MODULE 4 – DEVELOP CAREER AND LIFE DECISIONS

LO1 – Manage one’s emotion

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #1 – SELF-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT ASSIST IN
REGULATING BEHAVIOR AND ACHIEVING PERSONAL AND LEARNING GOALS (E.G.
NINE SELF-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ACCORDING TO ROBERT KELLEY)

Self-Management Skills: Definition, Examples and Tips (Indeed)

Self-management skills allow you to maximize your productivity, improve your workplace
performance and efficiently achieve professional goals. Improving your self-management skills
can help you increase your employability and better manage your career path. In this article, we
identify self-management skills for the workplace, offer tips for enhancing them and provide
examples for showcasing them.

Self-management skills are the abilities that allow people to control their thoughts, feelings and
actions. If you have strong self-management skills, you’re able to set goals independently and
take the initiative to achieve them. Purposeful self-management can help you direct the trajectory
of your career and ensure you seek opportunities that get you closer to your goals.

Examples of self-management skills

Self-management skills focus on personal responsibility in the following areas:

1. Organization

You can apply your organizational skills to your time, physical space, energy and mental
capabilities to establish neatness and improve functionality. If you are well-organized, you’re
able to plan, prioritize and execute important activities, helping you self-manage your essential
workplace responsibilities.

2. Goal setting

Goal setting is the ability to determine what you want to achieve in a clear and well-defined
manner. Goal setting in the workplace helps you to decide what’s important and to create an
action plan that will help you achieve goals that align with those values. This skill is necessary to
maintain productivity in the workplace because it enables you to manage your time and actions.

3. Time management

Strong time management skills allow you to prioritize tasks, avoid distractions and maintain
focus. Effective time management in the workplace helps with setting and meeting deadlines,
working on one thing at a time and delegating responsibilities appropriately. Managing your time
is an essential part of managing yourself.

4. Self-motivation

Self-motivation is the ability to take initiative and finish tasks you know should be completed.
When you’re self-motivated, you anticipate and plan for potential tasks needed to achieve more
significant assignments or to solve ongoing issues. You’re driven by your desire to succeed and
not by outside factors, which makes you more productive in the workplace. Self-motivation is
the side of self-management that ensures forward progress with your projects and activities.

5. Stress management

Stress management can take many forms, from maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen
to proactively engaging in activities like meditation or journaling about your experiences.
Proactively managing workplace stressors can help you remain calm on the job. Handling stress
before it becomes an issue allows you to focus on your goals and make steady progress forward.
Managing stress helps you self-manage your emotions and maintain a professional demeanor in
the workplace.

6. Accountability

Accountability is the act of taking personal ownership of your thoughts and actions. When you
maintain responsibility, you’re better equipped to evaluate your work and determine the best way
to proceed.

How to improve self-management skills

Enhance your self-management skills by actively focusing on ways you can direct, evaluate and
improve upon your daily tasks. Here are a few ways you can improve your self-management
skills:

1. Assess your strengths

Determine what professional tasks you’re best at, and focus on ways to maximize your abilities
in these areas. Understanding your strengths helps you manage your career path in a way that
makes the most of skills like coding, technical writing, graphic design or customer service.

2. Prioritize your responsibilities

Clearly define which responsibilities are most important, and focus your attention on the most
critical jobs, avoiding distractions that draw you away from what matters.

3. Develop organizational systems

Find effective methods that help you manage your time, streamline your daily activities and keep
important items in easy-to-find places. This step might include using an agenda book, setting up
a time-management app on your phone or creating a filing system at your desk.

4. Create strict deadlines

Assign deadlines to each stage of a project, and maintain your schedule. Hold yourself
accountable for getting tasks done on or ahead of schedule by committing to put in more hours
when needed to reach your self-designated checkpoints.

6. Perform one task at a time

Focus your time, energy and abilities on a single task at any given moment. Complete each task
fully before moving on to another so that you’re managing your time and effort efficiently.

7. Practice patience

Maintain a sense of calm so you can think clearly and objectively. Be considerate of others, and
try to empathize with their needs and experiences to more effectively help them.

8. Take care of your health and wellness

Maintain a proper diet, exercise regularly, care for your personal hygiene and actively focus on
lowering your stress levels. Take breaks to stretch and clear your mind, keep healthy snacks at
work and look for opportunities for physical activity, such as a brisk walk during your lunch
hour.

9. Evaluate your progress

Objectively assess the progress you’ve made toward your goals by setting checkpoints along the
way and tracking your accomplishments to see if you’ve met them. Ask a mentor for assistance
to get a well-rounded appraisal. Use this feedback to improve your self-management going
forward.

Self-management skills in the workplace

Carefully managing your activities in the workplace can help you achieve and exceed your
professional goals. Use the following tips to practice self-management in the workplace and
maintain a productive and efficient schedule:

Arrive at meetings on time and fully prepared

If you know a meeting is coming up, spend time the day before to collect any information you
may need to bring and think of questions to ask. You can also review your questions and notes in
the hour before the meeting to ensure you are focused on the meeting’s goals and can be a
collaborative contributor.

