Safe And Effective Practice Assignment Sample

Introduction to Safe And Effective Practice Assignment Sample

Confidentiality is an important aspect in the professional ethics of healthcare. According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code (2018), healthcare practitioners have to ensure the privacy and personal information of patients and staff is protected. To maintain standards for professional practice, pseudonyms will be used to maintain the anonymity of patients and healthcare staff utilised in this reflective analysis.

To reflect about these experiences, this study employs two major reflective models: Driscoll’s Model of Reflection and Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. Driscoll’s model is suggestive of an easy method of assessing clinical situations quickly, whereas Gibbs’ cycle is a structured and in-depth analysis. These models will be used to test a real-life care episode to determine the effectiveness of reflective practice in the improvement of professional competencies.

Background

Definition of Safe and Effective Practice

Safe and effective practice in healthcare is the use of clinical procedures and professional conduct for patients’ safety, well-being and optimal outcomes of health. Such practice applies to standard guidelines, evidence-based interventions, and teamwork among all the professionals to attend to the patient’s issues holistically.

Interprofessional practice or work (IPW) is an integral part of safe and effective care, and here health care providers from different disciplines come together to provide holistic and patient patient-centred care (Cucolo et al. 2024). Effective IPW not only decreases the likelihood of medical errors but also creates an environment where people share decision-making, which in turn increases patient satisfaction and safety events.

Impact of IPW on Patient Care

The adoption of IPW in health care has made patient care a great step further by facilitating health care specialists to integrate their methods for effective planning of treatment. With collaborative teamwork, healthcare environments are better able to deal with complex health issues because different views and skills unite for a common care strategy.

There is a historical failure to communicate between interprofessional people and prioritise safety concerns, leading to compromised patient care, according to the Francis Report (Martin et al. 2023). While some progress has been made, these challenges remain, including the issue of transparent communication and building a culture of accountability. For this reason, regular assessment of IPW practices is still necessary to maintain high levels of patient safety.

Recent Case on Whistleblowing

A recent whistleblowing case at Royal Sussex County Hospital exposed serious problems to safe practices (Joe Pike & Charlotte Rowles, 2024). Patients had been died others had been “effectively maimed” because safety protocols were not in place and surgeons did not have the training to perform complex procedures. Also, the hospital was accused of creating a toxic work environment where safety issues were silenced and not discussed.

Reflective Practice

What is Reflective Practice?

Reflective practice in healthcare is the process through which healthcare providers engage in critical examination of their experiences and this enables them develop their clinical skills, decision making and professional development (McGleenon, and Morison, 2021). It concerns observing one’s thoughts, behaviors, and feelings and learning their implications for professional practice, so it can be beneficial for professional development as well as for the improvement of patients care.

Reflective practice is of great importance in healthcare because it motivates practitioners to draw lessons from both successful interventions and mistakes. Through reflection on clinical experiences, the healthcare professionals get self-awareness that helps them find what they are good at, what they need to work on and the areas of improvement. This constant process eventually leads to greater reflection/consideration/in depth approach for patient care.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning is an integral part of reflective practice as one achievers knowledge from personal experiences rather than passive observation. It actively involves in clinical scenarios, thinking through the consequence and taking the contents to the practice (Asad et al. 2021). Such an approach promotes critical thinking as well as promotes the professional evolution of healthcare professionals in this case; through practical experience.

Comparison of Models

Driscoll’s Model of Reflection

Driscoll’s Model of Reflection is organized in three simple but useful questions:

What? So what? Now what?

• What? -Mention the event or the experience.
• So what? - Analyze implications felt & learned.
• Now what? -Find ways to improve future practice.

Strengths:

Simple and straight forward to use and application in fast paced healthcare environments.

Promotes managed reflection without saturating the practitioner.

Weaknesses:

Have no depth when considering complex clinical situations.

May not be able to describe the emotional complexities of the practice of healthcare.

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is a more elaborate model consists of 6 stages: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan.

Description: Outlines the event.

Feelings: Reflects personal feelings during the event.
Evaluation: Considers the positives and negatives.

Analysis: Immersions into gaining knowledge about the cause of the outcomes.

Conclusion: Summarises key learnings.

Action Plan: Proposes steps for future improvement.

Strengths:

Highly detailed, promoting comprehensive reflection.

Step by step approach helps in structuring experience analysis.

Weaknesses:

Time-consuming because of its detail nature.

