Reflective Essay

Hour w hen I first arrived Into the walls of Northwestern High School as a freshman, It was a new experience for me. Adapting to a new atmosphere was a big change In my life. From being use to Elementary, and Junior High Schools standards I had to critique my whole lifestyle. In doing this, I had to change the way I thought, my morals, values, timing, academics, and most of all my behavior. I can actually sit back and remember my first day of school like it was yesterday.Like trying to find my classes, finding a place to sit in the lunch room, wondering if I'm going to make any friends and the list goes on and on. This thing called â€Å"High School† was a new and major beginning in my life. After being adapted to the customs of this new school: like homework, essays, reports, and exams. My only stress relief was from extracurricular activities. I always look towards It being Like my little balm In Gilead. By growing up in a house of athletes, I always was Involved in some typ e of sport.Whether It be tennis, baseball, oddball, or even a game of amateur soccer, I was Just so grateful to be away from school work. As I still wander the halls of Northwestern, I often reflect back on my life, and how far I've come to this point that I'm at today. I can say that my work ethic never caught up until my junior year. That's when â€Å"life† really dawned on me. Over the past four years throughout High School I've learned that you shouldn't ask what the future holds because, you define it. You can control your destiny by the decisions you make, the manner in how you conduct yourself, and how you treat others.But, I can see the growth that I've achieved over the years. Not just my growth in school but as an individual. I no longer have the same goals as I once did; my standards and expectations are higher. In such a huge school where almost everyone knows everyone and their cousin, I can say that Eve made so many friends. Like my friends since the 9th Grade M s. Allan Williams a. K. A â€Å"Lana Pooh†, Chanted Fletcher, Kevin Chisholm, and Shannon Grant are Just a few whom Eve known almost the past four years. I can also that I've made quite a few enemies here and there to be honest.I rule can say that when you're trying to do your best, some people just get jealous which is saddens me but, I have to keep on rolling. My friends and I have gone through a lot of things emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But, we didn't let those things stop our determination to get through school. I can say Northwestern High School has provided me with leadership principles that I couldn't get anywhere else. From the social aspects of life, communication, mentoring, and guidance, these have put me in a position to where I can go into college with a ready and stable mind.I went from being Just â€Å"Anthony' to â€Å"Mr.. Anthony N. Houston† In Northwestern. I can't receive this type of recognition without thanking God first. I also hav e grown spiritually stronger while maturing In high school. Overall NEWS has equip and provided an ambiance which allowed me to transform from a boy Into a young man. Things that will be used in college but, most importantly in my future. Some things I might not come across in my following years nevertheless, I can say that Eve enjoyed every minute in high school.As a student, I have some regrets but, I let those be me a membranes, and my testimony. These few and short years have taught me a lot about myself, and the world around me. I know that these â€Å"once in a lifetime† experiences will never be forgotten and it will serve as a path to success in my near and great future. As for my fellow class mates, I wish you all the very best in the future. I hate to say goodbye on graduation day, so it'll Just be a simple â€Å"See you later† to keep us encouraged. I hope that their experiences will make them better and most of all wealthy in their future. Reflective essay I have been pursuing English as a subject consequently learning the importance of brainstorming, aspects of organizing prior to writing, revising and collaborating in writing. The subject has provided a gateway through which I have learnt the art of expressing myself, literature, grammar as well as the language Itself. However, this did not come without its challenges.English being my second language, it took me a while to learn the ropes and comprehend the language as well as writing it. The English subject has endowed me with organization skills in the art of essay writing through imparting the use of thesis statements, topic sentences, Introduction and conclusion paragraphs; as well as coherence techniques. Thesis statements are Introductory statements at the beginning of the essay with the information aimed at guiding the reader on what the essay is on and the scope it aims to cover.A topic sentence is found at the beginning of a paragraph and encompasses points to be covered In the entire body of the paragraph. I learnt the Important of coherence techniques In organizing as It ranges ideas into a logical and systematic order for example through the use of transitional terms as in the statement: The English language firstly teaches organization skills, secondly, grammar and finally sentence structure. In this case, transitional terms firstly, ‘secondly ‘and ‘finally' have been used for coherence.I was also able to learn how to use the introductory and conclusion sentences in writing; where I learnt that introduction sentences are used to introduce the stem ideas in an essay while a conclusion statement is used for providing a summary of all the ideas hat have been explained in the essay. Development skills were also Impacted whereby the use of specific details and use of explanation In stones as evidence to support the statements was learnt.The details and the evidence together with the examples provide a basis for the development of an id ea with the evidence being clearly Introduced and Its source being indicated. It may be followed up by an explanation or evaluative statement to further support the argument. As I participated in this class, I got a chance to sharpen my skills in the MALL citation quince that comprises in-text citation and bibliography. An example of in-text citation: Achilles is described as â€Å"wolf, a violator of every law of gods and men,† (Mallow, 58) with the work cited as Mallow.David. Ransom. Knops: Random House, 2009. Print. The use of quotations which are similar to the initial source of the statement can also be applied but should be attributed to the author though paraphrasing which can also be used involves putting a statement extract in your own words. The provision of credentials of experts cited Is also a necessity in the citations. Learning the subject gave me an opportunity to explore into other areas of research such as the internet.The website can be used as a source of current and up to date information. Use of website references ought to also be stated in the references Including the complete address for the site. The use local databases have also been helpful In providing access to reliable and verified scholarly articles and journals. As I look back on my graded essays, I realized that sentence grammar and 1 OFF The errors mostly appeared as sentence structures major comprising of run-on ententes.A run-on is a sentence