Promote Professional Development Essay

PROMOTE PROFRESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 1.1 Explain the importance of continually improving knowledge and practice. As a professional, I have a responsibility to engage in continuous professional development. This means taking action in keeping my skills and knowledge and to seeking to improve my capabilities across the range of task I carry out daily. Continually improving my knowledge is essential to my role and ensures I have the skills and knowledge to create the best for the organisation that I work for. I need to be aware of most up to date legislations and guidelines, and the well fare requirements. As a senior support worker it is even more vital that I am aware and up to date with the above, as part of my role is to guide, support and influence other staff to do well in their own roles. Your own professional development does not only impact on yourself but other staff, the organisation and the service users. Reflective practice is a huge part of professional development and you need to be skilful in this to really benefit from it, criticising your own practice might not always be easy but taking a step back, and taking another look at it can benefit yourself and your skills. To be able to improve my own knowledge is very important to me, to be able to benefit my role or future role. In doing this I feel I am progressing in my career, keeping myself desirable to other employers and maximising my potential to do well in my career. Therefore if I continue to develop professionally and improve my knowledge resulting in me improving my practice I will: Become a positive role model to other staff Be confident in my own abilities and future employment Lead and influence staff positively with the correct information and highest standards 1.2 Analyse potential barriers to professional development. As with all aspects of working in a healthcare setting there is a risk of facing potential boundaries and barriers to professional development. Some of which could be: Training Cost of or development days and whether staffs cover is available – this could obviously impact whether staff member are able to attend training and rations within the setting would undoubtedly  still have to be adhered to, and whether funding would be available to send the desired staff on the course. In order for me to progress within my professional development, I should consider any potential barriers. Once these barriers have been identified I should look at these barriers as challenges to overcome and not problems which may remain unsolved. I consider barriers as a stepping stone to improving my skills and knowledge in the perfect world for myself and every member of staff to attend new and refresher courses would be an accomplishment in itself. Unfortunately there will be barriers to cross. PERSONAL BARRIERS could be in the form of: Intellectual limitations. We all have different learning styles. Some may have no problem sitting in a class in front of a teacher taking notes or seeing visuals. While others will learn better being more practical. I myself will learn better being more hands on. Show me how to do something and I will be able to do it. However put me in a class room and I find it more difficult to learn. I have tried to overcome this classroom issue by teaching myself not to make lengthy notes on everything that I hear. What I now do is make short notes. Language barriers could play a big part in a member of staff understanding what they are hearing and reading. Should this happen managers should encourage this member of staff to get extra help from their managers and Early Years Foundation Stage advisor. English for speakers of other languages or for additional language courses should be suggested for this person to attend. Then you may have a member of staff who is over confident and think training/courses are a waste of time and be less willing to attend. 1.3 Compare the use of different sources and systems of support for professional development Equipped with an understanding of the types of barriers faced in healthcare, we now have to identify the barriers that our organisation faces. This will involve looking at the specific barriers for different individuals in our organisation in relation to a particular piece of evidence-based guidance. When implementing any new policy or guidance, it is essential to identify the gap between recommended practice and current practice (baseline assessment). Ideally, this assessment will also help to identify the potential and actual barriers to change, allowing you to pinpoint the practical actions needed to implement the change along with the groups of  professionals who are key in bridging this gap. Those affected by change maybe the managers or support staff and individual roles and how people work with others will need to be considered. Talking to a key individual or a group of key individuals is an informal way of gaining Insight into a particular problem or situation. This method has a number of advantages, For example: †¢ It enables ideas to be explored in an iterative fashion †¢ Detailed information can be obtained †¢ It is quick and inexpensive. There may be some disadvantages, for example: †¢ It relies heavily on the key individual(s) †¢ The responses may be subject to bias †¢ It may be difficult to find the right person (or people) to talk to †¢ Additional corroboration may be needed. Talking to a key individual may be used, for example, when you are considering Introducing a new procedure on to a service. By discussing the potential barriers That might arise as a result of introducing the new procedure with key individuals that Will be affected, you can get specific details of the problems you are likely to face. Several ways Direct observation Sometimes the best way of assessing current clinical practice in your organisation is by Observing individual behaviours and interactions. This is especially appropriate if you are Looking at events that happen quite often, for example, personal care. This method has A number of advantages, for example: †¢ It enables detailed analysis of current behaviours in context †¢ It eliminates reporting bias †¢ It can provide a useful method for monitoring progress, if repeated on a  regular basis. Use a questionnaire A questionnaire is a good way of exploring the knowledge, Beliefs, attitudes and behaviour of a group of geographically Dispersed healthcare professionals. Careful thought Needs to be given to the design of the questions, as the Quality of the answers relies heavily on the quality of the Questions. Both electronic and paper formats can be used to encourage responses. This method has a number of  advantages, for example: †¢ It allows rapid collection of relatively large amounts of data from a large number of people †¢ It enables statistical analysis of standardised data †¢ It provides the opportunity to highlight the need for change through communication of the results †¢ It is relatively inexpensive. Team meeting Team meetings are a powerful means of evaluating current practice and testing new ideas. They comprise a facilitated discussion or interview involving the full support team. Open questions are posed by the facilitator, who then encourages the group to discuss their experiences and thoughts, and reflect on the views of others. This method has a number of advantages, for example: †¢ It enables a representative group of people to share ideas †¢ It allows a wide range of in-depth information to be obtained †¢ It encourages new ideas and perspectives †¢ It helps get people engaged in the change process Supervisions/Appraisals The primary functions of supervision are: administrative case management; reflecting on and learning from practice; personal support; professional development; and mediation, in which the supervisor acts as a bridge between  the individual staff member and the organisation they work for. Organisations are likely to succeed by having workers who are skilful, knowledgeable, clear about their roles, and who are assisted in their practice by sound advice and emotional support. This should come from a supervisor with whom they have a good professional relationship. Research into what happens within supervision suggests that effective supervision generates good outcomes for workers while experience suggests that â€Å"the consequences of absent, inadequate, or negative forms of supervision poses a threat to workforce stability, capacity, confidence, competence and morale.