Unit 23 Employability Skills Pass Copy

Table 1

Column A

Key responsibilities at work

Column B

Performance objectives at work (your own effectiveness)

Column C

Make recommendations for your own improvement

Column D

Effective motivational techniques you use at work

Column E

Communication skills needed at work

1.General care of the patients

There are several responsibilities which can be categorised under this segment. Following are the responsibilities:

• Admission and discharge of a patient from the hospital.
• Ensuring proper assistance and instructions to the patient as well as their relatives about the health condition (Barker, 2013).
• Administering prescribed medicine to the patient as per the schedule decided by the doctor.
• Taking daily care of patient related to his day to day activities such as food, bath, other cleanliness etc.
• Ensuring that proper pre and post-operative care is provided to the patient.
• Escorting patient to and from various departments of health check-up.

As a result of the SMART objectives set in previous appraisal cycle, I was able to fulfil several key responsibilities highlighted in col. A.

However it is important to know that performance objectives is a specific end result that contributes to the success of NHS Hospital and that an employee is expected to accomplish or produce. In this regard, following are the key performance objectives:

First major responsibility was to ensure flawless general care of the patient. Hence, in order to achieve this I worked closely with other 5 nurses allocated for the general care of the patient. During the period of 1 year I handled 95 patients. For these 95 patients I was completely responsible for their medication, pre and post-operative rehabilitation etc.

As part of nursing staff in NHS Hospital, I could have further improved the quality of care provided to the patients. As a nurse, I need to have more control on effective communication, especially when communication has to be done with patient and relatives. Patients are in a different state of mind while they are treated, hence they have to be dealt with patience and accordingly communication should be done, so that patient is not offended.

Motivation is an important aspect of work. During first year of work, I was motivated completely by learning objective, which means, that I was focused on implementing my theoretical knowledge in real life scenario, and to ensure that general care of patients in done in better way. Hence, I was able to understand the theoretical knowledge on the health care by its application in real world scenario. 

Communication skills are an important aspect for a health care professional like nurse.

While general care of patients, at times I use various methods of communications to interact with patients, their relatives and doctors treating the patients.

Voice call: In order to interact with other care staff or nurse, I use voice call within the organisation. It helps in quick communication and reduces the time wastage.

2.Ward management

• Ensuring that proper hand over or taking charge of the shift is done, with all the relevant information discussed.
• Ensuring that the ward which is responsibility of the nurse is clean and tidy.
• Ensuring that supplies such as bandage, splint etc. are always prepared for any emergency situation (Bolton, 2009).
• Focus on routine care of and cleaning of various apparatus used in the ward such as dressing trolleys, cupboards etc.

Another major performance objective which I achieved was successful management of wards in NHS. As a nurse, during my initial first year, I was responsible for more 3 wards among which I took care of 95 patients. In order to support my other workers and have better understanding of the work profile related to ward management, every month I worked in night shifts for 15 days.

In terms of ward management, at times I felt that there was need for better coordination among other staff members handling the ward management, especially during the shift change. I need to be clear that during shift change proper hand over needs to be done and all the information should be recorded in a file rather than having a verbal take over. I need to be more professional in this regard.

Another major motivation factor was related to growth. This can be understood by Maslow’s Hierarchy needs. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are several levels of needs which a human being wants to get fulfilled. Hence, with job in NHS hospital, my need for job safety and money was fulfilled for at least next few years, however, motivation for getting future growth, rewards and recognition in my work profile was a major motivation factor for me in order to perform my key responsibilities as a nurse.

Face to face discussion: With patients, relatives and doctors I focus more towards the face to face discussion. With doctors it is important to understand their instruction regarding care of a patient, and in order to achieve that it is recommended to have a face to face discussion as it eliminates and possibility of confusion, which might arise during voice communication mode itself.

3. General responsibilities include:

• Assuming that nurse is one year old in the organisation, hence she should be capable of guiding other new nurses and domestic staff of the hospital.
• Should be capable of assisting new staff nurses (Cassidy, 2006).
• Should be proactively involved in other professional activities conducted by the hospital.

