Assessment Brief:  A reflective essay

Module Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the values, principles, professional behaviours and policies that underlie nursing practice and leadership.
2. Demonstrate a clear understanding of professional responsibility and accountability in ensuring transparency in nursing practice in order to protect the public.
3. Assess and reflect on your capacity to develop your professional knowledge and skills.

Assignment Guidelines – Commentary Essay Structure

This essay is broken into two parts – a theoretical commentary (Part 1) and a reflective piece (Part 2). You should write in the third person (avoiding personal pronouns such as I, me, my etc.) throughout the introduction, Section 1 and in the conclusion.

Part 2 can be written in the first person as a reflective piece (the use of personal pronouns such as I, me, my etc. is acceptable). This section is a reflective piece, but you are not expected to use a reflective model to structure your work.

Introduction (300 words). Start by giving a short description of what the assignment entails and the key themes to be discussed. The introduction generally needs to answer these 3 questions:  

a. What? The introduction needs to clearly explain what the essay is about.  This section needs to explain in your own words what is required in the assignment brief given above.

b. How? The second part of the introduction needs to outline how the essay is structured.

c. Why? An introduction needs to articulate why the topic under consideration is of significance.  You can use references here.

Discussion (approximately 2500 words in total)

Part 1 (approximately 1250 words) Commentary to be written in the third person (do not include I, me, my etc)

a) Briefly define the concepts of self-awareness and self-leadership, leadership, values, professional behaviours, professional responsibility and accountability.  You can identify the relevance of these concepts in terms of your role as a student nurse and future qualified nurse (either in relation to the role of the nurse generally or specifically to your chosen field of nursing)  Discuss this in terms of The Code (NMC 2018) and any other relevant policies that underpin nursing practice and leadership. (Learning Outcome 1)

b) Discuss your role as a student nurse in ensuring that you are protecting the public within your nursing practice. How does this link to your professional responsibility and accountability? This can also be linked to your chosen field of nursing. (Learning Outcome 2)

Part 2 (approximately 1250 words) Reflective piece which can be written in the first person using personal pronouns such as I, me, my etc.

a) Reflect on the importance of self-awareness, with application to your role as a student nurse and considering relevance to clinical practice. Discuss the results from a self-awareness questionnaire. You may choose to use the one completed in class during week 1, which can be accessed at the following link: https://inlpcenter.org/self-awareness-test/ Discuss the main findings – both strengths and areas for opportunity, and reflect on what this means to you as a student nurse and a future nurse. (Learning Outcomes 1, 3)

b) Reflect on the importance of leadership within the nursing profession.  Briefly define the main leadership styles and how these impact on nursing practice. Discuss your own leadership style as identified in the leadership questionnaire completed in class.  Discuss your capacity for self-leadership, with application to your role as a student nurse in future practice placements giving relevant examples.

c) Identify areas of opportunity to develop your professional knowledge and skills to ensure you continue to develop your self-awareness and self-leadership.  Identify the steps you would take to achieve this, and what your goals are.  You have to make reference to your more detailed Action Plan which will attached as an appendix. Ensure your goals are written as SMART goals using the required template. (Learning Outcome 3)

Throughout this section, you should also make reference to the points raised in your podcast. You should be exploring these points in more detail, and should support your discussion with appropriate literature.

Conclusion (200 words)

1. Summary: Put a short concluding statement, which summarises the key learning points that have emerged from the discussion.
2. Recommendations. Make recommendations on what needs to be done in light of your findings and conclusions.

References. Appropriate referencing is an important element of academic writing. Ensure that you have used the most up-to-date UWL referencing guide available from the library. Please be aware that the referencing guide is regularly updated.

Appendices. You are expected to include a copy of your podcast and action plan as appendices. Remember that appendices need to be fully referenced and need to be cited in the main body of your work. Appendices are not marked, but supplement the information discussed in the main body of the essay