Custom «Personal and Professional Development» Essay Paper

Introduction

Modern society perceives a specialist not only as a person who has the knowledge, personal and professional skills, but also as a person who can effectively act in difficult and unusual situations, make decisions independently, develop creatively and improve him/herself, practice tolerant attitudes towards others, and be able to communicate with people. These and other professionally important properties and personal qualities determine the professional competence of a future medical assistance professional.

The aim of the essay is to focus on the personal development of a medical assistance practitioner in order to get an understanding of the human science, decision-making process, time management, support provided to patients and their relatives, as well as other relevant skills that have been acquired in the learning process. The results of the findings will allow understanding the correlation between these features and outlining to what extent the role of the healthcare assistant can be changed to a student nurse in children.

Basic Traits and Skills Gained during Personal and Professional Development

In the process of professional education, I have managed to realize that it involves the implementation of professional functions of a specialist and that the specialist develops his/her personality by forming a personal value system. Important personal qualities that influence the formation of a future specialist and the quality of performing the professional activity are the classical humanist ideals laid down in the profession of a medical assistance practitioner (Chilton et al. 2012).

•  

  0

  Preparing Orders

•  

  0

  Active Writers

•  

  0%

  Positive Feedback

•  

  0

  Support Agents

 

Title of your paper

Type of service

Type of assignment

Number of pages

-

+

Academic level

Timeframes

Spacing

Currency

USD

• Total price

Continue to order

 

I have managed to understand that the process of developing the mental processes and mental states occurs spontaneously while studying at the higher education institution. This process is oriented towards the purposeful formation of personal qualities, which can be classified into two levels (Taylor 2013). The first level is internal, as it reflects a personal attitude to the personality as a person and a specialist. The internal side of the personal structure of the future specialist consists in the comprehension of the internal freedom, responsibility and the possibilities for self-realisation. To do this, it is required to improve personal skills, be self-confident, work on personal emotions in order to release from emotional tension, and be purposeful. The second level is external, as it characterizes the attitude towards a patient.

The possession of professional knowledge has allowed me to outline a vision of a true professional whom I can become. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to develop qualities that would help the professional to perform a diagnostic, prognostic, therapeutic, projective, mediating, preventative and research functions (Bulman & Schutz 2013).

The abovementioned statements have allowed indicating that the medical assistant practitioner should develop personally and professionally important qualities, which will contribute to their integral personal formation as a professional. Taking into account that a person’s qualities are his/her properties, which manifest themselves differently depending on the existing conditions, and affect the vital activity in cognitive, emotional and volitional areas, and individual psychological characteristics, it is possible to realise that the most important elements of the professional activity of a medical worker are the qualities of personality (Scott & Spouse 2013). Their development and integration in the process of professional development lead to the formation of a system of professionally and personally important qualities.

Professionally important qualities are individual traits of a subject of labour, which affect the effectiveness of professional activity and the success of its assimilation. One’s abilities are also a part of professionally important qualities but they do not limit the entire volume of significant qualities (Cox, Hill & Lack 2013).

Thus, I have managed to acquire these qualities, and I have found out more about a combination of various structural and functional components of the psyche that determine the personality, style of activity and behaviour in a particular situation or activity. The outcome of the educational process has been the understanding that I should pay attention to the attitude of other people and the entire society, be diligent and neat, be ready for personal criticism and overestimation of self-esteem, and be modest but not arrogant (Barker, Linsley & Kane 2016). Additionally, I have managed to show independence and subordination, endurance and courage during the education. These qualities will never be taken away from me. However, I realize that they need to be maintained on a coherent level, as well as constantly improved as it will not only help raise my professional level but also improve my personality (Taylor 2016). The learning process has also allowed realizing that my profession requires adherence to the principles, determination, benevolence, rigor, empathy and a subconscious feeling of sympathy (Barker 2016). These are the indicators of a successful medical assistant professional.

Moreover, I found out that a good knowledge of reality, both internal and external, an understanding of the objectives of the organisation and its departments, the ability to outline problems and highlight the most significant aspects in them, and receptiveness of novelty to change are the features that currently distinguish a modern professional. This is impossible without the possession of mental abilities above the average level, which include the abilities to analyse the situation, make decisions, and accept responsibility for their implementation, as well as be persistent, energetic and resolute in work (Woolnough & Fielden 2017).

The Ways of Improvement of Professional Skills

The importance of the development of professionally important qualities by a medical assistant practitioner is determined by the need for selection and quality training of health professionals, a competent placement of personnel and the role that medical assistant practitioners perform in the health care system (Kline & Preston-Shoot 2012).

