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Assignment Title
Role Development Report
Student No
Module Title
Module Code
21076249
Role Development (Within a negotiated work-based context)
NS70111Z
1st X
Attempt
Programme
Branch (If Applicable)
MSc Advanced Practice
Midwifery
Intake
September 2016
Tutor
Catherine Lynch
Word Count
1
8
Extension Agreed
Date of extension
Student with
Disability
2nd
0
7
Group
0 6
=
9 X
Yes
7
D E
Yes
Due Date
No
C
1
1
4
Wednesday
D E
C
1
6
(If YES provide Reference Number below)
1
No X
6
(If YES provide Reference Number below)
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NS70111Z Role Development (within
a negotiated work-based
context)
Role
Development
Report
Student ID: 21076249
2
Role Development Report
This report is the second assessed component of the role development (within a
negotiated work-based context) module. Its aim is to assess how the development in
the identified weaknesses in my practice has improved over the past twelve weeks as
well as, the steps taken on how I achieved these and recommendations on how the
improvements can be sustained in the long term. An analysis of the supporting
evidence will also be examined and reviewed. Using self-assessment tools used via
the NHS Leadership academy website I could identify my leadership style and see
what my limitations were. A report was produced following completion of a series of
questions and this clearly identified areas for development and allowed me to form a
personal development plan with strategies I could employ to improve these. Using an
assessed leadership competency framework profile (Appendix 3) showed me that my
weakest areas were that of directing, coordination and production.
The rationale for identifying areas of weakness in my professional life was so that
these could be improved over time to advance my practice and career as a midwife
and to improve my skills as a leader. I anticipated that this would not be easy over
such a short time span of twelve weeks, but I anticipated that I could dramatically
improve or remove these areas of weakness that had impeded my development. Using
exploratory self-assessments, I could explore and understand how I conducted myself
and how I perceived my own self-image to be. Assessing my level of competence
using a variety of self-diagnostic tools enabled me to understand where areas for
development could be improved. Numerous frameworks, which included the
healthcare leadership self-assessment model (NHS Leadership Academy, 2013)
(Appendix 2&3) were completed, results analysed and an action plan was formulated
to assist with the development in these areas. Once identification of these areas was
completed, online databases and government websites were searched to review all
the relevant and available literature to support my action plan (DH, 2010).
Clinically effective leadership is critical in meeting the demands of an ever-changing
healthcare service which relies on supporting myself as a midwife in developing my
role in response to the ever-changing expectations and demands placed on myself
(The Scottish Government 2008, 2010a, Department of Health (DH) 2013). Workbased learning was undertaken to develop and enhance my skills and abilities needed
3
in my role to become an advanced practitioner. The identification of two areas for
advancement in my clinical practice was a requirement which enabled me to produce
an action plan on how these skills can be developed so that my skills as an advance
midwifery practitioner could be expanded successfully. While critically examining my
role, a comprehensive development plan (Appendix 1) was created to enable me to
take steps in making a positive change in myself, how I present myself at my place of
work and how this can have a positive impact on other people’s own perceptions of
me. I also undertook a SWOT analysis (Appendix 5). So that I can improve the areas
identified for improvement, overcoming any threats will be crucial. Four weekly
meetings were set up with my manager to help me stay on course and provide
constructive feedback.
The recognition of emotionally challenging situations and limiting my participation in
them and improvement of my time management were the skills identified that I needed
to develop further. As a midwifery manager, I need to be an effective, emotionally
strong, charismatic leader. Furthermore, by being more task-orientated and relying
heavily on resources it enabled me to positively enhance the development of myself,
others and the organisation where I work. This notion is supported by evidence from
Stewart (1996) and Gopee (1998) who advocated the use of task-orientated
approaches but at the same time recognised that this could limit my professional
development opportunities.
Time management development
As a midwifery ward manager, a large majority of my day is spent doing non-clinical,
administrative duties. To effectively time manage, the realisation of having to plan,
considering any unforeseen circumstances that may disrupt the flow needed to be
addressed. Time management formed an essential part of achieving my professional
goals and being able to not become overwhelmed with tasks allocated to me (Ebrahimi
et al, 2014). There had been some concerns regarding my ability to manage my time
effectively and I needed to explore the behaviours behind this. I undertook numerous
time management challenges that assisted me to identify the most suitable strategy.
The use of the mnemonic LEAPS (list, estimate, allow, prioritise, study) as previously
4
used by Walton and Reeves (1996) has assisted greatly in improving my time
management skills.
I had to question what the consequences would be if all the tasks I needed to do for
the day wasn’t done immediately or in a timely manner during the day. Some tasks
had greater importance than others and it was the identification of these which was
key in being able to successfully improve my time management skills. By being able
to effectively manage my time it would allow me to provide improved patient centredcare while allowing me to get more work done, which in turn, leads to a less stressful
working life. (Whelan and Matthews, 1993; Woogara, 2012) I selected a tool by
Giganic (2013) (Appendix 4) to help establish which tasks to prioritise first and which
ones could safely be deferred.
