Of Personal Development, Critical Thinking and Enhanced Quality of Care Essay

In this reflection paper, I would like to relate some unforeseen events during the course as well as my experience of being assessed. The medical practitioner assigned to me was a consultant of medicine for geriatric patients. The fact that he is not a physiotherapist may be considered an unforeseen occurrence. I did not really expect him to come from a different field. The similarity in language and way of thinking of practitioners from the same field would have facilitated the process. At first, similar to my feelings in collaborating with my nurse classmates, I had the same feeling of hesitation in associating with my DMP. However, as the course progressed, I realized that he could be a very good mentor. He patiently guided me throughout all the pertinent tasks that I had to carry out. I attended the clinic with him at Saint Pancrase Hospital for the morning Clinic, which finished at twelve o’clock, then the Ward round from two o’clock at Saint Pancrase hospital for two hours. I then went to University College London Hospital for My OSCE after four o’clock at the T10 ward. For the last fifteen years I have been working in a community, this is my first time to examine a patient thoroughly in a hospital, not only to examine the patient but also to perform my Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Since he wanted to examine me on COPD patient with some complications, he was right that it was hard on me. Yet I did it and enjoyed the experience despite the situation under pressure. It was very long observation from my DMP, which again for long time I did not observe, was indeed a complicated but a true learning experience. I am grateful to my DMP and the way he taught me. I enjoyed his teaching, his approach, and his skills as a consultant were excellent. I will miss his teaching. My experience with him made me see the value of having a competent mentor regardless of the field that one is interested in. The presence of a coach and mentor made learning easier because it made me confident that I can rely on someone who is an expert and possesses a learning attitude, as well as one who is willing to help me out in the process. Admittedly, there were some difficulties in relating with him at the beginning because we were from different fields of study. But again, this experience is a test of flexibility in adjusting to the demands of the situation. I my best to work with him and follow the guidelines and advice which he gave me. In the course of our interaction, I have learned to become more comfortable in dealing with him. There is value in having a good working relationship with one’s superiors and colleagues; it makes the learning journey so much easier. I also feel that I should further develop a mentoring relationship with an expert in this field to be able to reach my full my potential. Empirical research from both educational and industrial settings suggests that students and employees both have increased probability of success if they have had a mentor. While mentors are effective for everyone, sometimes organisations implement mentoring programs to support particular parts of their populations, often newer employees. And while mentoring programs are always established with the best of intentions, their results are often mixed (Werner, 2004). To make the most of my clinical exposure, I hope to establish a strong mentoring relationship with a doctor or a medical allied professional who will be able to coach me on increasing competence in my clinical practice. I have realised that coaching and mentoring are very effective ways of developing my leadership potential because it does not only develop me in terms of technical expertise, but it will also allow me to actually experience how these experts undergo the coaching and mentoring exercise. I have also realised that a novice in any medical allied field acquires clinical judgment and skill over time. Knowledge is refined through actual clinical experience; this moves her from a rule-based, context-free stage to a more analytical, logical and intentional pattern of thinking (Benner, Tanner, & Chelsea, 1996). To effectively provide a conducive learning environment, these medical professionals need venues for examining and developing their problem solving and reasoning skills towards making clinical judgments (Miller, 1992). I realised that such venues transpire through numerous learning experiences. In particular, I am contemplating about being able to practice in a large hospital to permit such comprehensive clinical exposure. I have also realised that participating in varied learning experiences offers the chance to apply classroom theory in the clinical setting. This was a point that was shared with me by my DMP. Clinical experiences enable the formation of meaningful related information on the basis of what the nurse has learned in the classroom. There is an expectation that with more experience, this novice can move from the level of advanced beginner to the level of competence by program completion. Clinical judgment is defined as nursing decisions about which areas to assess, analyzing health data, prioritizing which task to do, and who should carry it out (Carnaveli & Thomas, 1993). For clinical judgment to be assessed as sound, it should be arrived at using critical thinking and logical reasoning, that will enable the deduction of valid conclusions, and the decisions that may be borne from these. I am thankful for this experience as they have given me profound insight on the areas that I could further develop to become a more competent professional in this field.