Reflective Journal: Dental Nurse Role, Skills, and Development

This reflective journal entry provides a detailed account of a dental nurse's experiences, including their role in supporting dentists during patient treatments, managing patient records, sterilizing instruments, and handling administrative tasks like appointments and payments. The author expresses their interest in dental care, outlining their motivations for the profession and aspirations for further education. The reflection evaluates the author's communication, organizational skills, and team-playing abilities while acknowledging weaknesses in leadership and technical skills. The analysis highlights the importance of these skills in providing quality patient care and supporting the healthcare team. The author seeks feedback from senior colleagues, identifying areas for improvement, such as technical skills and sterilization procedures. The conclusion emphasizes the author's potential to contribute to a positive work environment and the action plan outlines strategies for team collaboration and improved understanding of the dental care sector. The reflection concludes by explaining how this journal can aid in the development of skills and knowledge for other aspiring dental nurses.

1) Description:
In my role of dental nurse, I need to support the dentist in the treatment of patients which
includes all aspects of care. It includes getting the instruments ready, mixing the materials
which are used for dental treatment and also to ensure that the patients are comfortable during
the operating process. My role also includes maintaining the patients records and to clean and
sterilize the medical instruments. My job also includes managing appointments, payments,
paperwork and meeting.
2) Feeling
I want to become the dental nurse because of my interest in the dental care sector. After getting
the necessary knowledge and training, I can go further for becoming the dental doctor . I need
knowledge and experience in this field as I want to pursue my career in dental care and also will
study for dental care doctor in upcoming time. By this knowledge, I can work and study with
my full efficiency for treating the patients having dental problems.
This job is according to my expectations and I am happy to serve as the dental nurse. I came in
this field because of personal reason and now I am enjoying this profession as much as I can.
Through this job, I can further improve my skills for treating the dental patients properly.
3) Evaluation
My communication skills are very good so I can influence the patients to got for treatment and
also I am organised and full of motivation. I enjoy taking new challenges and hungry for good
knowledge. I am also a good team player and ready to provide support and guidance to team
members in case of need. My weakness is that I am a very sensitive person and also lacks some
skills such as leadership skills and technical skills are also weak.
A dental nurse mainly needs administrative skills physical abilities, technical skills,
interpersonal abilities which are already present in me. I need to work on my technical skills as
they are not so strong. My interpersonal skills are also weak which I needs to improve so that I
can work with my full ability for achieving the personal as well as organisational goals. These
skills are must for providing effective and reliable service to the dental patients

4) Analysis
Through my skills and knowledge, I can provide better and quality based services to the dental
patients which comes in the organisation. Through these skills, I can provide necessary support
and care to the patients. Also I can provide guidance to my team members and other health care
teams for the betterment of the organisation. Also I can use my experience and knowledge for
providing the solutions of various problems which are faced by the team members while
performing their job roles.
If you can , ask others for their thoughts and reviews. This could be colleagues- both senior and
junior.
I asked other seniors for providing some important feedback of my work. They said that I need
to further improve my technical skills for handling the appointments and payment properly.
Also I need to be careful during the sterilising procedures as if the instruments are not sterilised
properly, then it can harm the patients health which negatively effect my performance and
image in the organisation.
5) Conclusion
I can bring the required efficiency to the team with my strong communication and motivation
skills. Also, I can provide new and innovative ideas to the members. I can also be helpful for
creating a positive, healthy and friendly environment for the team members in which they can
work without any stress. Through these I can provide them necessary support for carrying out
their activities and operations for achieving their goals easily.
6) Action plan
I can work better with my team by understanding their roles better through communicating with
them regularly. With the proper mutual understanding, I can provide them required support and
guidance which they need for performing their activities effectively. I can use my extensive
knowledge for coordinating with them efficiently. I also needs to have better understanding of
the dental care sector so that I can help them with their work in case of heavy pressure and work
load.
7) How can this reflection help others to learn and develop?
Through this reflection, other individuals can develop their skills and knowledge which is
required in the profession of dental nurse. They can understand the various roles and

responsibilities of dental nurse which is performed by them on daily basis. Through this
reflection, people can understand the various problems which are faced by them during their
activities and operation performed at the workplace. They can develop and improve their
knowledge for providing quality services to the dental patients.