Plan for the next day before leaving work

Leave time at the end of each workday to organize your calendar, write a new to-do list or
organize your planner to include tasks to complete the next day. You can also use this time to
review what you did accomplish to see how successful you were in reaching your daily goals.

Keep an organized agenda

You can write a detailed schedule of events, deadlines or meetings so you can better manage
your projects, tasks and responsibilities. Consider using a planner or task-tracking application to
organize these items.

Outline project goals

Determine strict deadlines, and consider using a calendar to track them each day, week, month
and quarter.

Assess projects early

Ask questions before you begin a project to ensure you understand exactly what your role is.
You can also ask questions after starting a task to ensure you are completing it correctly or
discover if you need to adjust.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #2 – ENABLERS AND BARRIERS IN ACHIEVING PERSONAL

AND CAREER GOALS

How to be an enabler at work

When thinking about teams, there are the implementors, who are actively getting things done.
But for them to do their best work and not be slowed down they need someone to clear the way
for them. That’s where business enablers come in. The best-selling author Josh Kaufmen
explains that “[e]nablers are the people who help the implementers focus on implementing.”
They support implementers by removing barriers to their productivity and being a coach and
mentor when times get tough.

Enablers are crucial to building a high-performing team. Don’t we all want to be enablers at
work? To paint more of a picture of what a business enabler is, the Forbes Columnist, John
Brandon is convinced enabling is the defining factor of great leadership:

“When you enable others, you provide all of the tools for the job, you create the ideal
environment for success, you step aside and let the employees do the hard work and get the
credit, and you become more like the wind that moves a boat through rough waters, rather
than the captain of the ship who is always in charge.”

Business enablers are the unsung heroes behind a successful business.

This article will outline the difference between a bad enabler (in the clinical sense) and a good
enabler (that is, a business enabler). We’ll explore how business enablers are intrinsic to
leadership and how you can develop the skills to become a business enabler yourself.
Throughout the article, we will talk about how to be an enabler at work we’ll include lots of
examples of situations where you can choose to be an enabler or not. ‍

How to be an enabler at work

‍

The difference between a bad enabler and good enabler at work

This article is all about enablers in business and how to be an enabler at work. Despite all the
great things we’ve already said about business enablers the term enabler isn’t at all good.
There’s a difference between a bad enabler and good enabler at work. Here’s why:

A Bad Enabler

In a negative context, an enabler can be someone who supports someone else’s bad behavior or
even addiction. They avoid the hard conversations about the behavior of someone else and
instead provide them with the means to continue their destructive behavior. They may even
provide financial support, so the destructive behavior continues. Bad enablers make excuses for
the person they are supporting.

The reputable wellness publication, Healthline defines enablers as:

“Someone whose behavior allows a loved one to continue self-destructive patterns of

behavior.”

Enablers want to help, but, despite their good intentions, they fail to actually help the person they
care about. They may believe that without their help (or what they think is help) the person
who’s suffering from an addiction or negative habit would be worse off. Healthline lists several
indicators of negative enabling behavior:

1. Ignoring or tolerating problematic behavior.

2. Providing financial assistance.
3. Brushing things off.
4. Not maintaining your stated boundaries.
5. Feeling resentment toward the person they’re supposed to help.

These indicators reveal a flawed mindset around what is best for the other person. Now that we
know what an enabler is in the negative context let’s move to shed light on what a good enabler
is in business.

A Good Enabler
An enabler is a leader or manager who supports their team and helps them accomplish their goals
in a positive context. They don’t hold their teams back but clear the way to do what they do
best. The best leaders give their team an understanding of why their work is essential. These
managers help team members to contribute fully.

An enabling leader takes the team’s vision to the rest of the company as an advocate. They work
to build bridges and cultivate cooperation and goodwill with others in the organization. Enablers
also aim to remove obstacles to their team’s success. Both enablers create the opportunity for
individuals or teams to act. Whether that’s good or bad depends on the context. Let’s explore
what an enabler in leadership is.

What is an enabler in leadership?

In leadership, enabling separates the good ones from the great ones. An enabler leadership styles
ensures their team has all the tools to get the job done, creating the ideal environment for
success. Moreover, they don’t allow their egos to get in the way. Instead, they allow the
employees to do the hard work and take credit for a job well done.

These enablers are valuable for the organization. They are committed to finding ways to engage
others to tackle problems or issues that impact the company. Leaders like this want to see
everyone working constructively to accomplish the goal. Enabling leaders will also stand up for
their team. They are not in it for fame, glory, or even career building. It is about letting others
shine and being humble enough to step back out of the way.

This is the kind of leadership that books are written about. They also lead the kinds of
organizations that people want to work for. It’s a type of servant leadership that cares about their
people and emphasizes the importance of mentoring them to build the skills of leadership.

It should be clear by now that the skill of enabler leadership style is closely tied to the definition
of a business enabler. They don’t dictate, but share what they know and allow for those they lead
to realizing their own potential. Let’s make this more real by looking at examples of how to be a
good enabler.

