Summative Assessment: Critical Reflection

Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................3

Gap Analysis...............................................................................................................................................3

4a) Self Awareness.............................................................................................................................3

4b) Collaborative Practise, Teamwork and Leadership.....................................................................4

4c) Time and Care Management and Prioritisation...........................................................................4

4d) Manage Own Development.........................................................................................................4

Critical Analysis..........................................................................................................................................5

Analysing the competency areas.......................................................................................................5

Conclusion and Action plan - 400 words....................................................................................................6

References..................................................................................................................................................7
Introduction
The key aim of this critical analysis is focused on showcasing my own
achievements in the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) domain. The prime
factors of the NMC which are studied under include management and leadership.
Midwifery nursing includes all the basic nursing domains, and its significance is
studied in the following arguments. The former section of the subject deals with gap
analysis, critical analysis and a deep insight into the grounds of improvement. The
latter section lays down a SMART action-plan for the future. The gap analysis
predominantly lays emphasis on the challenges associated with nursing.
Gap Analysis
I have devised the gap analysis for assessing my current skills on the grounds of
management and leadership. I am going to analyse my competencies and weaknesses
to foster my practice on the placement. I have tried to evaluate my level of
understanding and interpretation of the four domains, namely self-awareness,
leadership, teamwork and management of self-development. My practice in nursing is
completely based on the codes laid by NMC. I have sketched my gap analysis chart
based on the feedback received from my teachers, mentors and healthcare
professionals. I have also exploited various published journals, reviews and other
pieces of work for the reflection.

Gap analysis Domains: Leadership Management and Teamwork

4a Self-Awareness    
4 Collaborative Practice,
b Teamwork and Leadership
4c Time and Care Management
and Prioritisation
4 Manage Self Development
d

Table1: Proforma reflecting my level of skills on the underlying domains

Evidence on analysis

4a) Self Awareness

It is one of the psychological states of mind in which a person focuses on paying

attention to oneself. Oh et al. (2015) stated that in terms of nursing, it is nurturing of
the personal and professional skills for the development of nursing abilities. It is quite
a mandatory aspect in nursing since a patient and nursing relationship must be healthy
to foster ease in communication and treatments (Yildirim and Ozkahraman, 2011). In
my forte of nursing, I try to be very cautious while dealing with the patients since any
small error can put someone’s life at stake. Self-awareness is quite significant as a
domain for development since it helps me in cultivating a positive relationship with
patients. I attended a few practical sessions of healthcare sponsored by my mentors,
wherein I had to handle people from diverse cultures and races, which was not a very
easy task. In the mid of the placement, I inculcated awareness about the internal
disturbances that may affect the quality of relationship while serving the people. At
the end of the placement, I came across many people from distinct diversities, but I
found myself a bit weaker than others in terms of awakening.

4b) Collaborative Practice, Teamwork and Leadership

In the words of Huber (2017), collaborative practice is a personal skill of a person that
is summed up with others’ ability so that teamwork can be performed. In collaborative
practice, a person must be dynamic and open to collaborating with others. In the
initial phase of the placement, I was graded as a collaborative person by my mentor,
but I personally believe that I encountered some difficulties in collaborating with the
workers having a Spanish accent. Teamwork in health care is a bit of embezzling task
since the people are of different attitudes and do not like to work in unity (Curtis,
Vries and Sheerin, 2011). I came across with many of my peers and friends who do
not like to work in teams owing to the cross conflicts in the opinions and the
perceptions. I have undermined leadership skills as disclosed by my peers in the
reviews. My mentor also believes that I am not much competent to handle a team and
that I do not possess capabilities to be a successful leader. I need to work on the
dimension of leading as a person so that it can act as a guide in my future.

