Analysis of Professional Statutory and Regulatory Standards of Conduct, Performance, and Ethics - Essay Example

? Analysis of professional sta y and regulatory standards of conduct, performance & ethics and their impact on practice al affiliation Tutor Date Analysis of professional statutory and regulatory standards of conduct, performance & ethics and their impact on practice Clinical practice is one of the most prestigious professions of our time. This prestige, however, comes with a lot of expectations from the general public for medics to deliver valuable health care. In the U.K, the council for health professions has put in place measures to ensure that practitioners are adequately qualified. Here, it is no longer enough for someone to just complete a training course. One has to continually evaluate themselves even after studying to ensure that they are quality service to patients (Woollard, 2009). I recently learnt the significance of self-evaluation when I was faced with a clinical incident. This is perhaps why; developing one’s profession continually is a program which majority of paramedics are turning to. This program requires that medics re-evaluate themselves after every three years to keep up with the most recent advancements in their respective fields. Particularly, medics learn how to deal with various clinical incidents they face daily. According to Health Professions Council (2009) this program is very effective as it gives medics the much needed confidence to practice, and in turn, patients receive the best health care services. In the following section, I am going to describe how I faced a clinical incident, what actions I took and the helpful lessons I gained knowledge of from the experience. Description Clinical incidents are events could lead to impairments on the patient. I have learnt that clinical practice has plentiful tests. My first clinical incident was when a patient was brought in succumbing to abdominal difficulties and intricacy in air intake. Turkington & Mitchell (2009) point out that these signs were linked to poisoning. My co-worker and I were the only ones who could lend a hand, because all the doctors at the hospital were busy attending to other cases. Lillie et. al, (2005) argue that the welfare of the patient is principal and should be protected at all times. We checked crucial signs, that is, her pulsation and heart beat, which were scrawny and uneven correspondingly as advised by Brophy, et.al (2010). This called for instant action and we rushed her to the emergency ward to embark on treatment (The Intensive Care Society, 2006). Feelings I was very mystified and apprehensive as I tried my best to help out save patients, this being my first medical urgent situation. I knew immediately that we were dealing with a case of drug poisoning. It became evident that this was my chance to practice what I had learnt in theory, although I had some degree of experience. I was not conversant with the specific type of poison the patient had taken. In this misunderstanding, we almost overlooked the importance to clear her airway and make it easier for her to gulp air. The succeeding action was to endeavour to bring about vomiting but all was in futility, as the patient was too delicate. I became fretful and contemplated losing the patient. Evaluation I decided to seek specialized assistance from a veteran doctor to perform gastric scrutiny to get rid of the poison, at this point. The doctor, nevertheless, said that this was not essential and he used activated charcoal to control the increase of the toxin. Given that it was an undersized hospice with few employees, the doctor had to run off and be present in other emergency cases. My apprehension reduced considerably, although I had to constantly monitor the patient’s blood pressure, breathing and fluid levels throughout the night. By daybreak, the patient was sturdy enough to talk. I wanted to know whether the poisoning was deliberate or inadvertent yet did not want to infringe the patient’s privacy. According to Nursing & Midwifery Council (2009), it is important to value a patient’s right not to give information. It was, nonetheless, imperative for me to know the cause of the poisoning in order to determine what to do next. Analysis This proved to be daunting task because the patient was not willing to disclose any information despite my efforts to make her understand why the information was important to me. At some point, I became so frustrated I left the room to cool off. On the corridors I met the patient’s mother who was desperate to know her daughter’s condition. I assured her that the patient was recovering. From the mother, I learnt that she was a recovering alcoholic who had taken an overdose of the drugs given by her doctor. Apparently, the withdrawal symptoms made her become depressed and she decided to take an overdose. At that point I knew that I was dealing with a suicidal patient. I was not sure whether to involve the services of a psychiatrist and d I consulted a senior doctor who agreed with me. This I did in line with the procedures for confidentiality that allows a medical practitioner to share information meant for continued care to a patient (Health Professions Council, 2008). After several days at the hospital receiving treatment for the poisoning and sessions with the psychiatrist, the patient was discharged. She was, however, to continue seeing the psychiatrist to help her deal with withdrawal symptoms. Conclusion This was a very important learning experience for me. First, I learnt that it is very important for a medical practitioner to be able to control their feelings. For example, when the patient was brought in, I was too anxious and confused that I forgot to ask the relatives the cause of the poisoning. Had I done this, it would have saved time and we would have treated the patient faster. I also learnt that it is imperative, if one is fresh at the job to enlist the services of a more qualified specialist in emergency cases (Rosenfield & Loose, 2006). Action In this case, nonetheless, the hospital was under-staffed and there was no one else to treat the patient. Going by the categorization of clinical events by Department of Health (2011), this episode was a near miss. This is, for the reason that my colleague and I interceded before the patient suffered any injury at the hospital. I also learnt that at times, it is not that simple to get information from a patient, and as a medical consultant it is imprudent and unethical to get aggravated. The next time such an incident happens, I will be sure to control my emotions. References Brophy, et.al, 2010. Clinical Drug Therapy For Canadian Practice, 2nd edn. Philadelphia: Lippincott publications. Department of Health, 2011. Clinical Incident Management Policy. Retrieved from: http://www.safetyandquality.health.wa.gov.au. Health Professions Council, 2008. Standards of conduct, performance and ethics. Retrieved from: www.hpc-uk.org. Health Professions Council, 2009. Your guide to our standards for continuing professional development. Retrieved from: www.hpc-uk.org Lillie et al., 2005. Fundamentals of Nursing: The art & science of nursing care. Philadelphia: Lippincott Publications. Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2009. Confidentiality. Retrieved from: www.nmc-uk.org. Rosenfield, G., & Loose, D., 2006. Pharmacology. 4th edn. Philadelphia: Lippincott Publications. The Intensive Care Society, 2006. Standards for critical incident reporting in critical care. Retrieved from: www.intensivecarsociety.org Turkington, C., & Mitchell, D., 2009. The Encyclopaedia of Poisons and Antidotes. 3rd edn, London: Infobase Publishing. Woollard, M., 2009. Professionalism in UK paramedic practice. 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