Reflective Diary

Reflective diary
Name
Course
Instructor
Date

Reflection diary 1- experience the classroom
The first stage of the degree programme has been challenging like most new things, before one gets to grasp the course requirements and objectives. Reflective practice has played a vital role in the learning process as I am better able to analyze different aspects of life, at school, social care settings and in the workplace. Besides this, reflection is vital to facilitate communication and helps one utilize listening skills to facilitate learning, when dealing with both interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships (Hugman 2009, p.25). I have tried out to use these skills with my classmates and the role play sessions lay emphasise on the need for communication to facilitate reflective practice. Before the reflective practice, I would at times avoid conversations that I assumed would potentially lead to confrontation, but I can now handle conversations better as I am more aware of the situations.
The Gibbs framework for reflection first illustrates the need to describe an event, with thoughts, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plans being necessary for the completion of reflective practice (Jasper 2003, p. 83). The first aspect of reflection is on the learning practice in the module and what I learned through out the course. Since the course started there has been emphasis on communication skills as being vital in both academia and workplace. To create a good learning environment the sessions are planned and divided according to the time allotted. In the first week of the learning, the instructor emphasised on the role of communication, and with students already having known each other better through role plays it was easier to communicate throughout the session.
To further improve learning, the second week also took gave an overview of social care settings, and this enabled me to better understand how I would utilized communication in such settings. In order to success in social care settings there is a need to understand the people through open communication and active listening. The case of role plays in the course illustrated that people are more receptive when there is open communicator and mutual trust. Hence, I plan to utilize communication skills to build a rapport with fellow students, instructors and clients, and this reflective practice demonstrates that there is a need to take action after identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and barriers in health settings.
By the end of the first month, it was clear to me that though placement in care settings was not necessary at the stage, it was essential to understand the learning outcomes that had to be met. My roommate and I who also took the same course set on a journey to understand the role of care settings to our professional life. As such, I volunteered on weekends to work in an adult care settings for four Saturdays to understand the context and relevance of the communication skills. Before beginning volunteering I was apprehensive because the elderly would be my clients and I needed to communicate effectively for the practice to be effective. In the first day at the care, setting I encountered many patients who had stayed there for months, but some were not willing to communicate unless their family members were present
In order to build trust, I requested to be assigned one client and worked with her for the four weeks. Even though, this typically involved acting as an assistant to the social care workers, there was emphasis on communication as this allowed the staff to diagnose and treat the patients better. Patient confidentiality is an important aspect of social care, and hence I resolved to maintain patient confidentiality. By the third day of visiting the care setting I was able to assist the social worker and nurse assigned to the patient, through noting down the patient spiritual assessment. Even though, spiritual assessment is an important aspect of holistic care, some health care practitioners are reluctant to use spiritual assessment tools (Moss 2012, p.36). However, the nurse utilised the spiritual assessment tool, and I was able to communicate better with patient having already understood that spirituality was a source of hope in her life, and there was mutual trust. I plan on going to see the patient later and visit the care centre more often to acquit myself on what is expected of me.
Reflection 2
Having a good background in health and social care complements the course, and communication enables one to prepare for the challenges in working at health and social care settings. The core skills of reflection require that one has to evaluate and where possible and reflect on ways through which an experience has influenced perceptions. The Gibbs model for refection highlights on the role of self awareness as being critical to reflective practice as one need to explore their feelings before, during and after an even has already started (Bryan 2009 p.54). Evaluating the options is enhanced when there is proper evaluation of the situation on whether an even or experience was good or bad. With this in mind I will use the reflection practice as a learning tool to enable me better understand different situations pertaining to academia, and working in health and social care settings.
To further lay credence to the need for effective communication skills when dealing with clients are frameworks to ensure that there is better communication (Hamilton, 2007). Essentially, there is a need to first interact with a client, with clear intentions having been established, it becomes easier to carry out the interventions, while also accounting for any changes that have occurred after the intervention. This framework highlights on the need for social and health care workers to complement practice through use of a range of communication skills. Even though, communication skills are vital for interaction, the presence of a structure ensures that interaction is more effective.
The reflective practice goes beyond academic work and relevance to the working environment, with culture and identity differences also providing an opportunity for learning (Rothman 2008, p. 39). Even though, Britain is a multicultural country and London Met has students from various cultural backgrounds, stereotypes about the different ethnic groups may lead one to make assumptions when encountered from a different cultural background. The learning environment is inclusive of diverse cultures, but cross cultural support is harder in the society. To reflect on the need for communication in a multicultural society, is my experience with a student from Uganda in East Africa. Many of the Black British students have their roots in the Caribbean with those from West Africa also making a sizeable proportion. Many times, Black British students are grouped together, and since those from the West Indies are the majority, it is assumed that the represent the Black British population.
Even though, the student is not my classmate, we regularly met and I had initially assumed that like he was of West Indian. During the first week that the student volunteered to be the candidate for the international student’s body, I had initially assumed that he would merely draw support from fellow students with similar cultural backgrounds. The Gibbs framework of reflection highlights on the importance of evaluation, and upon further prodding I came to understand that the Black British population had diverse roots. In fact, the candidate religious practices in the Catholicism seem to have a major influence on his life.
The need to use effective communication in social and care settings is highlighted by the need to be culturally competent (Rothman 2008, p.36). My continued interaction with the student showed me that basing decisions on assumptions and pre conceived notions affected communications. During the second week of February I was able to understand the need to take into account the context in one on one communication. Culture and identity does affect context, and through sharing information over time it is easier to build relations with other people, and this is particularly helpful for professionals. Showing interest and respect to people of different backgrounds is helpful in conversations, as people are more likely to be comfortable. Success of one on one and group communication success depends on how the people actively participate in the conversation without anyone appearing to be domineering.
Essentially, to evaluate the success of the reflection it is necessary to look into the role of communication. There is a need to use communication skills effectively among social and health care workers ho deal with people of different ages and identities. Building a working alliance between fellow workers is a critical aspect of the working environment, and through collaborative efforts it is easier to provide better service in an environment that fosters synergy (Van Servellen 2009, p.64). Communication skills are effective when working with clients because they facilitate therapeutic patient contact, and one can ensure continuity inpatient care through communication skills. Thus, I learned on the need to use active listening, reflection and closing thro...