Healthcare Management: Personal Reflection on Learning and Development

This report provides an in-depth analysis of healthcare management, focusing on personal learning and development through the application of Kolb's experiential learning cycle. The report begins with a reflection on the student's personal learning process, including a SWOT analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses. The student then applies Kolb's cycle to their experiences, detailing the stages of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation within a healthcare setting. The report highlights the importance of effective communication skills and collaborative work in providing patient care, particularly with elderly individuals. It also discusses the application of these skills in practical scenarios and identifies areas for improvement, emphasizing the value of reflection, feedback, and continuous learning in the healthcare management field. The report concludes with a discussion of the stressors associated with healthcare managers and provides recommendations for different coping strategies.

Running head: HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT
Health Care Management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Introduction
Healthcare management is defined as the process of administering and monitoring the
entire healthcare system and public health system and take necessary action to improve the
same for the sake of promoting health and wellbeing of the patients (Mittal 2019.). This is the
mode of running the internal functionality of the healthcare organisations in a systematic
manner. The aim of this paper is to make in-depth discussion on healthcare management. In
the first part of the paper, reflection on personal learning process and personal development
by using Kolb Cycle of learning will be presented. Second part of the assignment will focus on the
stressors, associated with healthcare managers. Recommendations will also be provided about
different coping strategies.
Analysis of Reflection
Reflection is considered to be the mental process which is the contemplation or the
long consideration which is inclusive of the different thoughts or the processes. Unlike the
reflection is considered is the mirror, it is the interpretation of what is going on between the
learning as well as thinking process that will be capable of improving the effectiveness in the
process in an efficient manner. The process of reflection includes the three major areas that
includes technical, group as well as individual approaches that will be beneficial and
impacting the performance of the tasks which will be performed in an efficient manner.
Reflection on personal learning process and personal development
Taylor (2017) said that healthcare management is a complicated process, which
required strong skills and competencies from the healthcare practitioners. As stated by Esteva
et al. (2017) therefore, it is the prime responsibility of healthcare professional to focus on
improving their skills and competencies, which is the key of managing the entire healthcare
system properly and offer excellent care and system to the patients on the basis of their
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requirements. According to Boekaerts (2016) Kolb’s experiential learning cycle is one of the
major frameworks, which the healthcare practitioners should follow in order to reflect on
their personal learning process. Being a healthcare, it is important for me to apply this
framework for the sake of reflecting on my personal learning process. However, Badgeley et
al. (2019) argued by saying that before reflecting on personal learning process, it is important
to carry out personal SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis will help me to present the skill, which
has helped me to deal with the patient’s properly. My personal SWOT analysis is as follows:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Effective communication skill
 Strong interpersonal skill
 Ability to work collaboratively
within a team
 Having wide experience health and
social care sector
 Having internal locus of control
 Having strong sense of creativity
 Strong leadership skill
 Lack of personal organization skill
 Poor detailed planning skill
 Having no corporate experience
 Lack of time management skill
 Extremely soft spoken
Opportunities Threats
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 Working for the sake of becoming
certified healthcare professional
 Working in my own career field
 Putting stress constantly in order to
build network for the sake of
accessing more opportunity for
promoting personal development
 Entering in the job market, which is
extremely competitive
 Lack of specific training
qualifications
 No management experience
 Lack of experience in working
within diverse experience.
Table 1: Personal SWOT analysis
(Source: As created by the author)
Summary of the Strengths and Weaknesses
From the analysis of the personal SWOT analysis which have been done, it can be
inferred that my major strengths include the proper skills related to communication along
with strong interpersonal skills that will be helping me in the future endeavors. The ability for
working in the collaborative manner is the other aspect that is needed to be implemented in
the process of commencing the different tasks which will be the key opportunity for me in
managing the different tasks which will be taken by me in the future.
By working constantly on the specific field will be helping me in understanding the
effectiveness of the communication skills that is necessary for the growth of mine in the near
future in a successful manner. I feel that I have the strong leadership skills that is the most
effective element in managing the different kinds of activities and ability to work in different
work cultures and with different people in an appropriate manner.
On the other hand, there are different weaknesses which are needed to be looked in
which includes the lack of the different organization skills as well as no proper planning
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aspects. I feel that there is lack of having the corporate evidence and extremely soft spoken
that affects the performance of the company as a whole. There will be requirement for the
lack of the specific training qualifications that is lacking and it impacts the performance of
the company negatively.
Improvement in Weaknesses
In case of the weaknesses, the personal aspects can be improved with the help of the
recognizing and accepting the weakness and the same cannot be turned into strengths at once.