4c) Time and Care Management and Prioritisation

I have studied mental care in nursing due to which delivery of best services
becomes my obligation. I have worked on mental patients and handling them is a very
crucial task. Mentally retarded people are prone to attacks, and they are very fragile to
their environment. We, as nursing staff for mental patients, are responsible for taking
care of each patient very diligently. The time management and resource prioritisation
are very significant tasks in a health care undertaking while supervising mental
patients. As a service user, I am always tied to implement and control the entire
coordination process taking place between health care practitioner and patients. I
always try to meet my deadlines by prioritising my tasks according to the schedule.
As per my mentor, I have become a veteran of time management in the span of a year,
and I am also successful in prioritising my tasks. I know the strategies to manage time
and activities, but I lack in managing the aggression and stress in others. Working
under pressure becomes a hurdle for me because I like to work very patiently and
calmly (VanVactor, 2012).
4d) Manage Own Development

Own development is referred to as the self-development of a person in nursing by

continually exploiting one’s knowledge. Assessment of own development inculcates
identification of the arenas for improvement (Gibbs, 2019). Learning and
development are needed in the nursing profession due to dealing with numerous
attitudes and behaviours of the people. I organised spoke experiences needed to
develop my area of expertise. My mentor believes that I am competent enough to
develop my own skill set and accomplish the tasks alone. I believe that a person can
learn from his/her failures; therefore, I keep on trying and do not give up, which
makes me able to identify my areas of improvement. Kohlberg's Theory of Moral
Development made a very significant contribution at the time of my placement. The
theory focuses on doing right and valid things for society rather than paying heed on
the good or bad aspects of society (Lester, 2019). While working in a nursing role for
mental patients, it becomes very important to take due care of the patients owing to
their weak thinking process.

Critical Analysis

In my opinion, I would like to work on collaborative practice, teamwork and

leadership, out of the four domains that are discussed above. The study above has
depicted that though I am good at collaborative practice and teamwork, still I am not a
good leader. I have chosen collaborative practice, teamwork and leadership to analyse
critically since these parameters are not completely up to the standard as per the
registration metrics. I am a person who likes to work in harmony and with the team,
but I lack leadership qualities due to which I face problems in delegating work or
supervising a team. I feel reluctant to act as a spokesperson or leader in a big event. It
is quite obligatory that a person needs to be competent enough for being a leader. A
leader must have problem-solving and motivation attribute, but I lack in both of these
aspects.

Analysing the competency areas

The results of my mentor’s feedback reflect that I have undermined leadership

skills. I have also identified in my gap analysis proforma that I lack leadership skills,
which is the hurdle to my success. The gap analysis also reflects that my decision-
making skills and sense of motivation others are very weak. I cannot confidently
claim that I am very good collaborator since there are some hurdles which I face
during collaborating. I feel uncomfortable working under pressure, as team members
often do not cooperate that acts as a hurdle in my working. I also do not have core
communication competence. There are several areas on which my graph is low, but I
am strategising to work on the same.
 I have started inculcating the learning and implementing some of the key
strategies in my real-life practice to overcome the ambiguity in the leadership process.
The task of developing leadership skills is quite simple and sorted, but that needs to
be duly followed and properly inculcated. The key factors which need to be carefully
supervised to become a successful leader include:
 In order to be a successful leader, a person should become disciplined first.
Discipline pools in inspiration in a person by meeting the deadlines, and keeping
the commitments fulfilled (Hutchinson and Jackson, 2013).
 By actively indulging in taking more projects, a person becomes more
responsible and sensible. A person must know to step out of comfort for being
successful.
 Following is a trait in the leadership process; by following a successful person,
one can put forth their ideas in real life. Giving credit to others as a follower helps
in fostering the development of teamwork.
 In the views of Supamanee et al. (2011), a leader is a person who has
foresightedness, so by developing situational awareness, a person can anticipate
the problems before they arrive. A leader knows the strategies to handle complex
issues with rationality.
 Continuous learning and exploration help in developing leadership skill in people,
whereas resolving conflicts also brings efficiency in solving interpersonal
disputes (VanVactor, 2012).

