Professional Development Plan - Essay Example

?Running head: Assessment 3 Assessment 3 Putting Professional Development Plan into Action Assessment 3 Putting Professional Development Plan into Action Learning goal: to use open/closed questions appropriately with patients and with other health professionals Actions Evaluation Day 1 (morning) Researched books and journals which discussed suggestions on how to carry out open and close-ended interviews. Gained information from experts published in books and journals on the appropriate questions to ask for both open-ended and close-ended questionnaires Day 1 (afternoon) Reviewed articles, journals, news paper and magazine articles which had open-ended and close-ended questionnaires. Gained information from other authors and experts in the more casual setting on what questions which can fall under open-ended and close-ended questionnaires Day 2 (morning) Interviewed nurses on how and what questions they asked in order to gain health-related information from their patients. Gained information on the type of questions they used and how they asked such questions from patients Day 2 (afternoon) Interviewed doctors and other health professionals asking them the types of questions they should be asked by other health professionals in relation to patient care. Gained knowledge on what I can ask from doctors and other health professionals in order to gain the most data about the patient’s care. Day 3 (morning) Interviewed some patients asking them what questions they found uncomfortable to answer; asked them also what types of attitudes they liked in the health professionals asking questions Gained insight from patients on what questions can be awkward to answer and how they can be posed on them; gained insight about what patients like about their health professionals and what can help them relax during questioning Day 3 (afternoon) Interviewed nurses and asked them how they established rapport with patients in order to help them answer questions comfortably Gained knowledge on how rapport and trust can be built with patients Day 4 (morning) Interviewed nurses and asked them how they dealt with patients not willing to answer questions about their health Gained information on how nurses were able to cut through patient’s defenses and gained answers to difficult questions. Day 4 (afternoon) Formulated open-ended and close-ended questions based on books and studies researched, and based on information gathered from other nurses, patients, and health professionals Organize information on paper based on knowledge gained above and establish open-ended and close-ended questions from this knowledge. Day 5 (morning) Tested such questions with 3 nurses, 3 other health professionals, and 3 patients; feedback from such questions were asked from the respondents Learned what was lacking and what needed improvement in the questionnaire Day 5 (afternoon) Questionnaire refined based on the suggestions of the respondents Integrated more improvements on questionnaire based on initial feedback Day 6 (morning) Rapport building was carried out with other colleagues, health professionals, and patients. Found out ways of getting around patient’s defenses and get them to be more open about their health issues. Day 6 (afternoon) Posed open-ended and close-ended questions on patients to establish their history and physical assessment details Gained accurate, timely, and appropriate information about the patients to assist in the diagnosis and treatment plan. Reflection The plan above which I followed in the application of my PDP, contains both advantages and disadvantages. This plan was very much effective in achieving my goals for this research. Basically, I believe that what I have done above will help me better communicate with patients and other health professionals. In carrying out the question and answer process, I was able to bring further support to the idea by the JCAHO (2003) which stated that open-ended questions are known to yield definite answers from the patient in relation to past and current health concerns. Through the open ended questions, I was able to establish patients’ history and their experiences with current diseases. By posing the close-ended questions, I was able to reveal details about their past medical history which are actually relevant to their current care and condition (JCAHO, 2003). I found out that it is important for me to know which pertinent questions to ask. I found out that if I asked the wrong question, I would not be able to come up with a proper diagnosis of the patient’s condition, nor would I be able to accurately establish the causes of the patient’s illness. I was also able to establish that in the course of the interview process, close-ended questions are more effective in reviewing a patient’s overall physical functioning (JCAHO, 2003). I found out in posing close-ended questions that these questions were very specific and they also yielded specific answers. I was able to ask the following questions which were pertinent to the patient’s condition and care: “Do you see double?”; “Do you feel pain in your right lower abdomen”; “Do you feel any difficulty in breathing?”; “Do you wear glasses or contacts?”; “Do you feel nauseated in the morning?” The standard forms of assessment which I was able to retrieve from the hospital already contained some of the specific close-ended questions which I was able to use to adequately assess the patient. I was able to use these answers to establish the patient’s health status. In applying the above plan, I was also able to establish data based on the expertise of other health professionals. I found out that I cannot just come up with a plan of care for the patient without coordinating with other health professionals. And asking other professionals through the open-ended and close-ended questions helped me better understand their work and their expertise (Dillon, et.al., 2009). By using the open-ended and close-ended question, I was able to find out that the pharmacologist would review