In such scenario, the guidance is needed to be implemented for analyzing the skills and take
the same as the opportunity for reducing the stress level successfully. There can be inclusion
of creative thinking that can be adopted in the future for filling the gaps as the creativity is the
vital element that can be enhancing the performance of mine and the different individuals as a
whole. Being creative helps in providing the opportunity for trying out the new ideas that will
be capable for me in generating new ideas and giving the ways of thinking as well as problem
solving successfully. The creativity encourages the self-expression and it is the appropriate
way for creating the personal feelings and emotions successfully.
Evaluation of learning process:
From the SWOT analysis, it is evident that my biggest strength is my communication
skill, which is helping me to deal with the patients. Now, it is important for me to analyze
Kolb’s experiential learning cycle in order to show how my learning process has taken place
in a systematic manner. Saritha et al. (2019) showed that according to Kolb, learning process
comprises of acquisition of abstract concepts, which can be applied in multiple situation. It is
to be noted here that there are four different learning styles, which play a pivotal role in the
way of promoting four different stages of learning. Lawrence and Tar (2018) shaded light on
the fact that Kolb’s experiential learning cycle shows that learning is a systematic process in
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which, knowledge is developed through transformation of experience. There are four
different parameters of Kolb’s learning cycle, which are as follows:
Figure 1: The Experiential Learning Cycle
(Source: Ben-Eliyahu 2019)
 Concrete Experience
This is the first stage of Kolb’s learning cycle, in which a new experience can be encountered
by people. In this stage, reinterpretation of previous experience also takes place. Seve et al.
(2018) highlighted by saying that this stage focuses on gaining concrete experience through
feeling and doing. It is to be noted in this context that in this stage, people can show
willingness and openness in order to learn new things by gaining new experience (Pozgar
2018). From the SWOT analysis, it is evident that I have good communication skill, which
has helped me to work collaboratively with the patients and other healthcare practitioners. In
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my care home, I was assigned to treat the elderly people. I have learned that collaborating and
communicating are the key of offering the patients with comprehensive care.
This communication skill has also helped me to explore the way, through which decision
can be taken collaboratively. With the assistance of effective communication skill, I have
become able to communicate with the patients properly by understanding their distinctive
needs and requirements. I felt that elderly people suffer from complicated health related
issues. Thus, maintaining communication with them is very much needed in terms of
understanding their health related issues and provide appropriate treatment for the sake of
promoting their health and wellbeing. In addition, effective communication skill has also
served me with the ability to have feeling regarding the roles and responsibilities of each
other, which is very much in order to improve team working in the healthcare organisation,
which is the key of responding towards any critical issue effectively. By maintaining healthy
communication with elderly people, I have become able to listen to their value and perception
properly and develop the treatment plan accordingly for the sake of mitigating health related
issues among them.
 Reflective Observation of the New Experience
As discussed by Vicary et al. (2017) this is the second stage of Experiential Learning
Cycle, which focuses on observation. Reflective observation is defined as the ability to think
regarding the observation at the time of gaining new experience. Reflective observation of the
new experience is the matter of utmost importance as it helps in identifying any kind of
inconsistency in between experience and understanding. In this stage, I have made senses
regarding my observation, which is the key of offering the patients with high quality of care. I
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have observed that effective communication with elderly people had resulted in increased
understanding about the experience of service users. In the care home, my role was to give
physical examinations, evaluate the health of service users and prescribe appropriate
medicine.
I have observed that providing support to the patients by maintaining good
communication with them is the key of acting as per their best interest. In addition, I have
also observed the fact that it is the duty of healthcare practitioners to protect the
confidentiality of people and ensure the fact that the nurses are aware regarding the
communication difficult. In this stage, my mentor has asked me to explain my own
observation. I have presented focused and organised description of my observation. Sujan et
al. (2017) showed that this is a positive learning experience. In this stage, I have learned
about the process of presenting own opinion. In addition, my mentor has also asked me to
reflect on my own experience. From this situation, I have gained understanding regarding the
fact that information sharing is the true essence of team working especially in the health and
social care sector. Through this process, I have become able to ensure smooth flow of
information within the team, which is the key of treating patients in a collaborative manner.
 Abstract Conceptualization
This is the third stage of experiential learning cycle, the process of transforming
experience into practical field takes place. Mohamed and Lamia (2018) highlighted by saying
that the aim this stage is to use reflection in order to promote self-development and problem
solving skill. In the area of self-directed learning, this stage help the people to identify their
need of learning and engage themselves in the process of active learning. While working with
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the team members, I have put stress on the importance of generating consciousness within me
and being deliberate about learning new things from experience. While working with the
elderly people, I have explored the fact that communication with the patients is the matter of
utmost importance as it helps in offering them with comprehensive care. In this stage, I have
presented didactic content in order to present the situation as well as my experience. In this
stage, I have gained constructive feedback from my mentor. In addition, he had also asked me
to follow up the patients on regular basis, which is the key of monitoring them constantly. I
think that team working had played a critical role for me to gain positive learning experience.