According to Hutchinson and Jackson (2013), in order to cultivate leadership

skills, first, I need to start working more with the teams and in collaboration.
Communication and group working in health care are very crucial elements to work in
a culturally diverse environment. While working in a Multi-Disciplinary Team
(MDT) in a health care institute for a mental unit, it is very significant to have healthy
communication with the people. Patients, their caretakers, medical professionals,
nurses, doctors and medical representatives are the people with whom a health care
professional needs to be genial. The area of mental health is very complicated as the
concern to sustain life is not only associated with the mental health of the patient but
also his biological and physical needs. The deficit in the mental health facilities may
reflect into relapsing of the prevention plans. Various models of leadership are laid
down to aid in the medical treatment of mental health patients.

As suggested by McCleskey (2014), a democratic style of leadership in mental

nursing helps in enhancing the involvement of the subordinates in the decision-
making process. In nursing, a democratic style can prove to be beneficial as the
employees feel valued in the organisation, and as a result, they attempt to perform
their best. The significance of using the democratic leadership style in nursing is that
it gives growth to the firm in many ways. The limitation of using the democratic style
of leadership in nursing is that apprehensive employees usually do not come up for
giving feedback and also do not get involved in decision making. Affiliative
leadership is quite significant on the grounds of relationship-building with the
individuals (Lynch, McCormack and McCance, 2011). This style of leadership is used
at resolving the conflicts between the employees or a group of employees as these
leaders are good at motivating the team members. If harmony is needed in a mental
care unit for treating mentally retarded people, affiliative leadership best serves the
team. In order to flourish the communication process, this type of leadership is the
best. The only limitation of this style of leadership is that it hampers the performance
as the close relationships obstruct the work process arising out of leniency.

In the views of Lester (2019), transactional Leadership style is the one in which
the leader gives punishment or rewards to the employees on the basis of their task
completion. The nurses, in this case, take care of the employees in the present by
overseeing the future. The nurse manager motivates the subordinates by giving
rewards and also brings discipline in their action. These types of nursing managers
usually pay attention to the deviations or any faults made by the subordinates. In
mental nursing, patient care is an extensive task since mental patients are prone to a
bad environment. They may not feel good if there is and ambiguity in care delivery
(Ejere and Ugochukwu, 2013). Transformational leadership in nursing is associated
with the encouragement of employees so that they can give their best at work and also
keeping them motivated for being positive. Transformational leadership is similar to
other leadership styles, but the difference is that it focuses on mission and vision
rather than encouragement solely. A smart and competent nurse in mental health care
is needed if he/she is willing to be a leader.
Situational leadership is one of the best leadership styles to opt-in the mental
health care unit (VanVactor, 2012). A leader must be very much flexible in this case
and should know the strategy to mould according to the working requirements of the
clinical settings. For instance, a mental patient visits the hospital in an emergency
with his caretakers, but there was no nurse in the hospital since it was Christmas. You
have witnessed the incident but was reluctant to find any nurse or GP, then it is your
responsibility to take charge of the situation and treat the patient being a
knowledgeable leader. The situational leadership's requisite is that a leader is
independent for reacting and moulding according to the situation (Hutchinson and
Jackson, 2013).

Challenges that need to be highlighted

I faced a lack of leadership during and after my placement in the mental health
care unit. There were ample of incidents in which I faced challenges in leading a
team. I was assigned a task to supervise a team of eleven for ten days, in the tenure of
that period, I faced a lot of challenges in delegating the responsibilities as three
workers out of eleven were from other countries. It was quite difficult to comply with
the cultural diversity and hence, inter conflicts between the team members were
observed. The issues I faced were due to a lack of leadership skills and organisation. I
used to face difficulties in top-down interventions and scheduling. While
communicating with my team, I faced linguistic issues, and I also got irritated by the
inefficiency of the subordinates in their working.
Inefficiency in individual accountability was the key challenge while working as
a leader. In a mental clinical practice, every individual is highly responsible for
his/her actions.