Reflective Log On Personal And Professional Development Skills Nursing Essay

Reflective Log On Personal And master copy Development Skills Nursing EssayStress has always been a crash of my life. I hasten nonplusd it during exam revision, my Duke of Edinburgh expedition, being the captain of a tennis team and performing in a play. My reason for choosing this SSC was to armed service me to identify and manage my sieve, plan my addresss and break my age commission so that excessive examine give the gate be blocked in the future tense.We began the course by studying the graph of performance versus arousal, illustrating the human response to test. Performance initially increased with stress. I w atomic number 18 always perceived stress as a negative thing and both(prenominal)thing that should be avoided at all costs. I soon learned that some stress is good for you some stressors book you motivated and working at the optimum rate without them, I would move bored and smack desire I was underachieving. When stress is excessive, however, the graph starts p new-fangledauing and then(prenominal) red go through. The organic structure starts suffering and displaying signs of being over evince leading(p) to lowered productiveness and finally breakd admit and illness.When I am very stressed, I celebrate myself experiencing a combination of symptoms. Anxiety, procrastination, increased heart rate, diarrhoea, sensitivity to criticism, negative self-critical thoughts and daily ruttish outbursts ar not uncommon to me. Being on such(prenominal) a demanding course as Medicine, it is eventful to manage stress expeditiously to keep productivity at optimum levels. K straightwaying active the manifestations of stress is utile both when directly administering healthcare and to inform professional conduct. The savvy of the manifesting symptoms of stress will for lay off me to identify it in myself and other(a)s I can later use this either to prescribe the right course of natural action to the patient, or to manage underlyin g problems at work.The two types of stress are acute and chronic. The General Adaptation Syndrome proposed by Seyle explains the stages the proboscis goes through when congeal virtually with stress Alarm, Resistance and Exhaustion1. The frighten stage involves the fight or dodging mechanism as swell as activation of the Hypothalamic pituitary body Adrenal axis, leading to down-regulation of the immune system. In the resistance phase, the body tries to open sex with the increased stress. In the exhaustion phase, keep up stress has depleted the body of resources and we suffer from diseases of adaptation. I experience acute stress on a frequent basis, for guinea pig when I jump a minor dishonor or am nerve-wracking to meet an essay deadline, leading to alarm and resistance. Chronic stress is to a greater extent long term, such as occupational stress, commonly leading to the exhaustion phase of the General Adaptation Syndrome. This occurs when I am stressed for a lengthy period of time, such as when struggling to catch up with work or preparing for exams.Extended periods of risque stress situations can lead to burnout, which is characterised by emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, leading to low productivity and feelings of low carry throughment. I have experienced equivalent feelings when, after pushing myself withal hard, I feel negative, run down and as though my work is barely progressing. The extreme demands of a medical checkup career can easily drive a doctor to burnout. I was glad that this SSC gave us space to consider burnout, as it brought my attention to aspects of my own conduct when under pressure.With an awareness of my personal difficulties in point, I ofttimes try to use action and emotionally orientated skills to manage my stress levels. I plan ahead in terms of work and other commitments, and prefer to work steadily over time and not set forth emotionally worked up about it. However, acceptance-orientated stress fo rethought comes into play when stressors have the appearance _or_ semblance more imminent. With the associated stress of an oncoming exam, for instance, I accept it and work, trying to avoid further stress by reminding myself that I am doing my best.I was move to learn about the extent to which personal stress effects those who debate us. Stress is infectious and in a clinical scenario it is important to appear calm to the patient to build a rapport and gain their trust. A visibly stressed doctor forget result in stressed patients, or even cause stress in other members of ply leading to poor patient care, often collectible to non-verbal communication such as body language. With the understanding that interactions with patients, and teamwork situations will feature a broadcast in my career, k without delaying about the infectious nature of stress has reinforced my belief that I must manage my stress and be restrained of how (or what) I communicate.To improve my stress atten tion, it is important to become aware of my stressors, and how I react physically and emotionally to them, while bearing in mind the three main variables of stress intensity, duration and number of stressors present. This will allow me to evaluate what I can deepen and to moderate my physical and emotional responses. Keeping fit by divergence to the gym and playing sports, as well as socialising allows me to unwind and feel good about myself. I muster these very effective in stress management as they allow build-up of physical and emotional reserves. However, I need to improve my prioritising mechanisms, as sometimes prioritising is my downfall for example I often find myself persuaded to go out with friends before an important deadline. Doing work when it is important kinda than urgent will also leave me room to do the things I enjoy, without the avoidable pressure of time constraints and outstanding work thus by starting assignments sooner rather than later, and studying lectu res and tutorials after having them I will reduce my exposure to the stressors, and the intensity and duration of the stressWith those plans in mind, I found learning about the methods of stress manipulation halting, interrupting and cope useful and insightful. In the past I have used halting and coping as my primary methods of manipulating stress. However, I now feel that these are not best in all situations indeed, they can result in more when work accumulates and must be completed later. I am now putting into place interruption, which involves reducing the stress rather than finishping it exclusively by preventing it from building up this full treatment well when it controls the management of variables of stress.I found it a surprise that such a thing as eustress existed once again challenging my perceptions that stress is al most(prenominal) always a negative thing. I then recalled when I had experienced this in the past, for example when exams are over and I have almost unlimited time to do whatever I want.Learning how to identify stressors, as well as enhancing relevant communication skills, was useful. As a doctor, using the head words Who, What, When, Where and How when interviewing patients will protagonist me to take good patient histories they will allow me to direct the patients answers in a way which will help identify the stressors efficiently. The areas which cause stress are occupation, personal relationships, environment and non-work time. victimization the aforementioned words will prepare open yet particularized questions, prompting the patient to open up and provide a bettor history. However, the interrogator why should not be used as it is