PORTFOLIO SUMMARY (REFLECTIVE ESSAY)
This essay is a reflective account on the progress I have made during the on-going nursing training programme I have embarked upon. The areas I intend to cover include the usefulness of assessment feedback for facilitating growth and for understanding the areas that need to be improved in my learning, the extent of the development of key transferable skills, an overview of meetings with my personal development tutor and issues related to my personal learning. Finally, areas for future development will be identified with a view on how to address them, all of which will go towards improving my personal and indeed professional development.
Individuals may spend a lot of time thinking over experiences they have had and things they have to do. However, within nursing it is believed that in order to progress, these thoughts should be turned into guided reflection enabling one to improve them in the future. The essential purpose of reflective practice is to enable the practitioner to access, understand and learn through, his or her lived experiences and, as a consequence, to take ‘congruent action towards developing increasing effectiveness within the context of what is understood as desirable practice’ (Johns 2000, p3).
As a mature student with experience of an access course I felt I had developed self-discipline, which is important for effective learning. Throughout this course I have gradually developed strength and confidence in all the transferable skills, such as communication, effective learning, and teamwork and information technology. These skills have been developed through both the coursework and the placement.. I felt confident about my verbal communication whereas I was concerned about my literacy skills which are impeded by my dyslexia. In my case dyslexia results in poor spelling, grammatical errors and difficulties with organising work. It should not affect my understanding of my subject, although it can take me time to absorb what I read.
The course has helped me to recognize the importance of all aspects of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, such as body language, touch, facial expression and eye contact. It has shown me how crucial non-verbal communication can be in expressing meaning. During my placement visit at the hospital I put into practice my communication skills which enabled me to interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds. For example, while I was working in the ward with a staff nurse, I observed through facial expression that a patient was in pain. I went over to ask her what the problem was. She told me she was in pain. I immediately reported it to the nurse in charge. After this, I made her comfortable and continued to communicate with the patients. From this scenario I have learnt that good communication skills are important in delivering health care services. Good therapeutic communication can help to relieve patient pain and anxiety.