Learning and Reflective Practice Essay

Submitted By AmandaChambersBe
Words: 1503
Pages: 7

CU2942: Promote Professional Development

1. Why is it important to continually improve one’s knowledge and practice? (1.1)

The health and social care sector has experienced significant changes during the last 30 years, so much so that change is considered a part of everyday life. For health and social care the change has meant that service users expect a higher quality of care and support. The training that was given 30 years ago is not comparable to the care training given today. It is important to continually improve on knowledge due to the ever-changing legislation that accompanies this line of work. Continually improving knowledge means to keep up-to-date with legislation and regulations, thus improving the quality of life to the people we provide care for. Leitch review of skills was a review that identified the need for the UK workforce to develop up-to-date skills. As deputy manager it is part of my role to ensure staff are kept updated on legislation and guideline changes.

2. Analyse potential barriers to professional development (1.2) Continual professional development is an important part of care work, there are often barriers that can make this difficult. The first step to overcoming a barrier is to recognise what the barrier is. Once a barrier is identified you can then put a plan in place to reduce the barrier. In the table below I have identified potential barriers and actions to overcome these barriers, I have also identified if these are internal or external barriers.

Potential barriers
Internal or external
Actions to overcome
Lack of information regarding oppurtunities
External
Internet research use networks to find out what is available
Financial difficulties
External
Research funding for courses apprenticeship within work to prevent loss of earnings
Family commitments
Internal/external
Flexible learning hours childcare support
Educational capabilties
Internal
Extra basic courses such as maths and english
Negative learning experiences
Internal
Research types of learning support from tutors The VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/write, Kinesthetic) approach presents a series of questions to help learners to understand their preferred methods of learning. It is often used in places of learning to aid them in overcoming barriers of learning/professional development.

3. What different sources and systems of support are there for professional development? Compare these (1.3) There are different types of sources of support for professional development, some are internal to our organisation such as supervision and staff meetings and external such as training courses. Below is a table identifying systems of support and their key features
System of support
Type of support
Key features
Induction
Internal
Basic knowledge to do your job
Gets you familiar with work surroundings
Supervision
Internal
Enables you to ask about things your not sure on
Allows the management to inform you of changes and improvements to be made
Shadowing
Internal
Allows you to see how other more experienced staff work
Get advice from more experienced staff
Training courses
External
Foundation knowledge of legislations, guidelines and standards
Meets health and social care standards
Continually improves knowledge
In-house training
Internal
Basic knowledge knowledge of service users
Staff meetings
Internal
Group discussion different opinions and experience Shadowing senior members of staff gives more hand on experience all round, and gives more specific knowledge about specific tasks, individuals and procedures. Unfortunately it can also give a biased opinion on how things should be done and may not always lead to the correct procedures and practices. Training courses are very factual, they inform you of guidelines, legislations and standards and will inform staff of the correct way to perform tasks. Although training courses are factual they give more general information then advice on how to deal with individual situations or how