excessively vague and not productive enough when trying to determine the causes of stress. concept awareness refers to negative returning. I have experienced this myself, when the approach of exams causes me to enquiry my fuckledge and anticipate failure. However, I have addressed this b y do sure I prepare in enough time and by using my time efficiently. I am now able to hypothesise more clearly, remain calmer and actualise informed decisions in more disagreeable situations. I recognise the importance of being optimistic, and believe that even when things do not go according to plan, I must see the experience as positive and an opportunity to learn. As well as that, I am quite a confident person and apply myself to most situations with a confident mind-set even if they are in uncharted territory. This allows me to push my boundaries, and this boosts my confidence when I am pleasantly surprised to get out a new skill. On my Duke of Edinburgh expedition, I was leading my team. Unfortunately due to torrential rain and wind, a part of our route was impassable this meant I was responsible to plan a new route within a short period of time as it was getting very late and dark. I winnerfully managed to get the team to the camp with very half-size delay to our origin al plan.The final step in stress management is rest, relaxation and sleep. In my experience, all three have suffered during stressful times, especially rest and relaxation. I play badminton, tennis and go to the gym as forms of recreation, and enjoy music and television to distract me from the stress. I sometimes stop doing these during intense times in order to make time for work. I now realise that it is important not to halt these activities. However the biggest change I will be making is implementing the self-hypnosis techniques learnt in the classes. I think that the hypnosis allows me to be more awake and refreshed than by taking a quick nap, which often leaves me feeling worse when I wake up which I learnt was due to me interrupting a sleep cycle.To be someone who works productively, efficiently and in a professional manner, I must set realistic coatings and then achieve them, borrowing some aspects of the tycoon mentality. Namely, it is incumbent firstly to have what I wa nt the best way of going about this is to maintain focussed on it by not bothering too much about what I dont want. To remain focussed on achieving my goals, it is important that I constantly visualise them to keep myself striving towards them. This means unclutter your mind of any clutter such as goals that are now unattainable and past events. I often find myself thinking of what has happened in the past and replaying them in my mind and thinking about what I could have done differently, for example I once said something rash to a friend in the heat of the moment which I later regretted I kept thinking about all the time and got really stressed. I now realise that this is merely a waste of time and I could use this time to make more use of the present to create a better future.Tycoons realise the importance of compartmentalising, that is, not carrying emotional luggage from one thing to another. As a doctor for me this will be imperative I must not carry any sentiments about one patient to another when dealing with another case. I already compartmentalise in day to day life, and for instance when I get upset about one thing, I do not allow the associated emotions to interfere with other aspects of my life. I have also set myself some clear cut and realistic goals which I am working towards and know how to get there. In some ways I do have tycoon mentality, which is valuable as a medical student and future doctor.Although the importance of hard work is undeniable, anticipating success will help me to achieve it, as the ensuing excitement which in turn motivates me to strive towards my ambition. foretaste also allows me to change my goal if my current goal no longer seems to be the right one for me. Past experiences have shown me that whatever seems like a huge social movement will only become habitual in time, usually a period of three weeks according to Maltzs Psychocybernetics2. For example, when I promised myself to visit the gym to improve my fitness , it initially seemed a huge effort to make time for it, but after some time I stopped seeing it as an effort. It became a part of my schedule, and I am able to fit other activities around it this is goal maintenanceI have a goal in my career of becoming a liver surgeon, it is a definitive long term goal and I am determined to achieve it. I will need to achieve several goals such as passing my exams and attending surgical high society meetings to achieve the long term goal. By having a time ashes to achieve my goal, I will always endeavour to achieve the goals I set myself.It is not just enough to have a goal you need to make it a reality. I am good at operating on my own initiative and try to take the infallible steps to climb up the ladder towards my goals. Desire results in sustained effort For instance, I will not let progress make towards my ambition deter me from trying harder. I am currently seek for placements with surgeons and gaining career advice to set me apart when I apply for a job. spillage of desire can mean you can get side track from your goals and result in you not achieving them I am always trying to keep a focus on my goals in order to prevent this from happening. In order to gain satisfaction from achieving my goals, I need to make sure that I keep doing my on-going activities such as gym, tennis and badminton. Otherwise, I would have lost this aspect of my life as well as it being detrimental to my fitness. I am often guilty of fillet these activities when Im busy with other work, but from now on will incorporate them into my goals.Goals are something you want to achieve dreams go beyond goals and are on the horizon beyond the path to your goal. This made me think whether some of my goals are actually goals or whether they are dreams. I then realised that my goal of becoming a well renowned surgeon is actually a dream, I will need to hit all my goals and go beyond before I can make my dream a reality. I also realise that no one is going to create my success only I am solely responsible for creating my success. I have set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and within a Time frame) and I am now forming a personalised goal portfolio so that I can hit my targets to supplement this, I am also going to make lists of tasks that I need to do. Though I have neer used lists in the past, I feel that making lists facilitates organisation and assist the memory, thus increasing chances of success.I feel that this SSC has equipped me with a political platform of skills which will be useful in my career as a doctor. Mainly these fall under the categories of stress management, motivation techniques, time management and relaxation. Surprisingly, though, the course has shed light on the importance of communication and body language with regards to stress management, and familiarised me with concepts I did not previously know about, such as eustress and the positive influence of stress for productivity. Nevertheless I feel that the most important things I learned were the skill of identifying that I was stressed, and the knowledge that sometimes I need to relax. Above all, though, I feel that this SSC has been one of the most influential aspects of my medical education, as it has taught me to recognise that stress is not merely a black and white issue it resides uncomplete in the situation or the person, it depends on a transaction among the two.3