Thus, I have applied the skills in the time management in order to organise my time effectively and be able to benefit from every action and minute spent during the day. Apparently, the success of treatment will be greater if the medical assistant practitioner and a patient are committed to one goal and assist each other. This can only be obtained if the mutuality in communication is accomplished. The psychological equality does not mean interchangeability because the position of a health worker is determined by his/her knowledge, skills and legally fixed responsibilities (Manley, McCormack & Wilson 2013). The patient should feel him/herself not only as an object of medical manipulation but also as an active participant in the medical activities in order to cooperate with the medical assistant practitioner. Thus, to understand the human nature and be able to form a partnership with patients, I try to respect their interests, and have an acceptable serious position about personalised relation to patients and their studying. Additionally, I try to establish a trust relationship with a patient, which is based on honesty and truthfulness, as well as to show that both parties share the responsibility for the ways and outcomes of the treatment.

To support patients, I try to show sincere interest in them, understand their merits and achieve a maximum approval by emphasising the importance of treatment. Additionally, I understand that it is required to realise the meaning of health consumers’ actions instead of criticising them, be friendly and address the patients with respect (Rosenberg & Weissman 2013). Additionally, it is required to be able to support patients’ conversation if needed, which will help them relax and start trusting the health care process. Also, I try to listen to the patient carefully, as well as properly formulate questions and help patients to formulate statements about their health condition.

Interrelations in a medical team are considered to be not only one of the essential factors for the productive work but also the factor that helps preserve the health and peace of mind of all its members. A professional is an employee who possesses such abilities as self-organization, responsibility and professional reliability in addition to knowledge, skills, qualities and experience, as well as a certain level of competence (Poole 2015). Professionally important qualities are personality qualities included in the process of activity and positively influencing the effectiveness of its implementation (Aldridge & Wanless 2012). As a result, to improve the decision-making process and become an authoritative leader, I try to develop and improve qualities that a leader must possess. These are personal, professional, organisational and business qualities. To maintain a successful managerial activity, I understand that I need to have a sufficiently high level of intellect, which will allow me to perceive and analyse diverse information, quickly grasp the meaning of documents, clearly formulate the objectives of the activity, assess the consequences of decisions made, predict the situations, organise the activities of other people, etc. At the same time, an important feature of a managerial way of thinking is the ability to produce new ideas and recognise the elements of originality and creativeness in other people’s performance. The system character, analytical thinking, flexibility, and plasticity are also equally important in this case, as it allows abandoning habitual behaviour stereotypes in changing the situations, as well as being ready for learning, and mastering new knowledge, techniques, and methods of work (Bach & Grant 2015). To achieve these goals, I try to acquire more knowledge by reading additional literature, communicating with other professionals on the online forums, trace innovations of the medical area, and communicate more with those who have already achieved high professional targets in my area of proficiency. This group of qualities includes professional qualities, in other words, the competence. This is a system of special knowledge and practical skills, which combines general, technical, economic, legal, informational and psycho-pedagogical areas (Grainger 2016).

Finally, I try to manage personal emotions and behaviour, which helps in decision making, time management and the communication with patients. Maintaining a good health is also a very important goal, which I try to achieve. It is justified by the fact that a good health condition helps to be vigorous and resilient, successfully coping with stress (Jasper, Rosser & Mooney 2013). However, it is not enough to have only a good health condition to make decisions and be a good leader. It is also required to be an emotionally healthy person. To achieve this goal, I try to express positive emotions in my daily activities. It helps me to be empathetic, which makes me human, and self-confident, which adds solidity to my personality (Barr & Dowding 2015).

Transformation from the Health Care Assistant to a Student Nurse in Children

The main tasks of the medical staff in the treatment department are the establishment of the correct diagnosis and conduction of an effective treatment. The success of treatment depends on an accurate cooperation of doctors, middle and junior medical personnel, as well as the implementation of therapeutic treatment along with sanitary and anti-epidemic regimes (Whelan & Hughes 2016).

Role and Responsibilities of a Health Care Assistant

A health care assistant is a person who has been trained in the nursing education program and has a sufficient qualification, as well as the right to perform responsible patient care duties. The tasks assigned to the health care assistant are extremely versatile (Alsop 2013).

Thus, as a health care assistant, I should be ready to carry out a direct management of the activities of the junior staff of the department, timely replace nurses who do not want to perform their duties, keep records and ensure the safety of the property and medical equipment within the department, as well as control the timeliness and quality of doctors’ appointments (Peate 2012). Additionally, I should know the ways of how to control the quality of sanitary treatment of the newly arrived patients, compile information about patients’ transfer, timely archive the histories of those patients who have already checked out from the hospital, and conduct a working schedule for the employees of the department (Peate 2017). Moreover, I may also need to supervise the implementation of the rules of internal labour regulations and compliance with anti-epidemic measures by the junior personnel, ensure and strictly monitor the compliance with the rules of aseptic and antiseptic by the personnel in the department, write out requirements for necessary medicaments, materials and tools to the pharmacy of the hospital, and monitor their proper use (Kessler, Heron & Dopson 2012). My profession also requires ensuring correct storage and accounting of potent, poisonous and psychotropic substances, keeping the necessary accounting and reporting documentation, and monitoring the compliance with the rules of ethics and deontology by the junior personnel (Allen 2015). Finally, I should be able to supervise the implementation of hygienic training and education of the population, as well as encourage others to lead a healthy life, ensure proper nutrition of patients, and organise and control the timeliness of medical examinations by patients and the personnel (Barnes 2012).