May be repetitive, especially with less complex situations.

Comparison:

Though both models promote reflection, they do so differently regarding depth and application. Driscoll’s model is more practical for instant responses, particularly in changing clinical scenario where quick decision making is required (Broomfield et al. 2021). Gibbs’ cycle is more comprehensive and organized, and is therefore the preferred method for complex or critical situations.

Driscoll’s model might be acceptable even when dealing with routine work, Gibbs’ model, in critical clinical events, when analysing emotions and results is critical.

Justification of Choice

For their complementary strengths of both Driscoll’s model of reflection and Gibbs’ reflective cycle are selected. Using Driscoll’s model, practitioners can review routine practises quite easily and quickly, which will enable them to learn from the everyday situations without any need for in-depth analysis (Galli and New, 2022). Gibbs’ cycle is of great use in more emotionally moving experiences, providing a full mainstream with which to consider actions, feelings, and results.

The use of these two models over others is a reflection of the need of flexibility in clinical practice (Jumu et al. 2022). Adoption of the both approaches provides for quick reflection when needed and deep analysis if the situation calls for it.

Reflection on Episode of Care

What Happened?

During one of my shifts, my assignment was a 6 year old patient who had a right femur fracture which has put him with a hip spica cast. The patient also had undiagnosed epilepsy, head lice and pressure sore on the left buttock, which needed constant observation and medication. The care plan for the patient on the CRS system indicated the administration of ibuprofen, paracetamol, levetiracetam, movicol and colecalciferol at certain intervals during the day.

After receiving the handover from the night nurse, I did a safety check to make sure that environment and equipment were safe for the patient. I also presented myself to the child and their parent, who I let them know that I would be looking after them for the day, with my assessor. After observing safety protocols, I checked the medication doses with BNFC guidelines and formulated the necessary doses. My assessor monitored the medication administration to attain accuracy as well as safety standards compliance.

During the shift I monitored the patient’s vital signs, reposition her to avoid further pressure sores, as well as the input and output. I made the observations and maintained clear documentation for continuity of care on the CRS system. Then ends process of care – preparation of the next dose of medication and collection of evening staff for the next shift.

Why Did It Happen?

This came under my routine duties where I was to provide complete care to a pediatric patient who had complex medical needs. The necessity to provide several medications (pain relievers, antiepileptics and so on) and, at the same time, to keep proper communication with the patient’s parent and the supervising nurse, combined, made this mission quite multidimensional.

Decision-making in this case consisted of following the guidelines such as , the 8Rs of safe administration or, making sure that our patient is comfortable and safe (Giordano et al. 2021). I worked with my assessor to confirm calculation of medication and dosage, this shows that teamwork will help to reduce medication errors.

Using Belbin’s Team Roles, my role was mostly that of an implementer who was concerned about the action-oriented function of the care plan. My assessor played the role of a coordinator, ensuring that all jobs are done properly. Moreover, here we can refer to Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development as we progress from forming (initial briefing) to storming (addressing concerns about the dosage) and finally performing (delivering care with effectiveness).

How Did You Feel?

During care, I was scared to begin with because I had never had to handle a child with multiple medical needs before. I was scared of balancing pain management with epilepsy control because it was too much complex and I understood any mistake could have direct consequences to the child’s well-being (Kawakami et al. 2022). I was especially worried about how to calculate the medication doses correctly because even the smallest error may cause adverse effects.

My assessor’s supervision of me gave reassurance and guidance. Knowing that I had support, I was able to concentrate more on the task than be overwhelmed by pressure. Things started anxious, but I felt accomplished after being able to give the medicines with the right dosage. Such an appreciative response from the parent also upped my confidence, making me feel valued for the hard work put in.

How Did the Patient/Team Feel?

As a young kid, the patient was naturally upset during the medication, especially because of the strange surroundings in the hospital and the strange cast. The parent, however, who was visibly distressed, was obliging and grateful for being provided with clear communication and guidance during the whole care episode (Fogliato et al. 2022). The comfort from the assessor and me eased some of the parent’s worry.

The working team dynamic was positive as the requirement from me to the Assessor guaranteed accurate and safe completion of tasks. Using IPP principles, we ensured free communication between each other and cross-checked dosages of medication to minimise errors. This definition conforms to patient-centeredness since not only was the physical well-being considered, but also the emotional needs of the parent and the child. If we think about it, the fact is clear that creating a rapport and the evidence of empathy helped positively influence the family experience.