Lastly, one major performance objective which I fulfilled was related to my general responsibilities. As a nurse I not only took care of patients assigned to me, but I also worked proactively towards adding value to NHS Hospital’s professional expertise. I attended 5 seminars on nursing practise in a period of 1 year. Knowledge gained from these seminars was used by me in improving my day to day nursing activities.

As part of my general responsibilities, I feel that there is greater need to be focused on use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools to improve the services. Hence, accordingly I need to learn various software applications such as nursing staff application, which takes care of hand over activities between two shifts. 

However, I can feel more motivated, if there are certain aspects which are taken care off. Firstly, efforts made by me as a nurse should be recognised more by the management. It will help me in gaining confidence about my work, secondly from time to time working conditions for the nurses should be reviewed and it should be aligned in a way that as a nurse I can get more balance in the work/life harmony aspect.

Electronic communication (e-mail, fax): There were several instances, where I had to take part in seminars or consult with any other visiting doctor. In such scenario I used electronic communication mode such as e-mails and fax, as it helped me to conduct a speedy communication and detailed response from the concerned person.

Table 2

6. Solutions to problems

7. Evaluate Tools and Methods for developing solution

8. Strategies for solving problems

9. Time management Strategies

• First problem which I faced was related to effective communication skills. For example, there was one instance when a patient’s relative was to be communicated about the seriousness of the medical condition. However, I was unable to do this through a face to face communication as I was nervous, and dropped an e-mail which was not read by the relative. Due to this there was delay in the communication process. In order to resolve this issue with the communication strategy I focused on quality improvement methods such as FADE (Focus, Analyse, Develop and Execute). Hence, I firstly accepted the problem, and then developed a 30 days plan in association with my senior nurse manager who helped me to identify various situations which I might encounter as a nurse and the way I need to handle those situations and communicate effectively based on the type of situation I face.
• Second problem which I faced was related to poor coordination with other staff members and co-workers. For example there was one instance, where I had to take charge of the shift from other nurse, however due to incomplete information provided by the nurse I was unable to provide medicine timely to one of the patient. In order to handle this situation I ensured that during shift change, I took complete detail on each and every patient being handled. I focused specifically on the medication part and the medical condition, so that no complication arises due to issue in medication.
• Another, problem I faced was related to ineffective use of information communication and technology (ICT). For example while taking charge of the shift from other nurse; I can make effective use of patient management system which has all the record of a particular patient, thus reducing any sort of confusion in shift change. Hence, in order to handle this situation I focused on learning these systems which helped me to reduce the confusion and paper work which was involved during the shift change.

In order to overcome a problem and develop a solution, following tools have been used by me and my team.

• Firstly use of The Problem Solving Process. As part of this process, focus was on following stages:
• Clarification of the problem.
• Identification of number of possible solutions.
• Assessment of possible solutions to determine the most suitable solution.

Hence as part of the above approach, I was able to identify the issue related to use of ICT tools in the patient management. Out of various approaches, I along with other team members facing similar issues, decided to attend a dedicated training session on the application rather than opting for an ad-hoc approach to learn the application. This helped us in better and detailed understanding of the PMS (patient management system) used in NHS Hospital and also helped us in improving the work efficiency.

• Another approach to resolve the problem and develop an appropriate solution was use of FADE approach. Hence, in order to resolve the problem of coordination this approach was used (Gravells, 2010).
• FADE is focus, analysis, development and execution or evaluation of the solution to a given problem.
• Hence, firstly I realised that there was an issue in coordination with the other team members due to which there were issues which were arising from time to time.
• Once the problem was identified and analysed, I focused on development of an appropriate solution, which was focused on better coordination between the co-workers.
• As part of the solution I started using Shift Management Application, which helped me to take digital handover of shift from other co-worker so that no confusion was there regarding number of patients and medications being done by the nurse from whom I was taking over the shift.