comprising several main clauses that can stand as their own independent clauses but are strung together with improper punctuation appearing as a single sentence. An example: The student understood the presentation well (independent clause) the teacher was impressed (independent clause). The two can form a run-on statement: The student understood the presentation well the teacher was impressed. This can be corrected through the use of appropriate punctuation as: The student understood the presentation well. The teacher was impress ed.I am impressed that throughout my semester I have shown progressive improvement in eliminating the errors. I look forward to Joining the English IA class and I feel that I am ready to be successful in the class as it aims to enable students communicate effectively by emphasizing the importance of analytical reading and writing. I also believe that this class will enable me obtain different skills of writing from pre-writing, organizing, writing, revising and editing; all of which I have been introduced to in this class thus providing a solid foundation to learning English. Reflective Essay During the lessons taught in the past weeks, the most attention-grabbing topic covered to me was the four lenses temperament lesson. Taking the four color lenses test has made me see what type of temperament person I am and why I have been making some of the decisions I have. As my primary color being green, I now see that I am more abstract, independent, and research-oriented person. As I look at my other classmates, I also see how they act based on their lenses color.Knowing and realizing he different lenses colors, also gives me a basis on how to motivate the different temperaments. When dealing with an orange temperament I should expect to be challenged or debated. In which case I need to be flexible and adaptable so that tasked assigned can be accomplished. I think I can take this to my work center and understand why some of my subordinates act the way they do. Being mainly a green temperament, I am an independent thinker and don't accept things at face value which find me in a constant state of analysis to figure out how things work.Although being this type of temperament Is not a bad thing, I have also discover that I have a blind spot. Being that blue temperament is my blind spot, it makes me a little sightless to a person whose temperament are blue. These individuals are more sympathetic, sensitive, and compassionate. Recognizing and understanding what type of color lenses my subordinates fall under will give me a better comprehension on how to motivate the different temperaments and overall allow me makes the work environment more productive. Reflective Essay If I were to ask my subordinates what type of leader I am, they would probably say that I am a very task-oriented, down to business, pursue what I set out to do. Additionally, you would probably get some remarks about how I'm not afraid of the manual work and that I am always the first in and last out during the duty day. If you were to ask my supervisor about how I am as a follower, he would undoubtedly say that I'm dependable, goal oriented. He would say I'm a hard-worker and see through all tasks that I'm assigned, some of which may take some outside-the-box thinking.The leadership style I use is a mix of authoritarian and participative leadership. This is an effective style due to the nature of my work. If something has to be done quickly and without thought of others, I tend to be very authoritarian so they are able to focus on what actually needs to be done and not get caught up in trying to decide what the best course of action is. On the contrary, if there is time for decisio ns to be made, and, especially if the decision is one that will affect more than myself, I try and get input from everyone to get their thoughts. This this is the best way to get people to take a bit of ownership with it.I consider myself to be a good NCO. I am entrusted supervising and developing my subordinates. Although I consider myself a good NCO it does not mean I still don't have room for improvement. My supervisor can depend on me to do what needs to be done effectively. I ensure that the Job gets done in a timely and productive manner. I consider my task-oriented leadership a strength because it focuses me on the task at hand. It ensures that deadlines are met and jobs are completed. As far as my essence I see myself as being open minded, someone who wants to see the end result on any task. I always try to put 100 percent to everything I do. Reflective Essay By ensuring that we have a clear understanding of what we ant to achieve and how we will measure the success of the change† (â€Å"Implementation,† 2011, p. 1). The steps for implementing a policy. Plan Planning involves detailed research about what the policy is to accomplish and achieve. This happens on both the legislative side by creating a law that has beneficial and desired outcomes and on the organizational side by planning the responses the organization will make that are directly related to the policy.Having a solid understanding and a good plan in place is the first step for implementing a policy. Do The ‘Do' step of PADS involves design a plan to implement the policy into action. One key point is addressing the behaviors of the people who are likely to hold back or move away from the new policy and address them directly. There are always transformation, transition, and development stages to work through as part of the ‘Do' stage. Study In the study phase the results of the ‘Do' stage will be analyzed and measured for surprises, failures, successes, and consequences.In the study phase it is good to review the results and compare them to the predicted outcomes and establish modifications that will make the policy better from what was learned. Act In the ‘Act† stage you will take the information and data collected from the first three stages and make the appropriate changes. The policy may just need to be adapted with slight modifications. The policy may need to be adopted and changes made within the organization.The policy may need to be abandoned, completely changes and the PADS cycle started again. Role of major stakeholders in the process. The role of stakeholders is to participate in discussion that prioritize and describe the policy and how it is intended to be implemented. What can cause a policy to fail? A committee assignment can cause a policy to fail. If the committee has a Chair that does not suppor t the policy then it is likely to fail because it will not be put near the top of the agenda. Reflective Essay Katrina Wright Reflective Paper February 27, 2010 PDC-111 â€Å"Discovering Yourself† The topic â€Å"Discovering Yourself† was about the many different learning styles. This topic also was about how different individuals use various learning styles. My favorite assignments that I completed when this topic was covered are the Discovery Wheel and the Learning Style Inventory. The Discovery Wheel weighed strengthens and weaknesses of self- discovery, career planning, time, reading, notes, and tests. The Learning Style Inventory measured the importance of things From â€Å"Discovering Yourself† I gained knowledge about how to become a better learner and utilize the skills in school and in the workplace. I also feel this topic was