Accountable Practitioner Reflection

Throughout this module, I have developed an awareness of the professional, legal and ethical issues surrounding accountability and its impact on care delivery. Prior to this, I was quite naïve to these issues and unaware of the importance of having this knowledge as a fundamental bases for my future practice upon qualification. I found the group sessions to be very useful. Working on the case study of Eddie, enabled us as a group, to analysis the scenario by using the different topics and frameworks that we had discussed (see appendix 1, 3-6). During each session, we were required to select a topic, go away and research it and then present our findings to the rest of the group in order to share our knowledge. Wood (2004) suggests that working in this active, rather than passive way, enables students to learn more effectively. My future placement and practice will be guided and informed through this knowledge with the confidence of working within a safe, professional, ethical and legal framework. Gaining professional knowledge has also, enabled me to raise an awareness of personal and professional accountability. Whetten and Cameron (2010) identified that Self-awareness is the process of understanding personal beliefs, thoughts, motivations, biases and limitations and recognising how they affect the delivery of care. Whilst Hall (2005), asserts that nurses should be aware of the best knowledge or evidence to use in practice because, Knowledge is what improves care.

On reflecting back to my last placement, I witnessed a practice at which the obligation generated by respect for autonomy appeared to conflict with those generated by other principles. An informal client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and manic depression with a history of severe self-harm and who lives in the community, took an overdose of antipsychotic medication with alcohol. The client was taken to the Accident and Emergency Unit and was treated. Upon discharge from hospital