the patient’s medications and evaluate which medications cannot be given simultaneously; he would also review the patient’s dosage and evaluate whether or not the accumulated dosage would not be therapeutic enough for the patient or if the dosage would be too much for the patient. I was able to find out that for a nurse coordinating a plan of care for the patient, it is important for her to ask the pharmacist whether or not the drugs would have adverse interactions with each other. Also, I discovered that the nurse and physician can ask the pharmacist which brand of medicine would best suit the patient’s needs and condition. These questions would pertain to the patient’s medical diagnosis and the pertinent orders which need to be carried out in behalf of the patient. And vice versa, the physician can ask pertinent open-ended questions about the patient which are very much pertinent to the patient’s care (Way, et.al., 2000). In the end, I discovered that asking the nurse about the patient’s vital signs, as well as his general condition yielded issues like hypothermia or hyperthermia, bradycardia, tachycardia, decreased or increased breath rates, or increased or decreased blood pressure. I found the value of information gathered from nurses through these open-ended and close-ended questions. Since a nurse is almost always with the patient 24 hours a day, she would be privy to these conditions and symptoms which may help the physician make appropriate decisions on patient medication, medical care, and intervention (Way, et.al., 2000). The process of using open-ended questions from the patients is also part of the therapeutic process of delivering patient care. Asking questions like: “What did you do last Saturday?” or “Who can we call to be with you today?” are just some of the questions which can be initially asked of the patient in order to help the patient open up on an unconscious level (Berman, et.al., 2004). I found out during the implementation of the action plan that the process of asking open-ended questions can be complicated and sensitive. The patient may not want to share pertinent information about his life to a person he just met or he may not be comfortable about sharing sensitive and personal information about his life and his physiological condition (Bradshaw and Lowenstein, 2007). I found out that in dealing with these patients, I need to ask these questions in a discreet and reassuring manner. This can help relax the patient and inspire and trusting attitude in me. I found that I can start the interview process by posing a widely focused or a general question. And then, “as the client responds to this question, it may be appropriate for the interviewer to follow-up with several more narrowly focused, open-ended questions that help the client delve deeper into his or her experience” (Berman, 2004, p. 7). In the process, the questions were able to assist in establishing specific details about the client which can eventually be used in the patient diagnosis and in conceptualizing the appropriate plan of care. In applying the plan of care through these close-ended and open-ended questions, I was able to establish that some types of questioning were appropriate for specific patients. For instance, when assessing how many cigarettes a client smokes in a day, asking the patient the following question, “Tell me how many cigarettes you smoke in a day?” can reveal specific information about the client’s cigarette smoking habits. For those patients who usually went off tangent during the interview process, I found that close-ended questions help draw out essential data from them (Berman, et.al., 2004). Asking them specific questions can redirect their thoughts and get the interview and assessment back on track. While refining the questionnaire based on the feedback from patients and health professionals, I found out that close-ended questions can effectively work when they come after open-ended questions (Sleath, et.al., 1999). For instance, I wanted to discover how many drinks of alcohol the patient usually has daily. On the first round of questioning, I asked the client “How often do you drink?” The client answered, “I drink occasionally.” This was not very helpful because I wanted a specific answer. I discovered that I need to refine this question by following it up with a close-ended question on the amount of alcohol drank daily. I then changed the question to: I drink ____ bottles of beer a day. Choices may be: 1 only, 2, 3, 4, 5, more than 5, etc. This question helped establish the specific details about the client’s alcohol history. Asking the question helped me determine whether or not the client was alcoholic and whether or not he was already at risk for a variety of health issues associated with his alcohol history (Berman, et.al., 2004). Through this data established during the interview process, I was able to establish whether or not the patient needs to undergo a liver function test and/or a colonoscopy for proper diagnostic evaluation. Works Cited Berman, P., Shopland, S., & Shopland, S. (2004). Interviewing and diagnostic exercises for clinical and counseling skills building. New York: Routledge Bradshaw, M. & Lowenstein, A. (2007). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning Dillon, P. (2009). Simulation as a Means to Foster Collaborative Interdisciplinary Education. Nursing Education Perspectives, volume 30(2), pp. 87-90. JCAHO (2003). Hospital Patient Assessment: Meeting the Challenges. New York: Joint Commission Resources Sleath, B., Roter, S., Chewning, B. & Svarstad, B. (1999). Asking Questions about Medication: Analysis of Physician-Patient Interactions and Physician Perceptions. Medical Care, volume 37(11), pp. 1169-1173 Way, D., Jones, L., & Busing, N. (2000), Implementation Strategies: Collaboration in Primary Care –Family Doctors & Nurse Practitioners Delivering Shared Care: Discussion Paper Written for The Ontario College of Family Physicians. Retrieved 14 May 2011 from http://www.eicp.ca/en/toolkit/hhr/ocfp-paper-handout.pdf Read More