Developing A Professional Identity And Promoting Professional Development Essay

“The most successful nations in the future will be those which develop high quality, skilled and motivated workforces and make good use of them.” Government White Paper (1994)

The purpose of this unit is to assess the learner’s knowledge, understanding and skills required to promote the professional duty to maintain the currency of knowledge and skills and the need to continually reflect on and improve practice.

The important of continually improving knowledge and practice is that you can ensure that you are aware of any new relevant legislation and also you can improve the service that you provide. It also gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you are good at as well as what you are not so good at, so that you can see what areas you can improve in.

This assignment describes my own Professional Development Plan (PDP) for the first six months of my nurse registration. Following a PDP will show my commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), otherwise known as PREP (CPD). PREP stands for Post-Registration Education and Practice and is a set of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards and guidance that help nurses give the best possible care (NMC PREP Handbook 2006 p3); part of which is a commitment to CPD. CPD is a process of learning activities designed for individuals to reach their full potential, so they provide the highest possible standards of patients care (NMC PREP Handbook 2006 p9). By following a PDP I will develop my knowledge, understanding

Becvar, D. & Becvar R. (2009). Family therapy: a systemic integration. (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

1. Briefly explain how the CIPD HR Profession Map defines the HR profession, including the professional areas, the bands and the behaviours.

Reflective practice can be used by workers to enhance their performance and practice at work.

Gladding, S. T. (2010). Family therapy: History, theory, and practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.

Marriage and Family Therapists (also known as MFTs) are relationship specialists. MFT focuses on the relationships that the client has and assists them to function as a stable individual and as a relationship parent. MFTs are trained assess to diagnose and treat individuals, couples, families and groups to achieve more adequate, satisfying and productive marriage, family and social adjustment (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists). According to American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Marriage and Family Therapists are mental health professionals with a minimum of a master’s degree and two years supervised clinical experience. Marriage and Family Therapists are trained and licensed to independently diagnose and treat mental health and substance abuse problems. The role of a MFT is to help individuals and families to address issues and guide them in the situations and everyday life so that they can function within society. MFTs provide a wide variety of services for clients. Some services that MFT provide but are not limited to is diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, marriage and relationship counseling, and pre-martial counseling. A few of common disorders treated by MFTs are depression, martial/family

Marriage and family therapists are very much needed and are growing in demand. The stigma of seeing a therapist for marital and family problems is disappearing thus making people more likely to seek help for issues they cannot resolve on their own. There has also been an increased recognition of the field of marriage and family therapy (http://www.bls.gov). Over half of managed health care providers and employee assistance programs employ or contract with MFTs and 91% of graduates in 1992 from COAMFTE accredited programs were employed not long after graduation (http://www.aamft.org). According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the field of marriage and family therapy is expected to see a growth of 30% by 2016 making it one of the fastest growing of all occupations (http://www.bls.gov).

The ‘Thinking Performer’ also challenges what (s)he sees/does and thinks for him/her-self instead of blindly following orders. The situation may have changed which affects the usual way things are being done or why they are needed. (S)he looks beyond the results to why they are required and tries to make a positive difference to the organisation. Every organisation is a living organism and the HR professional should be a (pro)-active member rather than a follower. In the HR Professional Map this is represented by required behaviour such as ‘curious’, ‘courage to challenge’ and ‘personally credible’.

Within my role, it is important to continually improve knowledge and practice so I am aware of how to give the best diverse and equal care to children, stay fully up to date with all standards and legislations.

My first assumption of family therapy was to involve the parents and the individual that had the problem. This book explored further what it

I am currently in my final year studying a Bachelor of Business majoring in Management and Logistics. I completed my high school education at a well respected school in Brisbane and received good grades, however, I was unsure of what career path I wanted to follow. I was accepted into a Bachelor of Business but deferred University to work as a retail assistant and travel. I decided to change my course of action and applied for a position for a Bachelor of Nursing. I was accepted and completed 1.5 years of the degree. However, as we run a family business, a dealer of new and used commercial trucks and trailers, my father encouraged me to transfer back into a Bachelor of Business to further my education as a business graduate. Once I transferred into the Bachelor of Business program, I commenced work as a Store Person in one of our warehouses. As I furthered my education and sustained unrelated injuries, which prevented me from working in the position, I was transferred into the Parts department to work as a Parts Administration Assistant. I soon moved down the Gold Coast and transferred from Nathan campus to Gold Coast campus to continue my studies. I commenced a new position as Online Store Coordinator and Marketing Assistant at our Yatala branch.

Marriage and family therapists believe that the family patterns may affect an individual’s psychological and physical well being and therefore need to be part of therapy. During a therapy session even if only one person is being interviewed, the therapists focuses on a set of relationships that the person is embedded in. The entire family is involved in solving clients problems regardless of whether the issue in individual or family.