What Would You Change?

After thinking about it, I realised that I should have communicated with the patient more clearly and so the patient would have felt less intimidated (Schünemann et al. 2022). Despite explaining the procedure to the parent, I did not involve the child as such in the conversation, thus allowing her to feel at ease to some extent. Research-based practice tells us that even with simple terms, involving pediatric patients during care discussions helps to reduce anxiety and improve cooperation.

Although teamwork with my assessor was successful, there could be a more proactive initiative to involve the parent in regular control, for example, repositioning to prevent pressure sores. It could have helped to instil in the parent more feelings of involvement and control if this parent had been allowed to do some simple tasks.

What Have You Learned?

Thinking over this care event, I have understood the need for synchronisation of professional duties with compassionate talking. Reflection deepens professional knowledge by critically analysing experiences. The idea of reflective practice is a way of enhancing professional judgment which corresponds to my feeling of assessing my communication approach). Reflection is a process of lifelong learning that was relevant as I identified areas of development. This experience has made me realise that the application of reflective models such as Gibbs’ in both analysing past incidents and in guiding future practice improvement.

Action Plan

For the improvement of the communication skills, I will practice using child-friendly language on care routines as described in pediatric nursing guidelines. I will also take the active participation of parents in care tasks to enhance family involvement (Cook et al. 2024). To do this, I will enrol on a workshop on pediatric patient communication over the next month (SMART).

Discussion and Critical Analysis

Importance of Reflection

Reflection occurs as an important process in healthcare because professionals can critically look at their actions and carry on further personal and professional development. Practising reflective practice develops self-awareness such that healthcare officers may identify strengths and what they need to develop. In turn, this process helps to cultivate emotional intelligence and improve communication skills, which in the end would benefit patient care.

Impact on Safe Practice

Professionals, when they critically analyse their approach to care, seek to identify possible side effects arising from the approach so that they can then get to develop measures that would prevent such a problem in future. This never-ending process is key in creating safer healthcare settings.

The implementation of interprofessional practice (IPP) within reflective analysis also underpins safe practice, because it stimulates collaboration and the bringing to bear of diversified professional views (Kock et al. 2021). Thinking about teamwork and communication, healthcare workers will be able to find loopholes in the work of teams, and take steps to make more coordinated and patient-centred care.

Personal Growth and Learning

With the use of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, I was able to break down the care episode and determine what aspects needed improvement. Both the learning from experience and the formulation of what to do in future practice were made easier by this structured approach (Pieper et al. 2021). This reflective practice has re-awakened my passion to offer compassionate patient-centred care.

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Conclusion

Safe and successful practice is a pillar of healthcare, enabling patients to receive high-quality evidence-based care prioritizing placing safety first and foremost. In this study, it critically reflected on a care episode from a 6-year-old who had a hip spica cast and epilepsy. With the help of Driscoll’s Model of Reflection and Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, it reflected on the details behind patient-centred care with clinical interpersonal complications.

Reflective practice is crucial to the healthcare sector because it allows professionals to examine their work, realise what it is that they do, and create strategies that will help them improve their practice. It helps to be able, through reflection, to better understand why anxiety was so deeply based in the complexity of the situation and the amount of responsibility that was involved. Using Driscoll’s model, it was possible to analyse the episode by individual elements what it was all about, why it was essential and what lessons could be obtained.

Though Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle provided a more detailed analysis, it helped to explore feelings and critically appraise the positive and areas that needed improvement. This model was especially helpful in exploring the emotional dimensions of the care episode, with being responsible and feeling pressurized to care safely. Systematically reflecting on the experience, reffective teamwork, open communication and patient involvement were necessary components that would lead to positive outcomes.

A focus of learning from the reflection was the importance of clear and caring communication, especially when dealing with pediatric patients. At the beginning, the primary attention was on technical side of medication administration but the look back on the situation helped to understand that more active participation of the child in the process of taking care might have reduced her anxiety. This experience has shored up the desire to use child-friendly conversations and involve parents more meaningfully in care routines.

Another significant lesson was the value of interprofessional collaboration. The positive synergy illustrated how working as a team has improved safety and quality care of patients. It became clear from implementing Belbin’s Team Roles backwards that the respective roles were essential to be supportive and deliver collaboratively, especially on complex cases. This form of understanding will be my guide to develop the collaborative relationship in later practice.

Reference List

Journals

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