Supporting Others
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In my time working in the operational capacity of an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) level 2 with North West Ambulance Service I have regularly been required to perform the role of senior clinician aboard a responding emergency ambulance. I have adapted well to working with junior colleagues, or perhaps newly qualified colleagues of a senior clinical role, and have always attempted to propagate a working relationship that relies on mutual learning and the sharing of knowledge and expertise. Although these principles were not explicitly required of me in my role as an EMT they have given me a strong foundation for my transition into a supporting and mentoring role as a Paramedic.
Mentoring and supporting others is recognised as one of the key means of promoting learning and development in the health care profession (Gopee, 2011). It is a requirement of the professional standards of conduct of the HCPC (2012) to share knowledge and experience, and forms an explicit element of a paramedic's job description.
The HCPC requirement to share knowledge and experience is not explicitly limited to colleagues, and consideration must be given to the benefits of sharing such elements with patients in the provision of their care. Indeed there is evidence to support the notion that greater patient awareness of their condition can yield a more favourable patient outcome (Boswell, 2007, cited in Ward, 2013).
Learning methods employed in the supporting of others vary. The methods used in the learning relationship with patients, for example, might be more comparable with more recognisable 'traditional' teaching methods, while the methods used in inter-professional learning might include mutual reflection, theorising responses to clinical situations, skills practice or simple role modelling.
Having high personal professional standards, leading and learning by example is one method that I encourage and passively utilise. I regularly participate in crew debriefs, or reflection, following more clinically complex emergency calls as well as personal reflections. The merit of team debriefing encourages consideration of inter-professional interaction as well as of personal performance, as considered by Dismukes et al (2006), and is integral to the ongoing learning process in the multi-faceted provision of emergency health care.
Mentoring and supporting others is recognised as one of the key means of promoting learning and development in the health care profession (Gopee, 2011). It is a requirement of the professional standards of conduct of the HCPC (2012) to share knowledge and experience, and forms an explicit element of a paramedic's job description.
The HCPC requirement to share knowledge and experience is not explicitly limited to colleagues, and consideration must be given to the benefits of sharing such elements with patients in the provision of their care. Indeed there is evidence to support the notion that greater patient awareness of their condition can yield a more favourable patient outcome (Boswell, 2007, cited in Ward, 2013).
Learning methods employed in the supporting of others vary. The methods used in the learning relationship with patients, for example, might be more comparable with more recognisable 'traditional' teaching methods, while the methods used in inter-professional learning might include mutual reflection, theorising responses to clinical situations, skills practice or simple role modelling.
Having high personal professional standards, leading and learning by example is one method that I encourage and passively utilise. I regularly participate in crew debriefs, or reflection, following more clinically complex emergency calls as well as personal reflections. The merit of team debriefing encourages consideration of inter-professional interaction as well as of personal performance, as considered by Dismukes et al (2006), and is integral to the ongoing learning process in the multi-faceted provision of emergency health care.