Professional Development Essay

This is an essay on the importance of reflection in personal and professional development.   The aim of this essay is highlight the use of reflection/reflective practice and the various roles it can be used,
There are many different ways in which to reflect, these range from keeping a journal, this allows a person to reflect regularly on instances that may occur. Reflective analysis allows the individual to go over specific instances more thoroughly in order to analyse and evaluate. These should not always be used to focus on negative events, reflective practice can be used to show objectives that have been achieved along with occasions where things didn’t necessarily go to plan. Concept mapping is another technique that can be utilised, drawing ideas in a non-linear form, that arise from problems, allowing you to reflect, understand and reshape ideas.
Reflection doesn’t always have to be thought of as a solitary exercise, there are also group techniques that can be useful, clinical supervision, organised on a regular basis amongst peers can be an extremely effective method in order to reflect, people are able to raise concerns on an issue and work through it as a group, approaching it from different angles, helping each other to understand those different angles on the same issue, hopefully leading to a shared, balanced understanding. Clinical supervision aims to promote high clinical standards and develop professional expertise by supporting staff, helping to prevent problems in busy, stressful practice settings. While clinical supervision is not yet mandatory for nurses, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) strongly supports the principles and provision of supervision for all practitioners (NMC, 1996). There are a number of models for clinical supervision and ways in which it can be provided. The way it is delivered will depend on the needs of the practitioner and the organisation.

There are various models or approaches to clinical supervision;...