By arriving at work fifteen minutes early each day, it allowed me to assess what
needed to be completed by the end of the day and whether there was room in my
working week to complete anything outstanding. Utilisation of my work diary enabled
me to schedule any important tasks and let me see my working week at a glance. This
idea was evidenced by Walton and Reeves (1996) and Gigantic (2013). The
improvement in my time management skills would mean that any negative emotions
and feelings experienced would be greatly improved, thus allowing me to effectively
communicate with my peers.
Emotionally challenging situations
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a predominant force in the health service and in
midwifery; its importance is now being recognised. (Cadman & Brewer, 2001;
Carothers et al, 2000 and Akerjordet & Severinsson, 2008) A failure to recognise every
emotionally challenging situation has had a significant impact on my health and mental
well-being despite policies being in place to prevent this from happening. (Hunter,
2004 and McMullen, 2003) By being able to show emotional maturity and to persist
with the task at hand when setbacks arise would ultimately improve my working
relationship with my colleagues (Goleman, 2011).
Fiske (1949); Norman (1967) and McCrae and Costa (1987) ascertained that there
are five key core personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
5
emotional stability and openness to experience. I had to determine which of these
personality traits reflected myself. I formed the opinion that my trait is that of
agreeableness. This trait is not conducive to my role as I need to be organised,
dependable and committed to getting things done without setbacks hindering my
progress. My leadership style has always been that of a transformational leader, and
by understanding and incorporating EI into my professional life it has contributed to
the expansion of my role as an advanced practitioner. (Joseph & Newman, 2010 and
Jordan, 2009) I needed to develop my coping strategies and learn to become more
detached professionally by limiting or avoiding emotionally challenging situations and
concentrating on practical skills which is known as effective neutrality. (Hunter, 2005;
Hunter & Deery, 2005)
So that I could be an effective practitioner I had to acknowledge the use of EI was
critical in my practice. By using Patterson’s and Begley’s original reflective framework,
it provided an insight into my own thoughts and feelings and identified ways in which I
could become more emotionally resilient so that I can meet the demands of my job.
Keeping a reflective diary as mentioned in my personal development plan enabled me
to identify where I was being challenged emotionally and helped identify coping
strategies and ways in which I could limit my exposure to them.
There are numerous amounts of evidence which supports effective midwifery
leadership and EI. Evidence by Elliott (2004) and Ralston (2005) argued that EI was
essential to effective leadership, whilst Goleman (2004) argued that leadership and EI
were interdependent. I agree with Bass (1990) was argued that if I was to have a high
level of EI and demonstrated this then this would complement my leadership style. If I
continued to ignore the need for EI in my practice then I would not be able to cope with
emotionally challenging situations, which would in turn make me ineffective in meeting
the psychological needs women I care for.
They were interdependent due to the recognition that EI was an essential process of
becoming empathetic as it allows individuals to process and effectively manage
emotionally challenging situations more successfully. Because managing emotionally
challenging situations was identified as an area of improvement in myself, I had to
employ some of the strategies identified to enable me to be able to successfully
manage any feelings that normally I would supress.
Evaluation of my development
6
Seeing how my development as an advanced practitioner has grown over the past
twelve weeks has proved insightful. By the undertaking of this module it has equipped
me with the techniques needed to evaluate my development and how I can continue
to measure my progress and changes in my professional life and how this can be
further explored and developed. It is my hope to carry on using these techniques in
my everyday life as well as my professional life. A yearly review of my performance is
due in early April and I am confident that I have been successful so that I can progress
onto the next performance rating and I will be expected to show that I have achieved
this. By identifying areas of development in my professional life, it had enabled me to
focus on the skills needed to become and advanced practitioner, whilst at the same
time allow me to explore and understand the reasoning behind them.
I need to continue to acknowledge the importance of my own feelings and emotions in
my midwifery practice and know when showing my emotions is not appropriate.
Recommendations to my future practice

To continue to actively participate in reviewing my own practice and updating
my personal development plan as required and seek support to ensure that the
objectives are met

Continuing to work collaboratively with others whilst ensuring that my own
emotional stability isn’t compromised

Continuing to use the identified time management strategies to maintain the
status quo in my professional work

Undertake further self-awareness training to maintain my awareness of
emotional processes which I intend to do once a week for a period of three
months
7
References:
Akerjordet, K. and Severinsson, E. (2008) Emotionally intelligent nurse leadership: a
literature review study. Journal of Nursing Management 16: 565-77
Bass, B. (1990) Bass and Stodgill’s Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and
ManagerialAapplications. New York: Free Press
Cadman, C. and Brewer, J. (2001) Emotional intelligence: a vital prerequisite for
recruitment in nursing. Journal Nursing Management 9(6): 321-4
Carrothers, R., Gregory, S. and Gallagher, T. (2000) Measuring emotional
intelligence of medical school applicants. Academic Medicine 75(5): 456-63
Department of Health. (2010) Advanced Level Nursing: A position statement.
London: HMSO
Department of Health (2013) The NHS Constitution: The NHS Belongs to Us All.