Examples of how to be a good enabler

Here are several scenarios how to be a good enabler at work.

1. Building bridges

Enablers at work aim to build bridges between their team and others. Cultivating cooperative
relationships with stakeholders and peer groups allow employees to achieve goals quicker and
easier. Some examples of how an enabler works include:

 Asking for feedback to see how the team could improve.

 Building relationships with peers, looking for ways to solve problems as an organization,
not just a team.
 Sharing team successes with company leadership to show how the team brings value to
the organization.

2. Breaking down barriers

Leaders looking to enable their teams for success will also work to break down barriers.
Examples of this include:

 Asking for feedback from the team to uncover what is holding them back from high
performance.
 Eliminate physical or political barriers that hinder the team from engaging peers and
other stakeholders in the company.
 Watch for any element of the process that could hold the team back.

3. Knowledge sharing
Enabler leaders value knowledge sharing. Examples of how they support knowledge sharing
include:

 Encouraging a team member to help train other employees on a new technique or

software.
 Helping an employee prepare for an important interview.
 Providing opportunities for flash mentoring sessions.

How do I know if I am a good enabler?

By this point in the article, you may probably know how to be an enabler at work wish that either
you could learn how to be a good enabler or your managers could. It’s possible. You can learn
the skills and hallmarks of the best business enabler.

In the same way that leaders aren’t born, but made, great enablers can learn the skills that make
them indispensable on their teams and within their organizations. Let’s look at the four signs that
you’re a good and can be the best enabler.

1. Self-Awareness

Enablers have a good understanding of what makes them tick. This self-awareness helps them
know why they behave the way they do and can be vital in understanding what motivates other
employees.

2. Collaborative

To solve problems, team enablers know two brains are better than one. They value collaboration
and seek to build a team that considers each other as equals in the process of solving business
problems. They encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing that helps the whole team rather
than being self-serving.

3. Value others

Everyone is unique and brings their own strengths to the table. Good enablers recognize this and
are able to assess the qualities of others accurately. Enabler leaders are also adept at showing
respect to others on their team by knowing when to listen and when to speak. They’re able to see
the potential in others and nurture that potential so they can realize it.

4. Team player

Good enablers lack big egos, which makes them great team leaders. As a part of a team, these
leaders understand that they don’t always have all the answers. Rather, they are able to let others
on the team take over if they are better able to deal with a situation. This is because they don’t
need to prove their worth by retaining their status. They are able to defer to others because their
focus is on achieving the goal.

The overarching quality of a team enabler is that they are focused on the betterment of their team
and organization rather than themselves alone. They know that all ships rise with the tide, so, by
helping others, it comes back around.

Does this sound like you?

Some of the questions to ask yourself are:

 Are you willing to set aside your career aspirations and give others an opportunity to
succeed?
 Are you taking actions that will help the team accomplish their goal or are you too
focused on getting credit?

Ask yourself 'How to be an enabler at work' and the answer is to be humble enough to step out of
the spotlight and allow others to shine.
Goals are what you aim for. Results are the targets you hit. Everything in between is execution.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #3 – TECHNIQUES IN HANDLING NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AND

UNPLEASANT SITUATION IN THE WORKPLACE SUCH AS FRUSTRATION, ANGER,
WORRY, ANXIETY, ETC.

Managing Your Emotions at Work - Controlling Your Feelings... Before They Control You

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key Takeaways:

Common difficult emotions at work include frustration, irritation, worry, disappointment, and
anger. It pays to have techniques for coping with negative feelings like these. With practice, you
can learn to mitigate the impact of all of them, and to start making choices about how you
respond. The sooner you spot what's happening to you, the sooner you can begin taking control
of your emotions at work.

"Everything can be taken from a man but the last of human freedoms – the ability to choose one's
attitude in a given set of circumstances, to choose one's way." Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for
Meaning."

Controlling Emotions in the Workplace

We've all been in one of "those" situations before. You know... when your favorite project is
canceled after weeks of hard work; when a customer snaps at you unfairly; when your best friend
(and co-worker) is laid off suddenly; or your boss assigns you more work when you're already
overloaded.

In your personal life, your reaction to stressful situations like these might be to start shouting, or
to go hide in a corner and feel sorry for yourself for a while. But at work, these types of behavior
could seriously harm your professional reputation, as well as your productivity.

Stressful situations are all too common in a workplace that's facing budget cuts, staff layoffs, and
department changes. It may become harder and harder to manage your emotions under these
circumstances, but it's even more important for you to do so.

After all, if management is forced into making more layoffs, they may choose to keep those who
can handle their emotions, and work well under pressure. No matter what the situation is, you're
always free to choose how you react to it.

So, how can you become better at handling your emotions, and "choosing" your reactions to bad
situations? In this article, we look at the most common negative emotions experienced in the
workplace – and how you can manage them productively.

Why are we focusing only on negative emotions? Well, most people don't need strategies for
managing their positive emotions. After all, feelings of joy, excitement, compassion, or optimism
usually don't affect others in a negative way. As long as you share positive emotions
constructively and professionally, they're great to have in the workplace!

