Critical Incident Journal and Reflective Summary on Placement

This assignment is a critical incident journal and reflective summary detailing a student's experiences during a placement working with individuals with mental health issues and special needs. The student reflects on their learning from seminars and placement, focusing on skill development, particularly in communication, empathy, and team working. The journal describes specific incidents and situations, evaluating the student's strengths and weaknesses, such as time management and technological skills, and analyzes how these skills impact their ability to provide effective care. The student emphasizes the importance of active listening, empathy, and the ability to work in a team, highlighting how these skills contribute to providing qualitative services and making patients feel valued. The document concludes with a summary of the student's learning and how these experiences will shape their future role in healthcare, emphasizing the necessity of continuous learning and self-improvement in the field.

Critical Incident Journal and Reflective
Summary
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Reflection on learning from seminars and placement with special needs or people or mental
health............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Reflection can be defined as a opinion that is being formed or made after careful thought
and experience (Tiessen, 2018). In this study I am going to share my feelings and discuss my
experience when I was placed for working with people of mental health or special needs. This
study will discuss requirement of skills for providing qualitative services to such people such as
communication, empathy, record keeping, ethics and others. I will reflect on my own skills in
order to know as on which skills I need to focus and work on for improving them in order to
perform my placement role in an effective manner. It will further reflect on my experience of
placement as how I approached to company, which mode of communication helped me out and
my interview experience.
MAIN BODY
Reflection on learning from seminars and placement with special needs or people or mental
health
Description: With the help of reflective model I want to share my experience and describe
all events and situations that happened with me and skills that I learned from all those situations.
While studying in university about working for people who are in need and not able to perform
their own functions in an effective manner because of mental illness, I learned several things. I
found that learning as a student is one of the best phase in everyone’s life because here, we only
focus on learning new things and focus on developing own skills and knowledge by which they
can get employment opportunity in our desired field (Cetrano and et.al., 2017). Same thing
happened with me as while studying in university, I learned about importance of empathy and
ways of dealing with people who requires our help and need. I was placed for working with
special needs of people or working with people of mental health. I learned several new things
from both university as a student and from placement as a social worker. I believe that working
as a social worker and helping out to people with special needs is one of the best role or
employment. It helps us out in increasing several skills and knowledge.
Feeling: Here I want to share my feelings that I felt from my experience of process of
placement with special needs or people with mental health as well as skills that I learned while
studying in university. As a student I learned the importance of communication and it is the
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common and important skills that are essential for everyone for getting job or employment
opportunity in any field. As I wanted to work with people with special needs. My tutor made me
knows about skills that I have and can help me out in the future. With self evaluation and when I
participated in group discussion in university. As a group member in group discussion, I found
that I am good in communication skill and active listening. Before discussing and giving answer
to other group members, I listened them in order to understand their perceptions. I got feedbacks
from my tutors and in this regard I got to know that active listening is vital and important for
working in any field in order to understand needs of customers (Albott and et.al., 2020). That
time I believed that this skill of active listening can help me out in working with special needs
people. When I was placed and I approached to my desired organization for working with people
with mental health that time I got to know the importance of skill of active listening. I believe
that this skill can help me out in the future to the great extent by working with people of mental
health. It can help me out in understanding problems from which they go through and how it is
important to listen them. By listening them properly or carefully I can makes them feel valued.
This skill can also help me out in increasing patients’ engagement in the process of treatment.
In addition, I found that importance of empathy and importance about this skill I found
while I went for giving interview for my desired placement. I found some problems in contacting
to HR of organization in which I was placed. Due to covid-19 or pandemic, numbers of people
were working from home. But E-mail helped me out in contacting with HR of my placement
organization. They revert of my mail and took online interview. They asked about my skills and
weaknesses then they told me that one of the main skills that can make me able to become
successful and helping people with mental health of people is empathy. It is all about
understanding their needs, reasons of their behaviours and reaction. I was lacking behind in this
skill as before that I did not work in similar field. So, was required to improve this skills and
understanding as what people think and why people with mental health react in an inappropriate
manner (Happell and et.al., 2019). It can help me out in the future in being calm and
understanding their needs for providing treatment accordingly. I also got to know that I am good
in team working and about this strength also I got to know while working in a team. When I
compared my results of team working and individual working then I found that I got higher
marks in all projects that I completed in group. For working in a team, it is important to have an
ability to listen all and I had this skill and this skill made me able to listen perceptions of all
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members. I believe that for making better decision, we all need to cooperate each others. It
improves our relations and makes us feel valued as well. This skill can also help me out in the
future as a care provider for people with special needs. By working with other care providers I
can provide qualitative treatments and can protect myself against negative impacts or negative
outcomes.