London: HMSO
Ebrahimi, H., Hosseinzadeh, R., Tefreshi, M.Z. and Hosseinzadeh, S. (2014) Time
management behaviors of head nurses and staff nurses employed in Tehran Social
Security Hospitals, Iran in 2011. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res 19(2): 193-98
Elliott, M. (2004) Cultivating tall poppies. RCM Midwives Journal 7(9): 384-5
8
Giganic, T. (2013) Managing your time. Available at:
http://successfulnursingcareer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/managing-your-time.html
[Accessed: 1st December 2016]
Goleman D. (2004) Emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsbury Publishing
Goleman, D. (2011) Emotional Maturity. Leadership Excellence. 28(6), p.12
Gopee, N. (1998) Developing leadership skill amongst nurses. British Journal of
Therapy and Rehabilitation 5(10): 515-20
Hunter, B. (2004) The importance of emotional intelligence. British Journal of
Midwifery 12(10): 604-6
Hunter, B. (2005) Emotion work and boundary maintenance in hospital-based
midwifery. Midwifery 21(3): 253-66
Hunter B, Deery R. (2005) Building our knowledge about emotion work in midwifery,
combining and comparing findings from two different research studies. Evidence
Based Midwifery 3(1): 10-5
Jordan, P. (2009) An examination of the impact of emotions and emotional
intelligence on organizational change and organizational learning: In: Kumar K. (Ed.).
Organizational change. India: ICFAI University Press
Joseph, D. and Newman, D. (2010) Emotional intelligence: an integrative metaanalysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied Psychology 95(1): 54-78
9
Matthews, A. and Whelan, J. (1993) In Charge of the Ward. London: Blackwell
Science
McMullen B. (2003) Emotional intelligence. British Medical Journal 326(7381): S19
NHS Leadership Academy. (2013) Healthcare leadership model: the nine
dimensions of leadership behaviour. Available at:
http://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/NHSLeadershipLeadershipModel-10-Print.pdf [Accessed: 1st October 2016]
NHS Leadership Academy. (2014) Healthcare leadership model self-assessment
tool. Available at:
https://modelappraisalhub.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/Assessment/AssessmentDetai
l/461a054d-3ddf-440b-ba01-44d188a9de01 [Accessed: 1st October 2016]
Ralston, R. (2005) Transformational leadership: leading the way for midwives in the
21st century. RCM Midwives Journal 8(1): 34-7
Stewart R. (1996) Leading in the NHS: a practical guide. 2nd ed. Wiltshire: MacMillan
Press
The Scottish Government (2008) Leading Better Care: Report of the Senior Charge
Nurse Review and Clinical Quality Indicators Project. Edinburgh: Blackwell
Publishing
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The Scottish Government (2010a) Leading Better Care and Releasing Time to Care.
Implementation and Progress to Date: A Briefing Paper. Edinburgh: Blackwell
Publishing
Walton, J. and Reeves, M. (1996) Management in the Acute Ward. Mark Allen
Publishing
Woogara, N. (2012) 10 ways to effectively manage your time on the ward. Available
at: https://www.nursingtimes.net/10-ways-to-effectively-manage-your-time-on-theward/5042698.article [Accessed: 8th November 2016]
11
Appendix 1.
Learning & Development Plan
Development Need
Action Plan
Time scale
Measurement / Outcome
Exploration of effective verbal and
16th October
To be able to implement a
non-verbal communication skills
2016
strategy
Improve ineffective communication
skills
a) Identify ways to improve my
communication
both
verbal
and non-verbal
b) Dealing
with
in
which
I
improve my communication
feelings
of
intimidation
To say ‘Hello’ every morning to
11th October
Being confident around those
those I don’t feel comfortable
2016
I feel intimidated by
To keep a diary of the different
11th October
Keeping a reflective diary
emotions I feel during the day and
2016
around
c) Recognising
challenging
can
emotionally
situations
and
limiting my participation in
identify common themes
them
Improve poor time management
Explore time management
11th October
and undertake time
strategies and choose the most
2016
management challenges
suitable one
a) Explore time management
Undertake a wide variety of time
18th October
management challenges,
2016
evaluate and implement into my
everyday working life
b) Focus on the most important
jobs
Making a daily list of important
11th October
tasks and set aside adequate
2016
time to complete
c) Utilise diaries
Invest in a diary and make better
Commencing
use of the Outlook diary
11th October
2016
d) Explore the effects of
checking emails constantly
Limiting the number of
Commencing
opportunities that I check my
11th October
emails during the day thus to
2016
avoid being distracted
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Appendix 2.
Healthcare Leadership Model Self-Assessment
13
Appendix 3.
Competing Values Skills Assessment Results
14
Appendix 4.
15
Appendix 5.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
Organised
Under developed leadership skills
Able
Ineffective communication
Adaptable
Easily overwhelmed
Excellent transferable skills
Easily stressed
Determined
Lack of opportunities to work with senior
Managers
Motivated
Opportunities
Threats
Shadowing senior managers
Feeling uncomfortable
Improving time management
Feeling unsupported
1:1 meetings with line manager
Not enough time to complete tasks
Management support I achieving set
objectives
Personal life impacting on professional
life
Network with other professionals
externally and internally
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