Common Negative Emotions at Work

In 1997, Bond University professor of management Cynthia Fisher conducted a study called
"Emotions at Work: What Do People Feel, and How Should We Measure It?"

According to Fisher's research, the most common negative emotions experienced in the
workplace are as follows:
 Frustration/irritation.
 Worry/nervousness.
 Anger/aggravation.
  Dislike.
 Disappointment/unhappiness.

From "Emotions at Work: What Do People Feel and How Should we Measure it?" by Cynthia D. Fisher.
School of Business Discussion Paper; No. 63, February 1997. © Copyright Cynthia D. Fisher and the
School of Business, Bond University.

How to Manage Emotions at Work

Below are different strategies you can use to help you deal with each of these negative emotions.

Frustration/Irritation

Frustration usually occurs when you feel stuck or trapped, or unable to move forward in some
way. It could be caused by a colleague blocking your favorite project, a boss who is too
disorganized to get to your meeting on time, or simply being on hold on the phone for a long
time.

Whatever the reason, it's important to deal with feelings of frustration quickly, because they can
easily lead to more negative emotions, such as anger.

Here are some suggestions for dealing with frustration:

 Stop and evaluate – One of the best things you can do is mentally stop yourself, and
look at the situation. Ask yourself why you feel frustrated. Write it down, and be specific.
Then think of one positive thing about your current situation. For instance, if your boss is
late for your meeting, then you have more time to prepare. Or, you could use this time to
relax a little.
 Find something positive about the situation – Thinking about a positive aspect of your
situation often makes you look at things in a different way. This small change in your
thinking can improve your mood. When it's people who are causing your frustration,
they're probably not doing it deliberately to annoy you. And if it's a thing that's bothering
you – well, it's certainly not personal! Don't get mad, just move on.
 Remember the last time you felt frustrated – The last time you were frustrated about
something, the situation probably worked out just fine after a while, right? Your feelings
of frustration or irritation probably didn't do much to solve the problem then, which
means they're not doing anything for you right now.

Worry/Nervousness

With all the fear and anxiety that comes with increasing numbers of layoffs, it's no wonder that
many people worry about their jobs. But this worry can easily get out of control, if you allow it,
and this can impact not only your mental health, but also your productivity, and your willingness
to take risks at work.

Try these tips to deal with worrying:

 Don't surround yourself with worry and anxiety – For example, if co-workers gather
in the break room to gossip and talk about job cuts, then don't go there and worry with
everyone else. Worrying tends to lead to more worrying, and that isn't good for anyone.
 Try deep-breathing exercises – This helps to slow your breathing and your heart rate.
 Focus on how to improve the situation – If you fear being laid off, and you sit there and
worry, that probably won't help you keep your job. Instead, why not brainstorm ways to
bring in more business, and show how valuable you are to the company?

When you're worried and nervous about something, it can dent your self-confidence.

Anger Management at Work

Out-of-control anger is perhaps the most destructive emotion that people experience in the
workplace. It's also the emotion that most of us don't handle very well. If you have trouble
managing your temper at work, then learning to control it is one of the best things you can do if
you want to keep your job.

Try these suggestions to control your anger:

 Watch for early signs of anger – Only you know the danger signs when anger is
building, so learn to recognize them when they begin. Stopping your anger early is key.
Remember, you can choose how you react in a situation. Just because your first instinct is
to become angry doesn't mean it's the correct response.
 If you start to get angry, stop what you're doing – Close your eyes, and practice the
deep-breathing exercise we described earlier. This interrupts your angry thoughts, and it
helps put you back on a more positive path.
 Picture yourself when you're angry – If you imagine how you look and behave while
you're angry, it gives you some perspective on the situation. For instance, if you're about
to shout at your co-worker, imagine how you would look. Is your face red? Are you
waving your arms around? Would you want to work with someone like that? Probably
not.

Dislike

We've probably all had to work with someone we don't like. But it's important to be professional,
no matter what.

Here are some ideas for working with people you dislike:
 Be respectful – If you have to work with someone you don't get along with, then it's time
to set aside your pride and ego. Treat the person with courtesy and respect, as you would
treat anyone else. Just because this person behaves in an unprofessional manner, that
doesn't mean you should as well.
 Be assertive – If the other person is rude and unprofessional, then firmly explain that you
refuse to be treated that way, and calmly leave the situation. Remember, set the example.

Disappointment/Unhappiness

Dealing with disappointment or unhappiness at work can be difficult. Of all the emotions you
might feel at work, these are the most likely to impact your productivity. If you've just suffered a
major disappointment, your energy will probably be low, you might be afraid to take another
risk, and all of that may hold you back from achieving.