I also think that information sharing had also played a pivotal role for me to gain valuable
information about the health related issue of patients and take action accordingly to treat them
properly and thereby promote their health and wellbeing.
 Active Experimentation
This is the last stage of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, in which the process of
applying knowledge into actual field takes place. In this stage, the learners to try to place
what they have learned in order to respond towards diverse situation. Leistikow et al. (2017)
commented that in this stage, the final debriefing session takes place. In this stage, my mentor
has asked me to apply the collaboration process in the way of carrying out the intervention
process with students. This stage has helped me to experiment with a new approach on the
basis of feedback, which I have received from my mentor (Min et al. 2018). Earlier, there was
a conflict within the team. In this situation, I have applied the approach of structural
differences in order to align the team members in a single platform by resolving all the
conflicts. In this stage, interaction with the patients in the form of discussion had taken place.
This is the way, through which I have applied what I have learned in the way of treating
elderly people.
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Action plan for promoting personal learning:
Based on the personal SWOT analysis, it can be said that I lack time management
skill, which can make it difficult for me to deliver better care to the patients and thereby
enhance their degree of satisfaction. In addition, from the SWOT analysis, it can also be said
that I also lack personal organization skill, which is also a key factor in the way of presenting
oneself as the nurse properly. Thus, it is important for me to improve both these skills, which
can help me to be a successful healthcare practitioner. The action plan, which I have to follow
in order to improve both the skills is presented below:
Skills to be
improved
Activities Objectives Time
frame
Time
management
skill
Prioritizing the
most important
task
 Finding the most important task
 Determine the activity that require
immediate attention
 Completing the urgent work first
 Accomplishing everything as per the
goal
15
days
Planning for the
day in advance
 Making the list of task, which is to be
completed within a day
 Prioritizing the needs of patients
 Making a note of time, which is
required for the sake of completing the
task as per the list.
10
days
Learning to
delegate tasks
 Sorting the tasks that can be delegated
 Defining the tasks that are going to be
delegated
 Determining the in-charge
 Monitoring and encouraging
 Evaluating constantly
10
days
Implementation
of advanced
 Implement apps like Wunderlist, which
can help in prioritising the list of
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technology activities
 Nurse's Guide to Twitter is another
major technology of managing tasks
properly.
Self-
management
skill
Having self-
control
 Choosing the right response
 Having greater scope for developing
desire
 Improve experience
 Determining own outcome
5
days
Building
trustworthiness
 Respond towards any kind of critical
situation with utmost efficiency
 Showing proper attitude towards the
team members
 Create best outcome for all the parties.
 Having reliability from the people
Adaptability  Having high degree of resilience
 Dealing with constant changes
 Accessing the opportunity to lead the
team properly
 Allowing changes to be roadblock
10
days
Table 2: Action plan for improving time management and self-management skill
(Source: As created by the author)
Stressors associated with healthcare managers and recommendations on different
coping strategies
In the highly diversified health and social care sector, the healthcare practitioners are
facing extreme stress in the way of performing their regular functionality. Roberts et al
(2016) commented that extreme stress is affecting their ability to offer high quality of
treatment and care to the patients and promoting recurring depressive episodes among them.
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In addition, stress is also affecting their family by lowering the quality of life. If the intensity
of stress\s exceeds the thresholds of tolerance, it can lead the staffs to absent rapidly and even
quit job. This can result in reduced organisational productivity and commitment, which can
ultimately affect the quality of care for the patients. High work load is one of the major
stressors, associated with healthcare managers. According to Elwyn et al. (2018) excessive
work pressure is highly affecting the job satisfaction of them and even leading them to quit
job. It is to be noted here that the heterogeneous distribution of staffs, practiced by the
hospitals is increasing the rate of work load for the healthcare practitioners. The healthcare
practitioners are more prone towards extreme work stress as they used to work in a unique
environment.
Heavy work load is resulting in treatment and medication error as working for long
hour can generate a feeling of boredom among the patients. This is the way, through which
heavy workload is hampering the degree of productivity of healthcare managers and
ultimately leading them to compromise with the quality of care of the patients. Heavy
workload are causing the patients to experience adverse effect on their health and wellbeing.
Amelung (2019) opined that this is resulting in delay in admitting and discharging patients,
which is also affecting the public image of a healthcare organisation. Excessive work load
among the healthcare managers is causing delay in treating patients, which is resulting in
another complication among them. Heavy workload is also increasing the morbidity rate.
Sometimes, the healthcare managers have to deal with difficult cases, which is
another major stressor, related to healthcare managers. This can generate excessive stress
among the healthcare managers and hamper their degree of productivity. As discussed by
Minniti et al. (2016) working with difficult cases can generate a sense of monotony and
boredom among the healthcare managers, which ultimately affect their performance. Dealing
with challenging cases can also affect the behavioral and mental state of the people. Sudden
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