are also essential include family, education,
peers, and religion among others. The reason for basing the system on these principles and
values are due to the fact that they ensure that the type of care given is client-centered (Josefsson,
2012, p. 412). Customer satisfaction is thus improved since the customer is put at the center of
all the activities within the community care practice.
The Australian Health Care System can thus be changed to reflect the values and
principles as discussed above. This change can be realized by appropriately representing the
community in the development of the necessary healthcare policies. Healthcare delivery can be

Research Critique 3
changed to overcome cases of marginalization and stigmatization by ensuring that the healthcare
providers critically analyze the policies and practices in place and reflect their effectiveness to
fight these vices.
Self-Care and Professional Development
One aspect of self-care that I have been able to improve on and which has greatly
enhanced my professional development has been emotional. Emotional growth is one of the most
important aspects of self-care because it is during this time that I was able to develop self-love
and prioritize my well-being ahead of any other thing out there. This has helped me to identify
and act on the areas that I may need to improve on. This includes having an understanding of my
health and avoiding unpleasant conditions such as excessive weight and lack of adequate
physical exercise (Meleis, 2011). Over the semester, I have been able to understand that failure
to understand myself as an individual may limit my ability to practice self-care.
Possession of the knowledge and skills necessary in self-care is very essential in the
practice as a health professional. As a professional, it is my duty to ensure that self-care becomes
part of my day to day practice. The skills and knowledge will help me to promote self-care at
every point of patient interaction starting from the receptionist all the way to the general
practitioner through the nurse practitioners and the practice nurses (Meleis, 2011). As a result,
patient care is improved and customer satisfaction realized.
Some of the self-care practices that I would like to improve on include physical activities
and maintaining a healthy diet. I understand that physical activities help in alleviating anxiety
from the body. This can thus help me in facing any challenges in my practice as a health
professional. This can be practiced by going for walks or performing yoga which helps in

Research Critique 4
training the brain to relax and thus quickly relieving anxious thoughts. A healthy diet is also
important in relieving anxiety and fighting lifestyle diseases. This can be done by feeding
healthily at all times. Over the course of the semester, my attitude towards professional
development has been changing. I have come to appreciate the significance of this aspect of
professionalism. This is majorly due to the fact that it helps in maintaining professional
credentials necessary for practice.
Personal Development
Along the semester, I have been able to assess my skills and qualities, consider my aims
in life and set goals that could help me to maximize my potential in practice as a professional. I
realized that I needed to set my priorities right to develop as a person. I managed to develop with
the help of the understanding of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow,
everyone has a need built in within them to develop personally and maximize their potential
(Block, 2011, p. 914). This personal development occurs through a process of self-actualization.
I also realized that in the healthcare setting, I will be continually faced with the demands
of making some critical decisions of care. The first step to making a decision is ascertaining the
most probable cause of disease or problem. Thereafter, I have to choose a management strategy
to prevent deterioration. The next step is to compare the different types of available treatments
by comparing their merits, and finally, perform the treatment (Paryad et al., 2011, p. 65). There
was one particular time I was attending to a breastfeeding patient who had a sore cracked and
bleeding left nipple. I, therefore, had to make a decision by choosing between the merits of
Chamomile, Camillosan, using a nipple shield, or simply tell the lady to stop feeding the baby
from the left breast. As I noticed the baby was feeding properly from the right breast, I
administered medication and advised her to feed the baby from the right breast until the left

Research Critique 5
breast heals. These decisions must also be ethically sound and it will thus be important to include
the patients in the decision-making process and seek their consent regarding any form of
treatment (Wise et al., 2012 p. 487).
Application of health information from various sources guides community health
outcomes through the improvement of health literacy within the community. As a result, people
are able to practice self-care because they are well informed regarding health matters. It is also
important to note that the driving forces of technology will have an impact on the healthcare
practice. Technological advancements will increase the standards of care and improve patient
competence. We can have mobile applications that measure heart rate, blood pressure,
cholesterol level, and body temperature among others.
The use of technology must however not interfere with the professional values in the
healthcare setting. I believe that values like autonomy, human dignity, social justice, and dignity
are fundamental in healthcare (Zoboli et al., 2013, p. 697). Another value that I would want to
see embedded in my practice is altruism. This is the willingness to help people without any form
of bias (Carter, 2014, p. 695). This value is important because it forms the basis of the nursing
practice.

Research Critique 6
References
Block, M., 2011. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In Encyclopedia of child behavior and
development (pp. 913-915). Springer, Boston, MA.
Bulmer, M., 2015. The social basis of community care (routledge revivals). Routledge.
Carter, M., 2014. Vocation and altruism in nursing: the habits of practice. Nursing Ethics, 21(6),
pp.695-706.
Josefsson, K., 2012. Registered nurses' health in community elderly care in
Sweden. International nursing review, 59(3), pp.409-415.
Meleis, A.I., 2011. Theoretical nursing: Development and progress. Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins.
Paryad, E., Javadi, N., Fadakar, K. and Asiri, S.H., 2011. Relationship between critical thinking
and clinical decision making in nursing students. Iran Journal of Nursing, 24(73), pp.63-71.
Wise, E.H., Hersh, M.A. and Gibson, C.M., 2012. Ethics, self-care and well-being for
psychologists: Reenvisioning the stress-distress continuum. Professional Psychology: Research
and Practice, 43(5), p.487.
Zoboli, E.L.C.P. and Schveitzer, M.C., 2013. Nursing values as social practice: a qualitative
meta-synthesis. Revista latino-americana de enfermagem, 21(3), pp.695-703.