Here are some proactive steps you can take to cope with disappointment and unhappiness:

 Look at your mindset – Take a moment to realize that things won't always go your way.
If they did, life would be a straight road instead of one with hills and valleys, ups and
downs, right? And it's the hills and valleys that often make life so interesting.
 Adjust your goal – If you're disappointed that you didn't reach a goal, that doesn't mean
the goal is no longer reachable. Keep the goal, but make a small change – for example,
delay the deadline.
 Record your thoughts – Write down exactly what is making you unhappy. Is it a co-
worker? Is it your job? Do you have too much to do? Once you identify the problem, start
brainstorming ways to solve it or work around it. Remember, you always have the power
to change your situation.

What is a "worry log"?

If you find that worries are churning around inside your mind, write them down in a notebook or
"worry log," and then schedule a time to deal with them. Before that time, you can forget about
these worries, knowing that you'll deal with them. When it comes to the time you've scheduled,
conduct a proper risk analysis around these things, and take whatever actions are necessary to
mitigate any risks.

How do you use "deep breathing"?

Here's a simple technique to try. Breathe in slowly through your nose for five seconds, then
breathe out slowly through your mouth for five seconds. Focus on your breathing, and nothing
else. Do this at least five times, and see whether it has a positive impact on how you feel.

Does smiling help?

Strange as it may sound, forcing a smile onto your face can often make you feel happier (this is
one of the strange ways in which we humans are "wired.") Try it – you may be surprised!

Key Points

We all have to deal with negative emotions at work sometimes, and learning how to cope with
these feelings is now more important than ever. After all, negative emotions can spread, and no
one wants to be around a person who adds negativity to a group.

Know what causes your negative emotions, and which types of feelings you face most often.
When those emotions begin to appear, immediately start your strategy to interrupt the cycle. The
longer you wait, the harder it will be to pull yourself away from negative thinking.

References

Fisher, Cynthia D. (1997). Emotions at Work: What Do People Feel and How Should We Measure it?
[online]. School of Business Discussion Paper, Bond University.

How to Deal With Negative Emotions

By Elizabeth Scott, PhD Updated on March 31, 2022
Medically reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW

Negative emotions are unpleasant and disruptive emotional reactions. Examples of negative
emotions include sadness, fear, anger, or jealousy. These feelings aren't just unpleasant; they
also make it hard to function in your normal daily life, and they interfere with your ability to
accomplish goals.

It is important to note that no emotion, including a negative one, is inherently bad. It's perfectly
normal to feel these things in certain contexts or situations. These emotions become problematic
when they are persistent and interfere with your ability to live your life normally.

Everyone feels negative emotions from time to time, but in some cases, these feelings can be a
sign of a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.

This article discusses the different types of negative emotions and what causes them. It also
explores unhealthy ways of coping as well as some healthier ways of dealing with difficult
emotions.

Types of Negative Emotions

There are a number of different feelings that are often identified as negative emotions. While
such feelings are often a normal reaction to certain experiences or events, they tend to be
distressing and unpleasant. Some common types of negative emotions include:

1. Anger
2. Anxiety or fear
3. Apathy
4. Contempt, hate, or disgust
5. Jealousy
6. Insecurity
7. Regret or guilt
8. Sadness, grief, or loneliness
9. Shame
Causes
Negative emotions can stem from a wide variety of sources. Sometimes they are the result of
specific experiences or events. For example, you might feel upset that your favorite team didn't
win a game or angry that your partner was late for a scheduled date.

Negative emotions can also arise from:

 Relationship conflict: Problems that arise from interpersonal relationships are a common
cause of negative emotions. Such challenges can arise in relationships with friends,
family, co-workers, or romantic partners.
 Unmet needs: When your needs are not being fulfilled—whether these needs are
physical, emotional, social, psychological, or spiritual in nature—it is normal to
experience sadness, anger, loneliness, envy, and other distressing emotions.
 Poor coping skills: Everyday stress can lead to a wide variety of upsetting feelings if you
don't have the coping skills to manage it. Poor coping skills often end up making the
problem worse or introducing new problems to the situation.

Recap

Negative emotions can be short-term reactions to the events that happen in your life, or they may
stem from other underlying issues including unmet needs, relationship problems, or poor coping
skills.

Unhealthy Ways of Coping

Unfortunately, people often turn to unhelpful or even destructive ways of coping with negative
emotions. While these might provide temporary relief, they typically make problems worse in
the long run.

Ignoring Emotions

Ignoring feelings (like "stuffing your anger") is not the healthiest way to deal with
them. Generally speaking, it does not make them disappear, but can instead cause them to come
out differently (so, you might yell at your child when you're really upset about a situation at
work).

Negative emotions signal that what you are doing in your life isn't working. So when you ignore
them, you can't make any changes, and you continue to experience negative feelings.

Ruminating on Emotions

Rumination involves dwelling on anger, resentment, and other uncomfortable feelings. This
amplifies negative emotions, but it also brings health consequences. So it's essential to listen to
your feelings and then take steps to let them go.

Withdrawal or Avoidance

When something is distressing, you might find yourself trying to avoid it so that you don't have
to experience those unpleasant emotions. If a person or situation causes you anxiety, for
example, you might take steps to avoid those triggers. The problem is that avoidance coping
makes negative emotions worse in the long run.