beneficial because it taught me things I never knew about myself. I never realized that I needed to practice time management skills. I learned that I am a good career planner and a good note taker. I also learned that I must practice managing time and taking tests. I discovered that some people learn better by hearing, others by seeing, and others by doing. Additionally, I learned I am a visual learner. This topic means a lot to me because it helped me find myself. Discovering Yourself† has helped me be successful in college by showing me skills I need to practice. I can apply the knowledge I gained from the assignments completed on this topic to school and at work. I can apply what I learned from this chapter in school by acknowledging that I am a visual learner. For example, if something is said durin g a class lecture instead of relying on memory, I will write it down to better understand. I can apply practicing time management to the work field. For instance, if my boss says there is a meeting on the second Friday of every month, I would write it in a planner to help me better manage my time. Tests† The topic â€Å"Tests† was about how to become a better test taker and what to do before and during a test. This chapter covered memory techniques for taking test. Additionally, this topic was about why you should not cheat on tests. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entries16 and 18. In journal entry 16, I was instructed to look back on a time I had difficulties taking a test. In journal entry 18, I was instructed to make a list of excuses I make to avoid taking a test. From the chapter â€Å"Tests† I gained knowledge about how to become a better test taker. This topic was beneficial because I feel it entailed valuable information that is important for now and in the future. I learned that the key to mastering a test is study, study, study. I also was taught that if you are relaxed you retain text quickly and remember it more accurately. Furthermore, I learned to use mnemonic devices to remember things. This topic means a lot to me because it is important in everyday life. In my opinion, â€Å"Tests† will help me in college because it has taught me how to do well on test, which will improve my grades. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply what I learned about being relaxed to work. For example, if I were given an assessment at work about what was covered at training; I would know to be calm so I could recall events the events at training. I can also apply mnemonic devices to work. For instance, if I was a grade school teacher I could use the mnemonic device Roy G. Biv to help children learn their colors. I can utilize mnemonic devices in school while taking a math test. I would use PEMDAS. (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) to remember the order of operations. â€Å"Time† The topic â€Å"Time† is about how to stop procrastination, organizing time, and managing time. It is also about how to use a long-term planner. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entry 8 and critical thinking exercise 14. Journal entry 8 instructed me to think about a time I waited until the last minute to complete an assignment and the repercussions of procrastination. Critical thinking 14 directed me to complete a planner for a whole week’s activity. From the chapter â€Å"Time† I gained knowledge on how to spend time productively. This chapter taught me not to procrastinate and to plan for future. This chapter was beneficial to me it had important information about how to use time. Time† means a lot to me because it taught me not to let life pass me by. I feel this chapter will help me succeed in college because it showed me the importance of planning, which will make planning to complete assignments easier. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply not pro crastination to school. For example, if I were given an assignment two weeks before it was due I would do it in advance to ensure quality. I can also apply not procrastinating to work. For instance, if I wanted to become a police officer I would start getting in shape now to do well on the physical health test. Reflective Essay If I were to ask my subordinates what type of leader I am, they would probably say that I am a very task-oriented, down to business, pursue what I set out to do. Additionally, you would probably get some remarks about how I'm not afraid of the manual work and that I am always the first in and last out during the duty day. If you were to ask my supervisor about how I am as a follower, he would undoubtedly say that I'm dependable, goal oriented. He would say I'm a hard-worker and see through all tasks that I'm assigned, some of which may take some outside-the-box thinking.The leadership style I use is a mix of authoritarian and participative leadership. This is an effective style due to the nature of my work. If something has to be done quickly and without thought of others, I tend to be very authoritarian so they are able to focus on what actually needs to be done and not get caught up in trying to decide what the best course of action is. On the contrary, if there is time for decisio ns to be made, and, especially if the decision is one that will affect more than myself, I try and get input from everyone to get their thoughts. This this is the best way to get people to take a bit of ownership with it.I consider myself to be a good NCO. I am entrusted supervising and developing my subordinates. Although I consider myself a good NCO it does not mean I still don't have room for improvement. My supervisor can depend on me to do what needs to be done effectively. I ensure that the Job gets done in a timely and productive manner. I consider my task-oriented leadership a strength because it focuses me on the task at hand. It ensures that deadlines are met and jobs are completed. As far as my essence I see myself as being open minded, someone who wants to see the end result on any task. I always try to put 100 percent to everything I do. Reflective Essay A REFLECTIVE ESSAY This is a reflective essay based on a event which took place in a hospital setting. The aim of this essay is to explore how members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) worked together and communicate with each other to achieve the best patients outcome. Reflection is an everyday process and is very personal matter. Jasper (2003) suggests that reflection is one of the key ways in which we can learn from our experiences. Reflective practice can be defined as process of making sense of events, situations and actions that occur in the workplace (Oelofsen, 2012). There are a different models of reflection.One of them is Johns (1994) model of reflection, this model is based on five cue questions: description, reflection, influencing factors, alternative strategies and learning. That enable practitioner to break down his/her experience. Gibbs (1988) is another common model of reflection which consists of six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. The structure allows the reflection to be written in a clear way. In accordance with the NMC (2008) code of professional conduct, confidentiality should be maintain and all names will be anonymous.Ii this essay I will use Gibbs (1988) model as a guide for my reflection. The first stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection requires a description of event. On the beginning of one of my shifts, my mentor informed me that I can participate in Multidisciplinary Team meeting. A Multidisciplinary Team meeting is a meeting of the group of professions from one or more clinical disciplines who together make decision regarding recommended treatment of individual patients (NHS 2012). I work on the ward on which these meetings are held every day.On that day the meeting was attended by medical doctors, deputy sister, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, discharge coordinator, social worker and community nurse. Order of the meeting was as follows: at the outset a brief descript ion of the patient was given by deputy sister. Then one of the doctors presented the patient current medical situation. At the end the other members of the team have time to take voice. They discussed medical and social situation of each individual patient. The team focused on planning and reviewing patients' goals, they also made a joint decision about discharge plans and destinations.I was given the opportunity to observe multidisciplinary team members working together and participated in the discussion about patients whom I took care of. The second stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection is a discussion about my thoughts and feelings. My feelings at the time were mixed. I felt welcome and accepted within the MDT meeting. Many of the professionals who took part in the meeting,I knew from my daily work, and this made me feel comfortable. The MDT listened to my opinion and asked further questions. I always thought of myself as a confident person.However, when I stood and spoke in front of more qualified people then myself, my confidence vanished. I had no experience in speaking in front of large group and I was very nervous. For this reason my speech was not always consistent. In such a case, my mentor supported me and helped me by asking additional question that lead me to the right way. I found it very interesting to see how MDT cooperate and communicate well with each other . I am going to enter the third stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection which is evaluation.There are many positive aspects of the MDT meeting. One of them is that the health professionals of different specialities are working as a team to achieve the same goals. The team members have different skills and knowledge. Their roles and responsibilities vary and are based on their professional experience. Thurgood et al. (2011) suggests that this skill mix is one of the most important benefits of working in MDT. Works in a team allows to collect informations from all its members which ens ures that no important information about the patient will be ignored or missed.Another big advantage of these meetings is that they are carried out every day. According to Whyte et al. ((2007) the most frequently team members meet face to face and have the chance to discuss issues and work together, the better communication will be. However, if effective communication among the team is not achieved, errors may occur. It is the major disadvantages of the MDT. The National Patient Safety Agency (2007) communication difficulties identified as a main factor influencing patient outcomes.Stage four of Gibbs(1988) model is an analysis of the event. Communication is defined as a process that involves a meaningful exchange between at least two people to convey facts, needs, opinions, thoughts, feelings or other information through both verbal and non-verbal means, including face to face exchanges and the written word (DH 2010). For the MDT is important to effectively communicate with each ot her and overcome all communication barriers that may arise because poor communication among health professionals can negatively impact patient care.Atmosphere during the meeting was friendly and thank to this that all team members knew each other from daily meetings effective communication was easily achieved. However, there was a few problems. A noticeable issue was that medical abbreviation used by the doctor were not understood by others members of the team. This led to interruption of his speech to find out about their mining. This is mainly related to the fact that different health care workers have different training and education. Another factor who had significant influence on the MDT meeting and extended it was partially not updated handover from previous shift.The team had to correct the informations contained in it. In this case the handover missed its intended purpose because it was originally designed to transfer information concerning an individual patient with outstan ding task from the outgoing to the incoming teams (Farhan et al. 2012). I think that I did well by participating in this meeting. As a student but also as a front line worker I could learn a lot from other professionals and I was able to inform the members of the team about the patients, whom I looked after, progress.This is important because as a front line worker I interact more with patients during their hospital stay then any other health professional in the MDT ( Hamilton, Martin, 2007). If I had not given my opinion on the patients care, they could not benefit from the MDT as much as they did. Conclusion is the fifth stage of Gibbs (1988) cycle. The MDT give me the opportunity to work closely with other health professionals and better understanding their roles. I could clearly see that effective communication encourages collaboration, help prevent errors and can influence the success or failure of the patient care and treatment.This experience helped me to learn the importance of sharing of skills and professional experience with others for the benefit of patient outcomes. This will help me to work effectively with others team members in the future. This situation showed me straights and weaknesses in my communication skills. As communication is a key building the relationship with others I need to continuously develop this knowledge. I also realized that speaking in front of large group of people is hard for me and this is the area which I have to improve. The final stage of Gibbs(1988) model of reflection is action plan.If I find myself in this type of situation again I would be more confident in discussing about the patients and their needs. Communication is a skill that can be learned and continually improver (Webb, 2011). For this purpose I created an action plan that will help me to improved my this skills and gain self-confidence. The first objective in my action plan is to meet my mentor in order to discuses the whole situation and obtain feedbac k. The next point is to research further the appropriate literature to gain new informations and develop my knowledge.I also want to attend a conflict resolution study day to learn how to resolve conflicts. Communication with others can be challenging (Webb, 2011) and conflicts may arise at any time, not only between team members but also between health professionals and patients or their families. Summarizing, reflection on this experience allowed me to identify gaps in my knowledge and establish my own learning needs. Gibbs (1988) model of reflection given me the chance to explore my thoughts and feelings, analyse the situation and draw conclusion for the