The overview of the responsibilities of a health care assistant allows making a conclusion that the role of the assistant when dealing with the patients is reflected in the ability to properly build relationships with a particular patient by convincing the health consumer to comply with the regimen of medication and using verbal and non-verbal techniques. Only a joint and well-coordinated work can become an effective tool in any treatment process (Luker, Orr & McHugh 2012).

Role and Responsibilities of a Student Nurse in Children

The treatment and preventive care of children is a system that ensures the organisation of medical supervision of healthy children and adolescents, as well as provides them with a qualified medical care. The general principles of the organisation of such assistance are access and free use of its basic types, the synthesis of medical and preventive work, the precinct principle of medical care, the use of dispensary method, the sequence of outpatient and inpatient care, and the consistency of a specialized medical support (Lambert, Long & Kelleher 2012).

A care for a sick child is an integral part of the medical process, which affects the effectiveness of therapeutic measures and the recovery of the patient. The care for a child is carried out by the health care workers and the patients’ relatives. The relationship of medical workers with the patient, his/her relatives, with each other and the society should be based on deontological principles. The understanding of these principles is one of the necessary conditions for a successful treatment. The deontological basis of the medical worker’s behaviour, the deontology of communication, the patient confidentiality, the deontology of medical records, scientific research and the application of the latest scientific achievements, as well as the deontology of the medical errors analysis are not only studied in classes but are also acquired during the entire educational process at the universities (Hughes & Lyte 2015).

Therefore, the first thing that I need to learn about how to treat children is the proper management of medical records as it is one of the primary responsibilities of the nurse in children. This is because the documents contain data about the child’s health condition, the diseases he/she has had, and the medical and diagnostic measures taken. In addition, medical documents are of legal significance. A correct and accurate management of medical records depends on the correct evaluation of the medical history and, therefore, the correct diagnosis and the appointment of an adequate treatment method. A student nurse in children should be responsible for the proper management of medical records.

To perform the responsibilities of the student nurse in children, I should be aware of the following responsibilities. First, there is a need to know the specifics of medical care in paediatrics, be able to understand the basic concepts of medical deontology and ethics, be acquainted with the norms of legal responsibility of a young specialist, and know the requirements for medical personnel when working with children (Glasper, McEwing & Richardson 2015). Second, one should be able to analyse the psychological features of children of different age groups and shape the idea of the basic psychotherapeutic approaches for young patients (Black, Curzio & Terry 2014). Third, I should master the skills of establishing psychological contact with patients and their relatives. Fourth, there is a need to demonstrate the ownership of the basic deontological principles of a medical specialist and the principles of professional subordination in paediatrics, get acquainted with the functional duties of junior medical personnel in hospitals and be able to make a list of the main elements of the nurse’s performance in the paediatric department (Peate & Gormley-Fleming 2014). Fifth, one should determine the maintenance of care for sick children and its role in the structure of medical activities, be able to conduct the interrogation of the patient and allocate the main complaints as well as to fill in the title page of the medical history (Wheeler 2013). Sixth, there is a need to be acquainted with the list of medical records of the paediatric hospital, the rules of reception and patients’ registration, as well as to understand the main sections of medical records in order to select important information contained in these documents (Taylor & Webster-Henderson 2016). Finally, one should be able to analyse the information contained in the medical documents in the children’s hospitals. It includes the history of a healthy child’s development, the card of preventive vaccinations, the journal of dispensary groups and visits to a doctor’s office, and others (Thurston 2014).

Apart from the professional training, the student nurse should have much patience and love children in order to establish good relationships with them. It is important to have an idea of the degree of correspondence of the child’s mental and physical development and understand his/her personal qualities. As an example, frequently ill children look more infantile from the early age compared to their healthy peers and, therefore, they require a special attitude during the treatment (Macqueen et al. 2012). This is the reason why I should understand the role of this kind of assistance in order to compensate the absence of parents and loved ones, which can be experienced by children during the treatment.

Conclusion

Nurses are the closest assistants of doctors. They must understand the meaning of medical prescriptions and preventive measures. Nurses should create a favourable environment around patients and help them strengthen the belief in the quick recovery by showing the health care assistants’ optimism and tranquillity. The nurses should take into account that their appearance, tactfulness, and affability with patients reinforce the belief in their speedy recovery.

The essay has discussed the features of the personal and professional development, which I have managed to undergo during the educational process in order to better understand the human science, decision-making process, time management, support to patients and their relatives, as well as other important aspects. The results of the findings have allowed realizing the correlation between these features and outlining the differences between my responsibilities as the heath care assistant and the student nurse in children.