Destructive or Risky Behaviors

If you don't deal with the emotions you are feeling, they can cause problems with physical and
emotional health. This is particularly true if you rely on risky behaviors such as substance use or
self-harm to cope with distressing emotions.

Recap
Feeling angry or frustrated can be a signal that something needs to change. If you don’t change
the situations or thought patterns that are causing these uncomfortable emotions, you will
continue to be triggered by them.

How to Cope With Negative Emotions

Fortunately, there are more productive ways to deal with difficult emotions. These strategies can
help you cope while also improving your ability to regulate your emotions.

Understand Your Emotions

Look within and pinpoint the situations creating stress and negative emotions in your life.
Looking at the source of the feeling and your reaction can provide valuable information.

Negative emotions can come from a triggering event, such as an overwhelming workload. Your
thoughts surrounding an event also play a role. The way that you interpret what happened can
alter how you experience the event and whether or not it causes stress.

A key purpose of your emotions is to get you to see the problem so you can make necessary
changes.

Change What You Can

Once you better understand your emotions and what is causing them, you can start taking steps
to address the problem. Minimizing or eliminating some of your stress triggers may make you
feel negative emotions less frequently.

Some ways that you might accomplish this include

 Cutting down on job stress, often by delegating tasks, developing boundaries, and
seeking support
 Learning the practices of assertive communication to manage relationship conflicts
 Changing negative thought patterns through a process known as cognitive restructuring

Not every source of stress can be changed or eliminated. It is essential to avoid ruminating about
what you can't change and focus on what's within your control.

Find an Outlet

Making changes in your life can cut down on negative emotions, but it won't eliminate your
stress triggers. As you make changes in your life to bring about less frustration, you will also
need to find healthful outlets for dealing with these emotions.

 Regular exercise can provide an emotional lift and an outlet for negative emotions.
 Meditation can help you find some inner space to work with so your emotions don't feel
overwhelming.
 Finding opportunities for having fun and getting more laughter in your life can also
change your perspective and relieve stress.

Remember that everyone's needs and abilities are different. The key is often to try a few other
methods to find what works for you and your situation. Once you have found techniques that are
right for you, you'll feel less overwhelmed when negative emotions arise.

Accept Your Emotions

Learning to accept negative emotions is also an effective way of managing these difficult
feelings. Acceptance means acknowledging that we are feeling afraid, angry, sad, or frustrated.
Instead of trying to avoid or suppress these feelings, you allow them to exist without dwelling on
them.
Recap

When you accept your emotions, you stop trying to minimize or suppress them. Instead, you
acknowledge they exist but recognize that these feelings are temporary and cannot harm you.

LO2 – Develop reflective practice

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #1 – BASIC SWOT ANALYSIS

What is a SWOT Analysis in Healthcare and

Why You Need It
In this fast-paced, ever-evolving world of ours, organizations who regularly assess their
performance, market position and the “big picture” tend to be the most successful… and the
healthcare industry is no exception!

Take the COVID-19 pandemic for example. Remember how certain healthcare organizations
were able to rise to the occasion despite these destabilizing events? I certainly do. (Looking at
you, telehealth.)

My point is, a SWOT analysis in healthcare can help organizations make strategic moves and get
ahead of situations — even when they’re totally unprecedented. This strategic evaluation tool is
hugely beneficial for hospitals and medical practices that face unique challenges from other lines
of business.

So in this article, I’ll discuss exactly what a SWOT analysis in healthcare is, and why you need
to do it. Keep reading to learn more about this assessment technique and how you can apply it to
your healthcare organization.

What is a SWOT analysis in healthcare?

Shorthand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, a SWOT analysis is a simple
and practical evaluation model. As a gold standard technique for strategic planning, this exercise
helps you understand the internal and external conditions that can make or break your healthcare
service offerings, sales operations and marketing plans.

Here’s a quick video that explains what a SWOT analysis is in more detail:

When it comes to the healthcare industry in particular, conducting a regular SWOT analysis is
vital to ensure an organization performs well. It does this by pointing out the areas where you
excel and where you can improve.

Below is a visual representation of this technique. Typically, each category explores aspects of a
healthcare organization’s performance, resources and competitive position in the marketplace.
These points are then arranged into a matrix for quick scanning.
What can healthcare businesses learn from a SWOT
analysis?
As we’ve seen in recent years, the healthcare industry can be an extremely competitive and
volatile environment —one that’s constantly evolving. That’s why conducting a SWOT analysis
enables hospitals, medical practices and other healthcare organizations to stay afloat despite
major shifts in the market.

Similarly, insurance companies are turning to generative AI to assess internal strengths, pinpoint
weaknesses, and anticipate external threats.

By identifying internal strengths to be played up, noting internal weaknesses and external threats
to be minimized, and showcasing hidden opportunities that can be seized, a healthcare SWOT
analysis puts an organization in a prime position to compete.

Elements of a healthcare SWOT analysis

Though conducting SWOT analysis for your healthcare organization is easy enough to do, you
must approach the task thoughtfully (read: objectively) to reap the full rewards.