future. This essay also enabled me to connect theory and practice. Reflective Essay Katrina Wright Reflective Paper February 27, 2010 PDC-111 â€Å"Discovering Yourself† The topic â€Å"Discovering Yourself† was about the many different learning styles. This topic also was about how different individuals use various learning styles. My favorite assignments that I completed when this topic was covered are the Discovery Wheel and the Learning Style Inventory. The Discovery Wheel weighed strengthens and weaknesses of self- discovery, career planning, time, reading, notes, and tests. The Learning Style Inventory measured the importance of things From â€Å"Discovering Yourself† I gained knowledge about how to become a better learner and utilize the skills in school and in the workplace. I also feel this topic was beneficial because it taught me things I never knew about myself. I never realized that I needed to practice time management skills. I learned that I am a good career planner and a good note taker. I also learned that I must practice managing time and taking tests. I discovered that some people learn better by hearing, others by seeing, and others by doing. Additionally, I learned I am a visual learner. This topic means a lot to me because it helped me find myself. Discovering Yourself† has helped me be successful in college by showing me skills I need to practice. I can apply the knowledge I gained from the assignments completed on this topic to school and at work. I can apply what I learned from this chapter in school by acknowledging that I am a visual learner. For example, if something is said durin g a class lecture instead of relying on memory, I will write it down to better understand. I can apply practicing time management to the work field. For instance, if my boss says there is a meeting on the second Friday of every month, I would write it in a planner to help me better manage my time. Tests† The topic â€Å"Tests† was about how to become a better test taker and what to do before and during a test. This chapter covered memory techniques for taking test. Additionally, this topic was about why you should not cheat on tests. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entries16 and 18. In journal entry 16, I was instructed to look back on a time I had difficulties taking a test. In journal entry 18, I was instructed to make a list of excuses I make to avoid taking a test. From the chapter â€Å"Tests† I gained knowledge about how to become a better test taker. This topic was beneficial because I feel it entailed valuable information that is important for now and in the future. I learned that the key to mastering a test is study, study, study. I also was taught that if you are relaxed you retain text quickly and remember it more accurately. Furthermore, I learned to use mnemonic devices to remember things. This topic means a lot to me because it is important in everyday life. In my opinion, â€Å"Tests† will help me in college because it has taught me how to do well on test, which will improve my grades. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply what I learned about being relaxed to work. For example, if I were given an assessment at work about what was covered at training; I would know to be calm so I could recall events the events at training. I can also apply mnemonic devices to work. For instance, if I was a grade school teacher I could use the mnemonic device Roy G. Biv to help children learn their colors. I can utilize mnemonic devices in school while taking a math test. I would use PEMDAS. (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) to remember the order of operations. â€Å"Time† The topic â€Å"Time† is about how to stop procrastination, organizing time, and managing time. It is also about how to use a long-term planner. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entry 8 and critical thinking exercise 14. Journal entry 8 instructed me to think about a time I waited until the last minute to complete an assignment and the repercussions of procrastination. Critical thinking 14 directed me to complete a planner for a whole week’s activity. From the chapter â€Å"Time† I gained knowledge on how to spend time productively. This chapter taught me not to procrastinate and to plan for future. This chapter was beneficial to me it had important information about how to use time. Time† means a lot to me because it taught me not to let life pass me by. I feel this chapter will help me succeed in college because it showed me the importance of planning, which will make planning to complete assignments easier. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply not pro crastination to school. For example, if I were given an assignment two weeks before it was due I would do it in advance to ensure quality. I can also apply not procrastinating to work. For instance, if I wanted to become a police officer I would start getting in shape now to do well on the physical health test. Reflective Essay Katrina Wright Reflective Paper February 27, 2010 PDC-111 â€Å"Discovering Yourself† The topic â€Å"Discovering Yourself† was about the many different learning styles. This topic also was about how different individuals use various learning styles. My favorite assignments that I completed when this topic was covered are the Discovery Wheel and the Learning Style Inventory. The Discovery Wheel weighed strengthens and weaknesses of self- discovery, career planning, time, reading, notes, and tests. The Learning Style Inventory measured the importance of things From â€Å"Discovering Yourself† I gained knowledge about how to become a better learner and utilize the skills in school and in the workplace. I also feel this topic was beneficial because it taught me things I never knew about myself. I never realized that I needed to practice time management skills. I learned that I am a good career planner and a good note taker. I also learned that I must practice managing time and taking tests. I discovered that some people learn better by hearing, others by seeing, and others by doing. Additionally, I learned I am a visual learner. This topic means a lot to me because it helped me find myself. Discovering Yourself† has helped me be successful in college by showing me skills I need to practice. I can apply the knowledge I gained from the assignments completed on this topic to school and at work. I can apply what I learned from this chapter in school by acknowledging that I am a visual learner. For example, if something is said durin g a class lecture instead of relying on memory, I will write it down to better understand. I can apply practicing time management to the work field. For instance, if my boss says there is a meeting on the second Friday of every month, I would write it in a planner to help me better manage my time. Tests† The topic â€Å"Tests† was about how to become a better test taker and what to do before and during a test. This chapter covered memory techniques for taking test. Additionally, this topic was about why you should not cheat on tests. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entries16 and 18. In journal entry 16, I was instructed to look back on a time I had difficulties taking a test. In journal entry 18, I was instructed to make a list of excuses I make to avoid taking a test. From the chapter â€Å"Tests† I gained knowledge about how to become a better test taker. This topic was beneficial because I feel it entailed valuable information that is important for now and in the future. I learned that the key to mastering a test is study, study, study. I also was taught that if you are relaxed you retain text quickly and remember it more accurately. Furthermore, I learned to use mnemonic devices to remember things. This topic means a lot to me because it is important in everyday life. In my opinion, â€Å"Tests† will help me in college because it has taught me how to do well on test, which will improve my grades. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply what I learned about being relaxed to work. For example, if I were given an assessment at work about what was covered at training; I would know to be calm so I could recall events the events at training. I can also apply mnemonic devices to work. For instance, if I was a grade school teacher I could use the mnemonic device Roy G. Biv to help children learn their colors. I can utilize mnemonic devices in school while taking a math test. I would use PEMDAS. (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) to remember the order of operations. â€Å"Time† The topic â€Å"Time† is about how to stop procrastination, organizing time, and managing time. It is also about how to use a long-term planner. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entry 8 and critical thinking exercise 14. Journal entry 8 instructed me to think about a time I waited until the last minute to complete an assignment and the repercussions of procrastination. Critical thinking 14 directed me to complete a planner for a whole week’s activity. From the chapter â€Å"Time† I gained knowledge on how to spend time productively. This chapter taught me not to procrastinate and to plan for future. This chapter was beneficial to me it had important information about how to use time. Time† means a lot to me because it taught me not to let life pass me by. I feel this chapter will help me succeed in college because it showed me the importance of planning, which will make planning to complete assignments easier. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply not pro crastination to school. For example, if I were given an assignment two weeks before it was due I would do it in advance to ensure quality. I can also apply not procrastinating to work. For instance, if I wanted to become a police officer I would start getting in shape now to do well on the physical health test. Reflective Essay By ensuring that we have a clear understanding of what we ant to achieve and how we will measure the success of the change† (â€Å"Implementation,† 2011, p. 1). The steps for implementing a policy. Plan Planning involves detailed research about what the policy is to accomplish and achieve. This happens on both the legislative side by creating a law that has beneficial and desired outcomes and on the organizational side by planning the responses the organization will make that are directly related to the policy.Having a solid understanding and a good plan in place is the first step for implementing a policy. Do The ‘Do' step of PADS involves design a plan to implement the policy into action. One key point is addressing the behaviors of the people who are likely to hold back or move away from the new policy and address them directly. There are always transformation, transition, and development stages to work through as part of the ‘Do' stage. Study In the study phase the results of the ‘Do' stage will be analyzed and measured for surprises, failures, successes, and consequences.In the study phase it is good to review the results and compare them to the predicted outcomes and establish modifications that will make the policy better from what was learned. Act In the ‘Act† stage you will take the information and data collected from the first three stages and make the appropriate changes. The policy may just need to be adapted with slight modifications. The policy may need to be adopted and changes made within the organization.The policy may need to be abandoned, completely changes and the PADS cycle started again. Role of major stakeholders in the process. The role of stakeholders is to participate in discussion that prioritize and describe the policy and how it is intended to be implemented. What can cause a policy to fail? A committee assignment can cause a policy to fail. If the committee has a Chair that does not suppor t the policy then it is likely to fail because it will not be put near the top of the agenda. Reflective Essay A REFLECTIVE ESSAY This is a reflective essay based on a event which took place in a hospital setting. The aim of this essay is to explore how members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) worked together and communicate with each other to achieve the best patients outcome. Reflection is an everyday process and is very personal matter. Jasper (2003) suggests that reflection is one of the key ways in which we can learn from our experiences. Reflective practice can be defined as process of making sense of events, situations and actions that occur in the workplace (Oelofsen, 2012). There are a different models of reflection.One of them is Johns (1994) model of reflection, this model is based on five cue questions: description, reflection, influencing factors, alternative strategies and learning. That enable practitioner to break down his/her experience. Gibbs (1988) is another common model of reflection which consists of six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. The structure allows the reflection to be written in a clear way. In accordance with the NMC (2008) code of professional conduct, confidentiality should be maintain and all names will be anonymous.Ii this essay I will use Gibbs (1988) model as a guide for my reflection. The first stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection requires a description of event. On the beginning of one of my shifts, my mentor informed me that I can participate in Multidisciplinary Team meeting. A Multidisciplinary Team meeting is a meeting of the group of professions from one or more clinical disciplines who together make decision regarding recommended treatment of individual patients (NHS 2012). I work on the ward on which these meetings are held every day.On that day the meeting was attended by medical doctors, deputy sister, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, discharge coordinator, social worker and community nurse. Order of the meeting was as follows: at the outset a brief descript ion of the patient was given by deputy sister. Then one of the doctors presented the patient current medical situation. At the end the other members of the team have time to take voice. They discussed medical and social situation of each individual patient. The team focused on planning and reviewing patients' goals, they also made a joint decision about discharge plans and destinations.I was given the opportunity to observe multidisciplinary team members working together and participated in the discussion about patients whom I took care of. The second stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection is a discussion about my thoughts and feelings. My feelings at the time were mixed. I felt welcome and accepted within the MDT meeting. Many