Evaluation: I evaluated my own skills and from self evaluation I got to know about my
both areas in which I am good and in which I am not good or require improvements. While
studying in university I evaluated my own skills before going to placement organization in order
to know more about myself. From self evaluation, I found that I am good in decision making
skill and problem solving skill. When we were given a group tasks then it became difficult for all
team members to solve problem relevant to the topic. I was the one who gave effective solution
and that solution worked effectively and helped all of us in completing group tasks in a timely
and efficient manner. So, while self evaluation, I thought about that group working and then
knew that decision making and problem solving skill is also vital (Brabers and et.al., 2017). I
believe that these skills would help me out in working as a social worker for people with special
needs or mental health. Several incidents happen when we work with such people and social
workers and care providers fall in situation where they have to make appropriate and effective
decision as what to do that can help service users and care providers in getting positive
outcomes. So, from this, I can say that by solving critical problem, I can take better decision
regarding services need to be provided to people with special needs. I can also provide better
treatment and can make such people feel valued that is vital for getting positive and desired
outcomes.
Further, with self evaluation, I also found that I am lacking behind in time management.
Whenever I was given individual project then I submitted project after the submission date or
time. It sometimes made me depressed. I felt that whenever we miss deadline of submitting
projects then it has negative impacts on us. We start feeling that we are efficient as like others
and because of such thinking it makes us depressed. At that time I became nervous and started
thinking that how would I deal with numbers of people with special needs by be calm. At that
time, feedback, given by my tutor helped me out in knowing the main cause or reason of time
management problem. They told me that procrastination is the main causing factor that leads to
this problem. So, according to their feedback and suggestion I required focusing on this and by
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removing procrastination as well as prioritizing tasks and completing them can help me out in
increasing this skill. By improving this skill, I can deal with numbers of people and can also
make a balance between personal as well as professional life. I have heard about social workers
and care providers that they find problems in making a balance between their personal and
professional life and it makes them frustrated sometimes (Gregg, 2018). The reason behind it is
work load and poor time management so, from this I can say that I need to work on this skill in
order to being refreshed, motivated and managing my personal life with professional life.
Analysis: I want to critical analyse on my own skills, weaknesses or my experience that I
gain from library and the process of placement. In my learning from seminars, I analysed that I
was lacking behind in technological and numeracy skills. I did not have skills and knowledge
about ways of keeping records or maintaining online data. While seminars, we all were given
several tasks related to our field in order to know our skills and knowledge as which type of
work we can do in an effective manner (Saberi and et..al., 2017). When I was given project of
maintaining online data that time I found and analysed that I was so poor in accessing online
data. Overall, in this regard, I can say that I am not good in making use of technologies. But
technology plays a vital role in healthcare as it can help us out in providing proper treatments to
people with special needs. It makes our work easier so, for this purpose, I need to improve this
skill.
In addition, I also analysed and found that I have an ability and willingness to learn new
things all the time. While working in a team in university and seminar, I found that I always
focus on learning new ways of performing functions and it is my tendency that can help me out
in the future. I have heard that a successful entrepreneur and care provider is the one who learn
new things. This willingness helps them out in career development. From learning of my
seminars and placement process, I also analysed that I am good in organizing and planning and it
is also important for working with special needs of people. These skills can help me out in
organizing all my tasks and work and on the basis of this, I can improve health of people, make
them feel valued and can also decrease patient stay rate. When we work in an organized manner
then it helps us out in maintaining self discipline that is vital for professional role. It boosts our
confidence (Matic and Vojvodic, 2017). So, overall, I can say that all these skills that I identified
and I have can teach me several new things and can make me successful in my desired field
where I have been placed.
