Reflective Practices in Healthcare Setting

Question: Describe about the reflection helps in more personal professional improvement and development compared to formal learning (Moon 2013). Answer: The reflection helps in more personal professional improvement and development compared to formal learning (Moon 2013). According to Thompson and Pascal (2012), practitioners who reflect on their experiences become better learners. Description My final placement was in the trauma and orthopedic ward in the hospital. During this placement, I was in check of a patient who had periprosthetic hip ORIF and then had also a revision of ORIF left femoral periprosthetic. Patients Past Medical History was as follows: Anaemia, high cholesterol, hypertension, COPD, Pacemaker, nephritic syndrome, previous left neck of the femur. The patient also had wound debridement because she had an infection where she had an operation. l had looked after this patient for a couple of shifts, the patient was being transferred with the gutter frame with two staff but deteriorated and transferred with cricket hoist with two staff .The patient had low sodium and on 1.5 fluid restrictions. I had a mentor in this hospital who showed me most of the procedures that were undertaken to the patient in this ward but my main focus was for this patient. The patient most of the time became breathless as COPD symptoms kept on relapsing. There was an awkward event t hat happened during my placement in this ward and was when a doctor without gloves and had not washed his hands or disinfected them with alcohol gel performed wound debridement to the patient. Unfortunately, the blood from the patient sprinkled onto his hands. The doctor did not even bother reporting the incidence to the in-charge of the ward and he just washed his hand with plain water without soap or disinfecting solution. Feeling I was shocked by the doctors action which left me in a dilemma on what to do in order to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. I also felt helpless as the patient condition was not improving despite the treatment that he was being given by the doctors. The patient kept on complaining that the whole of his body was in pain, this was despite the analgesics that he was given on daily basis. I empathized with the patient and encouraged her that we were there for her and her condition would improve which made the patient feel rejuvenated. Evaluation I regret not having challenged the doctors action on the patient as the doctor was diagnosed to have been infected with Hepatitis B Virus after two months when the incident happened. It was discovered that the patient was infected with Hepatitis B virus after the event happened. I blame myself for not having informed the Doctor to have worn the gloves before he commenced on the debridement procedures. I could also have informed the doctor on the importance of proper disinfection of hands after blood spillage and also reporting of any case of blood spillage on any part of the body to the in-charge of the ward. The occurrence taught me the importance of embracing aseptic techniques while dealing with patients. The placement in this ward helped me to understand how to manage patients in the orthopedic ward and how to manage other condition like hypertension and COPD. Analysis The Healthcare-Associated infection is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitals (Polin et al 2012). Cimiotti , Aiken, Sloane and Wu (2012) asserts that the health care professionals, family members, and the visitors are among the human resources responsible for transmission of pathogens within the health facility. According to Lgar and Witteman (2013), the microorganisms commonly transmitted within the health care setting include fungi, virus, bacteria, and parasites. Ghareeb et al (2013) argue that Routine practices in health care are vital in preventing the risk of transmitting infection between one person and the other. According to Bennett, Dolin and Blaser (2014), the routine practices includes hand hygiene, education of health professionals/client/families/visitors and personal protective equipment. Conclusion The situation has made me learn the importance of taking courage in reminding the health professionals on the best practices while carrying out the day to day activities in improving the quality of care for the patients. The health care providers should not hesitate in correcting each other mistakes and this can help in curbing the spread of healthcare-Associated infections. Action plan The incidence inspired me to always embrace aseptic techniques while handling patients to avoid health-care-associated infection. I would not hesitate in reminding the other health professional on the aseptic techniques expected of them while performing their duties. References Bennett, JE, Dolin, R and Blaser, MJ, 2014.Principles and practice of infectious diseases(Vol. 1). Elsevier Health Sciences. Cimiotti, JP, Aiken, LH, Sloane, DM. and Wu, ES, 2012. Nurse staffing, burnout, and health careassociated infection.American journal of infection control, vol.40, no. (6), pp.486-490. Ghareeb et al, 2013. Reducing pathogen transmission in a hospital setting. Handshake verses fist bump: a pilot study.Journal of Hospital Infection, vol.85 no. (4), pp.321-323. Lgar, F and Witteman, HO, 2013. Shared decision making: examining key elements and barriers to adoption into routine clinical practice.Health Affairs, vol.32 , no. (2), pp.276-284. Moon, JA, 2013.Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Routledge. Polin et al, 2012. Strategies for prevention of health careassociated infections in the NICU.Pediatrics,vol. 129, no. (4), pp.e1085-e1093. Thompson, N and Pascal, J, 2012. Developing critically reflective practice. Reflective Practice, vol. 13, no. (2), pp.311-325.