of the professionals who took part in the meeting,I knew from my daily work, and this made me feel comfortable. The MDT listened to my opinion and asked further questions. I always thought of myself as a confident person.However, when I stood and spoke in front of more qualified people then myself, my confidence vanished. I had no experience in speaking in front of large group and I was very nervous. For this reason my speech was not always consistent. In such a case, my mentor supported me and helped me by asking additional question that lead me to the right way. I found it very interesting to see how MDT cooperate and communicate well with each other . I am going to enter the third stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection which is evaluation.There are many positive aspects of the MDT meeting. One of them is that the health professionals of different specialities are working as a team to achieve the same goals. The team members have different skills and knowledge. Their roles and responsibilities vary and are based on their professional experience. Thurgood et al. (2011) suggests that this skill mix is one of the most important benefits of working in MDT. Works in a team allows to collect informations from all its members which ens ures that no important information about the patient will be ignored or missed.Another big advantage of these meetings is that they are carried out every day. According to Whyte et al. ((2007) the most frequently team members meet face to face and have the chance to discuss issues and work together, the better communication will be. However, if effective communication among the team is not achieved, errors may occur. It is the major disadvantages of the MDT. The National Patient Safety Agency (2007) communication difficulties identified as a main factor influencing patient outcomes.Stage four of Gibbs(1988) model is an analysis of the event. Communication is defined as a process that involves a meaningful exchange between at least two people to convey facts, needs, opinions, thoughts, feelings or other information through both verbal and non-verbal means, including face to face exchanges and the written word (DH 2010). For the MDT is important to effectively communicate with each ot her and overcome all communication barriers that may arise because poor communication among health professionals can negatively impact patient care.Atmosphere during the meeting was friendly and thank to this that all team members knew each other from daily meetings effective communication was easily achieved. However, there was a few problems. A noticeable issue was that medical abbreviation used by the doctor were not understood by others members of the team. This led to interruption of his speech to find out about their mining. This is mainly related to the fact that different health care workers have different training and education. Another factor who had significant influence on the MDT meeting and extended it was partially not updated handover from previous shift.The team had to correct the informations contained in it. In this case the handover missed its intended purpose because it was originally designed to transfer information concerning an individual patient with outstan ding task from the outgoing to the incoming teams (Farhan et al. 2012). I think that I did well by participating in this meeting. As a student but also as a front line worker I could learn a lot from other professionals and I was able to inform the members of the team about the patients, whom I looked after, progress.This is important because as a front line worker I interact more with patients during their hospital stay then any other health professional in the MDT ( Hamilton, Martin, 2007). If I had not given my opinion on the patients care, they could not benefit from the MDT as much as they did. Conclusion is the fifth stage of Gibbs (1988) cycle. The MDT give me the opportunity to work closely with other health professionals and better understanding their roles. I could clearly see that effective communication encourages collaboration, help prevent errors and can influence the success or failure of the patient care and treatment.This experience helped me to learn the importance of sharing of skills and professional experience with others for the benefit of patient outcomes. This will help me to work effectively with others team members in the future. This situation showed me straights and weaknesses in my communication skills. As communication is a key building the relationship with others I need to continuously develop this knowledge. I also realized that speaking in front of large group of people is hard for me and this is the area which I have to improve. The final stage of Gibbs(1988) model of reflection is action plan.If I find myself in this type of situation again I would be more confident in discussing about the patients and their needs. Communication is a skill that can be learned and continually improver (Webb, 2011). For this purpose I created an action plan that will help me to improved my this skills and gain self-confidence. The first objective in my action plan is to meet my mentor in order to discuses the whole situation and obtain feedbac k. The next point is to research further the appropriate literature to gain new informations and develop my knowledge.I also want to attend a conflict resolution study day to learn how to resolve conflicts. Communication with others can be challenging (Webb, 2011) and conflicts may arise at any time, not only between team members but also between health professionals and patients or their families. Summarizing, reflection on this experience allowed me to identify gaps in my knowledge and establish my own learning needs. Gibbs (1988) model of reflection given me the chance to explore my thoughts and feelings, analyse the situation and draw conclusion for the future. This essay also enabled me to connect theory and practice. Reflective Essay A REFLECTIVE ESSAY This is a reflective essay based on a event which took place in a hospital setting. The aim of this essay is to explore how members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) worked together and communicate with each other to achieve the best patients outcome. Reflection is an everyday process and is very personal matter. Jasper (2003) suggests that reflection is one of the key ways in which we can learn from our experiences. Reflective practice can be defined as process of making sense of events, situations and actions that occur in the workplace (Oelofsen, 2012). There are a different models of reflection.One of them is Johns (1994) model of reflection, this model is based on five cue questions: description, reflection, influencing factors, alternative strategies and learning. That enable practitioner to break down his/her experience. Gibbs (1988) is another common model of reflection which consists of six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. The structure allows the reflection to be written in a clear way. In accordance with the NMC (2008) code of professional conduct, confidentiality should be maintain and all names will be anonymous.Ii this essay I will use Gibbs (1988) model as a guide for my reflection. The first stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection requires a description of