To help you with this, the following section takes a look at each element of a healthcare SWOT
analysis. I also explore the kinds of questions you can ask to arrive at these conclusions.

Internal

Strengths
Yep, you guessed it: strengths are the areas your healthcare organization excels at, and the
qualities that set you apart from your competitors. From special skills and unique equipment, to
accessible rates and first-class client programs, these are the ingredients you have direct control.
They give you a relative competitive advantage.

Your organization’s Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) are a good place to start. Analyze what
it is exactly that makes customers choose you, and identify strategies to help you maximize each
of those strengths. Note that your strengths can also be intangibles like brand loyalty, or an
established brand name in the market.

Some questions you can ask to identify your strengths are:

 What do patients and clients love about your brand or services?

 What inspires new clients and customers to come to your practice?
 What does your practice do better than others in your industry?
 What advantages do you have over local competitors?
 What kind of talent do you employ?
 What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
 What are some positive attributes about your brand?
 What resources and technologies do you have that your competitors do not?
 Are there any markets you have unique access to?
 Are your service offerings diverse and varied?

A word of warning: it can be difficult to be objective in your self-assessments. Make sure to list
your strongest points, and try not to overinflate your abilities.

Weaknesses

Weaknesses are areas of your organization that could be improved. Like strengths, weaknesses
are internal factors that you have direct control over. Some examples of weaknesses in healthcare
include aspects like outdated healthcare facilities, inefficient information systems and lack of
manpower or training.

Questions you can ask to identify your weaknesses are:

 What do your patients or clients dislike about your brand or services?

 Why do your patients or clients churn?
 What problems or complaints are mentioned frequently in negative reviews?
 What could your brand or organization be doing better?
 What are the negative attributes about your brand?
 Are there issues with your staffing? (i.e. retention or attrition)
 What are the biggest challenges your organization faces in terms of revenue?
 What resources or technologies do your competitors have that you do not?
 Which markets do you not have access to?
 Do you have poor differentiation from your competitors?

Again, it can be difficult to take an objective view here. Psychology tells us that most people
tend to overestimate their competencies, so you’ll need to make a real effort to get real with
yourself about the challenges your organization faces.

Bring multiple perspectives to the table and sift through your weaknesses as thoroughly and
objectively as possible. That way, you can construct plans that actually address the real issues
that hinder your success, and nudge your organization toward its full potential.
External

Opportunities

Opportunities are external factors that you can leverage (read: exploit) to gain a competitive
advantage. These areas are aspects of untapped potential, including: market trends, new
technology and shifts in consumer habits and behavior.

If your healthcare organization is able to rise to the occasion and meet these needs, you’ll be able
to boost patient/client acquisition and retention.

Some questions you can ask to identify opportunities are:

 Are there any upcoming medical or patient trends that you can capitalize
on?
 Are there regulatory changes that can benefit your ability to do business?
 Are there new client preferences or buying behaviors you stand to benefit
from?
 What emerging technologies do you have the ability to access?
 Are there any special conditions that can place your medical practice in a
better position?

Because opportunities arise outside your organization, be sure to constantly monitor industry
activity and conduct regular market research. With a little creativity and proactivity, you can
very well hit the jackpot, and capitalize on that which others miss.

Threats

The fourth and last SWOT element addresses threats. These aspects represent the external factors
that could impede your strategies and harm your organization’s ability to compete in the market.

As such, shifts in the competitive landscape are prime examples of threats. The arrival of new
competitors, a new service offering introduced by a competing brand, economic fluctuations and
changing regulations all fall into this category.

Some questions you can ask to identify threats are:

 What economic difficulties does your organization face?

 What moves are competitors making that could impact your business?
 Which technological advancements are making your facilities seem
obsolete?
 What supply chain issues threaten your ability to serve clients?
 Which regulatory conditions hinder your chance at success?

TLDR: The more you know, the better. By proactively identifying these challenges, you can
reassess your strategies to account for, and mitigate, the impact of all of the above.

Examples of a SWOT analysis in healthcare

Now that you’re familiar with the building blocks of a SWOT analysis, let’s take a look at some
SWOT templates to help you visualize how this process works.

As mentioned, a SWOT analysis diagram is typically segmented into four parts — one per
category. Most templates use quadrants or matrices, though other systems of division (like those
shown in the examples below) can do the trick.
The above example of a competitive SWOT Analysis uses a modified quadrant system to depict
each element. And that’s exactly why SWOT analyses are so great! This strategic tool is highly
flexible, and can be used to discern not just an organization’s overall standing, but specific facets
— such as one’s competitive positioning — too.
How to create a healthcare SWOT analysis?
Ready to apply this strategic planning technique to your medical practice or healthcare
organization? Follow these steps to get started!

Step 1: Define your objective and collect your data

To borrow from what I wrote previously re: conducting a marketing SWOT analysis, the first
step to successfully create a healthcare SWOT analysis is to identify what your intention is.

For example: are you looking to assess your overall business plan? Or alter your current
trajectory? Are you thinking about entering a new market? Or trying out a new technology?