As a health care professional, working as a nurse, I faced numerous problems during my first of work experience. I realised that every problem is unique in its own way. However, no problem can be solved through an ad-hoc approach. In fact every problem required a dedicated approach to be resolved.

For example for problem related to poor use of information and communication tools (ICT) (Blenkinsop, 2003, pp.83-88).

I used the MECE strategy. MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive.
The MECE approach can be applied both in clarifying the problem by listing the issues, and in developing a list of alternative solutions

Hence, when producing a list, I ensured that each item is a separate and distinct item – it is Mutually Exclusive.

All items have been identified
– it is Collectively Exhaustive.

Hence, firstly I identified the problem of use related to ICT tools such as Patient management systems of shift management application. Hence each application was treated as a separate entity or distinct item, based on which its actionable item was defined, or an action to address the solution.

Hence once each problem item was defined, its potential solution was also defined. In this case, I focused on proper application training as the most appropriate solution to address the problem.

Based on the training received I was able use the software applications in a much better way and further improve my productivity at the workplace.

As a nurse in NHS Hospital, time management has always been a critical aspect of the work load. Effective time management can help a professional in properly completing the assigned task.

Hence, as a nurse I had responsibility of 95 patients in last one year. Hence in order to administer medicine in time, I used various time management strategies such as:

• Setting the priority: I first identified the most critical patients, whom giving medicine in time was extremely important, and there was not scope of time delay. This helped me to address critical patients first, which ensured that no medicine issue was found with such patients. Also, medication was one of the top priority works for me, hence every day; I ensured that during process of medication to patients assigned to me I was not involved in any type of multi-tasking. 
• Use of planning tool: Every day I used a personal digital assistant provided by the hospital, to plan my entire day, shift changes etc. It gave me better control over the time, and I was able to plan my entire day to the smallest detail, which eventually helped me in getting better work-life balance and more productivity.

10. Evaluate the impact of implementing Strategies on the business

Impact of implementing the strategies on the business was tremendous. It not only helped me as an individual to implement the strategies mentioned above, but also helped NHS Hospital (HARGREAVES & WALSH, 2012).  These strategies helped me in improving my time management, and quality of services as a nurse. Hence effective time management ensured better productivity and efficiency, which eventually meant that I was able to take care of more patients, which enable the organisation to handle more cases and medical issues. Similarly, these strategies helped in improvement of my services to the patient, which eventually enabled the organisation to improve its brand image as well, because quality of service in health and social care has tremendous impact on the brand image.

Table 3

11. Team roles       Your observations

12. Team dynamics

13. Suggestions

1. Nurse Manager

Nurse manager in NHS Hospital was responsible for management of all the nurses working in the hospital. Allocation of patient to a particular nurse was done through this particular individual. I personally believe that this role is one of the most critical roles for all the nurses. Mainly due to the fact that supervisor or manager plays a major role in the motivation of the employees, and they are the first person formally to whom a sub-ordinate can report any issue or concern.

In terms of team dynamics, role of nurse manager is critical in ensuring harmony among the team of nurses. The overall allotment of patients and other aspects related to shift allocation etc. is done by the Nurse Manager; hence if the person is not competent and dynamic then it can lead to lot of chaos and mess among all the workers as nurse.

A Nurse Manager should not be judgemental and biased towards any particular nurse. It has been observed that often Nurse Manager is biased towards a particular nurse who results in problem for other nurses.

2. Hospital Manager

Hospital Manager was responsible for overall management of the hospital. In a way, this role in NHS is focused more towards the overall smooth functioning of the hospital (Harris et al, 2010).

In team dynamics, Hospital Manager has more of an overview role to play. Unlike Nurse Manager, who is involved in micro-management, Hospital Manager is focused more towards the macro-management of day to day activities of the hospital, hence might not have direct impact on the team dynamics.

A Hospital Manager should be more involved in day to day micro management as well. At times there are situations which are not well-handled by a nurse manager. In such case, it becomes important that someone as senior as a hospital manager to intervene, but since hospital managers are focused more on macro management, hence it takes lot of time before they can understand the complete situation.