event. On the beginning of one of my shifts, my mentor informed me that I can participate in Multidisciplinary Team meeting. A Multidisciplinary Team meeting is a meeting of the group of professions from one or more clinical disciplines who together make decision regarding recommended treatment of individual patients (NHS 2012). I work on the ward on which these meetings are held every day.On that day the meeting was attended by medical doctors, deputy sister, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, discharge coordinator, social worker and community nurse. Order of the meeting was as follows: at the outset a brief descript ion of the patient was given by deputy sister. Then one of the doctors presented the patient current medical situation. At the end the other members of the team have time to take voice. They discussed medical and social situation of each individual patient. The team focused on planning and reviewing patients' goals, they also made a joint decision about discharge plans and destinations.I was given the opportunity to observe multidisciplinary team members working together and participated in the discussion about patients whom I took care of. The second stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection is a discussion about my thoughts and feelings. My feelings at the time were mixed. I felt welcome and accepted within the MDT meeting. Many of the professionals who took part in the meeting,I knew from my daily work, and this made me feel comfortable. The MDT listened to my opinion and asked further questions. I always thought of myself as a confident person.However, when I stood and spoke in front of more qualified people then myself, my confidence vanished. I had no experience in speaking in front of large group and I was very nervous. For this reason my speech was not always consistent. In such a case, my mentor supported me and helped me by asking additional question that lead me to the right way. I found it very interesting to see how MDT cooperate and communicate well with each other . I am going to enter the third stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection which is evaluation.There are many positive aspects of the MDT meeting. One of them is that the health professionals of different specialities are working as a team to achieve the same goals. The team members have different skills and knowledge. Their roles and responsibilities vary and are based on their professional experience. Thurgood et al. (2011) suggests that this skill mix is one of the most important benefits of working in MDT. Works in a team allows to collect informations from all its members which ens ures that no important information about the patient will be ignored or missed.Another big advantage of these meetings is that they are carried out every day. According to Whyte et al. ((2007) the most frequently team members meet face to face and have the chance to discuss issues and work together, the better communication will be. However, if effective communication among the team is not achieved, errors may occur. It is the major disadvantages of the MDT. The National Patient Safety Agency (2007) communication difficulties identified as a main factor influencing patient outcomes.Stage four of Gibbs(1988) model is an analysis of the event. Communication is defined as a process that involves a meaningful exchange between at least two people to convey facts, needs, opinions, thoughts, feelings or other information through both verbal and non-verbal means, including face to face exchanges and the written word (DH 2010). For the MDT is important to effectively communicate with each ot her and overcome all communication barriers that may arise because poor communication among health professionals can negatively impact patient care.Atmosphere during the meeting was friendly and thank to this that all team members knew each other from daily meetings effective communication was easily achieved. However, there was a few problems. A noticeable issue was that medical abbreviation used by the doctor were not understood by others members of the team. This led to interruption of his speech to find out about their mining. This is mainly related to the fact that different health care workers have different training and education. Another factor who had significant influence on the MDT meeting and extended it was partially not updated handover from previous shift.The team had to correct the informations contained in it. In this case the handover missed its intended purpose because it was originally designed to transfer information concerning an individual patient with outstan ding task from the outgoing to the incoming teams (Farhan et al. 2012). I think that I did well by participating in this meeting. As a student but also as a front line worker I could learn a lot from other professionals and I was able to inform the members of the team about the patients, whom I looked after, progress.This is important because as a front line worker I interact more with patients during their hospital stay then any other health professional in the MDT ( Hamilton, Martin, 2007). If I had not given my opinion on the patients care, they could not benefit from the MDT as much as they did. Conclusion is the fifth stage of Gibbs (1988) cycle. The MDT give me the opportunity to work closely with other health professionals and better understanding their roles. I could clearly see that effective communication encourages collaboration, help prevent errors and can influence the success or failure of the patient care and treatment.This experience helped me to learn the importance of sharing of skills and professional experience with others for the benefit of patient outcomes. This will help me to work effectively with others team members in the future. This situation showed me straights and weaknesses in my communication skills. As communication is a key building the relationship with others I need to continuously develop this knowledge. I also realized that speaking in front of large group of people is hard for me and this is the area which I have to improve. The final stage of Gibbs(1988) model of reflection is action plan.If I find myself in this type of situation again I would be more confident in discussing about the patients and their needs. Communication is a skill that can be learned and continually improver (Webb, 2011). For this purpose I created an action plan that will help me to improved my this skills and gain self-confidence. The first objective in my action plan is to meet my mentor in order to discuses the whole situation and obtain feedbac k. The next point is to research further the appropriate literature to gain new informations and develop my knowledge.I also want to attend a conflict resolution study day to learn how to resolve conflicts. Communication with others can be challenging (Webb, 2011) and conflicts may arise at any time, not only between team members but also between health professionals and patients or their families. Summarizing, reflection on this experience allowed me to identify gaps in my knowledge and establish my own learning needs. Gibbs (1988) model of reflection given me the chance to explore my thoughts and feelings, analyse the situation and draw conclusion for the future. This essay also enabled me to connect theory and practice.