TRANSITIONS TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
ASSIGNMENT
Critically reflect upon the challenges involved in delivering person centred care. You should base your reflection, as far as possible, upon your clinical experience of managing the care of a group of patients. (1800 words)
It is recommended that you select and use a model of reflection as a framework to guide your writing. It is not necessary to describe the history of reflection and it is not advisable to mix models. You should choose a model which you feel best assists you in your personal reflections, but also the type of experience you are writing about.
For your critical writing you will consider the range of communication, management and leadership skills covered during this module as they pertain to your chosen clinical practice experience. In order to achieve the level of depth required by this assignment I would recommend that you select no more than two aspects of management or leadership that impact your ability to deliver person centred care, for example time management, record keeping or risk management, prioritisation or leadership style.
Key Elements
Select and analyse appropriate literature to support your writing.
Demonstrate and discuss an understanding of the challenges and the skills you employed whilst dealing with the situation or the shift in question.
It is not necessary for you to describe the patho-physiology of the patients’ conditions. This will leave you significantly short of words for critical analysis of your experience.
Reflect and discuss the wider skills that you utilised, relating it to relevant theory.
Discuss for the situation, any areas for future development based on the skills you employed during this experience. You may find it helpful to make use of tools such as the NHS Clinical Leadership Self -Assessment tool to evaluate your skill set. This may also give you inspiration for the elements of the reflective model that look to the future of your personal growth and development.
Consider the experience as a whole, your part in it, your strengths and weaknesses, what you learned about yourself, what you learned about your colleagues, or the challenges facing your profession.
Do not forget to provide the marker with an insight into the context of your chosen experience. It was your experience and without details the marker cannot guess what happened or why you made certain decisions.
(This is not an exhaustive list)
What is appropriate literature?
Clinical guidelines/policies
Nursing assessment tools (referenced of course
Journal articles
Clinical research studies
Review Articles
Books
How much literature should you use?
Try to avoid ‘over quoting’ or ‘under quoting’, it is your voice, your opinions, reflections, analysis that the marker is interested in. Avoid presenting a long list of “who said what” in relation to a broad topic such as communication.
Using appropriate literature well is more important than using lots of literature!
Successful students typically
Structure the essay clearly – and utilise the framework of the model of reflection. Provide the marker with enough insight into the chosen scenario that they understand fully the challenges being described and analysed. The framework is exactly that – it will help you to keep on point and maintain a tight structure.
Engage in the literature: and do not just use superficial quotes without comment or evaluation.
Offer analysis of the significance of the events that occurred, not just describe a busy shift.
Review your work against the marking criteria section by section.
Proof read the essay before submission. Ensure that once written, each reference is scrutinised to ensure that avoidable errors.