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Conclusion: I want to summarize my learning from placement and seminar and on the
basis of above discussed analysis, it can be said that communication and team working is vital
for performing tasks. These skills can help me out in performing my job role of placement where
I need to work with people of special needs of mental health. It can also be concluded that
learning new things often from team members and people work around us also boost our
confidence and can help us out in developing career. Along with it I can conclude on the basis of
analysis and evaluation that an ability to understand human behaviours and knowing as why they
are reacting and behaving like this is one of the main key when someone work with people of
special needs. This ability is called empathy and on the basis of this skill, I can take better
decision and be calm in critical situation by knowing that why people with mental health behave
in inappropriate manner.
Action plan: On the basis of above discussed all skills, strengths and weaknesses, I found
that I am lacking behind in time management, numeracy, technological and empathy skill (Von
Heupt, 2017). So, I need to improve all these skills in order to perform all activities relevant to
my placement of working with people of special needs or with mental health. For improving
these skills, I will produce, personal development plan as it is one of the effective models of
improving skills such as:
Skills need to be
improved
Resources or activities timescale
Time management Time management is vital for dealing with people
of special needs or with mental health. There are
number of people who are suffering from mental
illness. For dealing with numbers of people and
completing several other tasks along with this such
as record keeping, maintaining patients’ data,
reviewing their data and others, it is important to
have this skill.
For improving this skill, trello, time matrix and
time table with all activities as per the roaster can
help me out in improving this skill. By reducing
2-3 months
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procrastination and by prioritizing all tasks, I can
complete important tasks in a timely manner and
can improve health of people with mental health.
Numeracy or
technological
Numeracy and technological skill also play a vital
role in this modern and digital era. In healthcare
where, care providers deal with people with special
needs make use of technologies to the great extent
in order to make their work easier. It helps them out
in performing several tasks and improving overall
health of people. So for improving this skill, I can
take classes where I can learn ways to access
technology and numeracy skills. These skills can
help me out in the future in maintaining online data
rather manual that can save my time. By making
use of technologies I can make my work easier and
complete most of the tasks with the help of
technologies.
Approximate
3 months
CONCLUSION
It has been summarized from the above study that analysing own skills and weaknesses is
one of the best way of improving skill. Self evaluation and reflection on own learning make us
able to know where we are lacking behind and how we can improve ourselves for working as per
our job role in an effective manner. It has also been summarized from the above study that
communication and team working skills are vital for dealing with people of special needs as it
can help us out in engaging them and making them feel valued.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Albott, C.S. and et.al., 2020. Battle buddies: rapid deployment of a psychological resilience
intervention for health care workers during the coronavirus disease 2019
pandemic. Anesthesia and analgesia.
Brabers, A.E. and et.al., 2017. What role does health literacy play in patients' involvement in
medical decision-making?. PloS one. 12(3). p.e0173316.
Cetrano, G. and et.al., 2017. How are compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction
affected by quality of working life? Findings from a survey of mental health staff in
Italy. BMC health services research. 17(1). pp.1-11.
Gregg, M., 2018. Counterproductive: Time management in the knowledge economy. Duke
University Press.
Happell, B. and et.al., 2019. Developing an evidence-based specialist nursing role to improve the
physical health care of people with mental illness. Issues in mental health
nursing. 40(10). pp.832-838.
Matic, M. and Vojvodic, K., 2017. Managing online environment cues: evidence from
Generation Y consumers. International Journal of Electronic Marketing and
Retailing, 8(1), pp.77-90.
Saberi, Z. and et..al., 2017, November. Online retailer assortment planning and managing under
customer and supplier uncertainty effects using internal and external data. In 2017 IEEE
14th International Conference on e-business Engineering (ICEBE) (pp. 7-14). IEEE.
Tiessen, R., 2018. Improving Student Reflection in Experiential Learning Reports in Post-
Secondary Institutions. Journal of Education and Learning. 7(3). pp.1-10.
Von Heupt, N., 2017. Creating a continuing professional development plan. Training &
Development. 44(6). pp.16-17.
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