No matter the specific use case, know that the more specific your intention, the more useful the
outcomes of your analysis will be.

Second, know this: Cold, hard facts are king. Meaning, any evaluation must be grounded in them
to be useful.

As such, you should start your SWOT analysis by gathering all the data you need to make a
sound assessment. Examples of this include: patient logs, insurance claim records, staff databas
and customer/employee feedback, among others.

Listen, I get it — your libraries and archives are chock-full of information. So to streamline the
process, be sure to select only what’s relevant to your current situation and strategies, or those
that you’re working to analyze.

Of course, not all the information in your SWOT analysis will be data-driven — some will be
based on qualitative assessments. But in order to be as objective as possible, try to supplement
your reporting with factual evidence. This will bolster any strategic insights that do arise.

Step 2: Extract and classify your SWOT elements

Now it’s time to turn all that data into actionable information!

A systematic review will show trends and insights that you can then classify as strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities or threats. Pull this information from your research and categorize
them accordingly, then write them out in point-form (being concise is key if you want a readily
scannable document).

Next up, I’ll discuss how you can use data visualizations to impress any audience with your
SWOT superbness. To start, however, you may find it useful to create a rough draft on a loose
sheet of paper. This outline can guide you once you diagram your findings later on.

(Apologies for sounding like a broken record, but make sure to be as objective as possible when
scanning your data. This ensures your SWOT analysis leads to truthful, realistic and actionable
insights about your organization — all good things to be).

Step 3: Use Venngage to visualize your data in a SWOT matrix

So you’ve put in all the work — now it’s time to polish.

With Venngage, it’s easy to serve up this vital information in a sleek, versatile and professional
way… and all without any graphic design expertise. Simply sign up for a free Venngage account
to access hundreds of customizable SWOT analysis templates.

Once you’ve logged in and selected a template, you can start customizing it and swap out or add
any assets (i.e. text, icon and colors etc) into your design.
Step 4: Conduct your analysis and determine action items

Once you’ve got your datafied ducks in a row and organized them in a neat and legible matrix,
it’s time to study up and share!

When you’re done creating your SWOT analysis in Venngage, you can share or download a
high-resolution version either for personal use, presentations and business communications.
Then, take the insights gained and use them to inform your plans, or re-calibrate any existing
strategies.

SWOT analysis in healthcare: 5 benefits for healthcare

processes and patients
To summarize, here’s what a SWOT analysis can do for your medical practice or other
healthcare organization.

Power up your strategy

First and foremost, the information derived from a SWOT analysis helps you strategize more
effectively. By providing a high level overview of your positioning and competitive stake,
SWOT gives you the ability to maximize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses and seize
opportunities.

This can also help you fine-tune your marketing, communications and patient education
strategies.

Build upon your strengths and bolster your returns

Indeed, being aware of your organization’s strengths via SWOT helps you maximize your
strategic advantages. This not only ensures your best qualities are put to good use — it also
significantly increases their impact and returns.

For example, if your healthcare organization has high patient satisfaction, you can use this
information as social proof when reaching out to new markets.
Convert weaknesses into strengths
Being proactive is always better than being reactive.

Much in the same way, being aware of the areas your organization needs to improve allows you
to address them before they become a major problem. By identifying exactly what you need to
work on, a SWOT analysis puts you in the best position to mitigate concerns as easily as
possible.

For example: if your healthcare organization has a high turnover rate but partners with local
universities, you could supplement your staffing with students who are eager to gain experience
in the field.

Discover opportunities to boost your strengths and conquer your weaknesses

The great thing about this strategic planning technique is that it gives you a big-picture
perspective, so you can determine how to best use the opportunities that come your way.

Like the example above, you can use these areas to supplement, expand or support your existing
set of strengths, and answer any gaps brought about by your weaknesses.
Plan for possible challenges and threats to the status quo

To be clear, external threats are a natural part of any competitive landscape. However, by
anticipating them and having an action plan ready, you can minimize their negative impact on
your operations. A SWOT analysis helps you do this by revealing the possible sources of such
threats, so you can take steps to protect your organization from them.

For example: if you know your patients are hesitant to show up because of safety concerns, your
organization could offer virtual appointments instead.

What is SWOT analysis in nursing?

Besides helping healthcare organizations at large, SWOT analyses can benefit specific branches
and departments too.

For instance, in nursing – a crucial component of the healthcare system – this strategic planning
technique allows management to better identify the strengths and weaknesses of their nursing
teams and staff, as well as identify the opportunities and threats that could affect their
performance.

What threats would a nurse face?

As we’ve discussed, there are many threats that can impede a healthcare organization’s viability.
In nursing specifically, some threats include the following factors:

 Job openings at competing organizations or markets

 Severe staff shortages
 Burnout and apathy
 Dwindling nursing student enrollment
 Increasingly heavy workloads
 Workplace violence
 Inadequate safety measures
 Stagnant wages

What are threats to a hospital?

Common threats faced by hospitals include major shifts in the market, such as:

 New competitors
 New technologies that could replace specific skills or services
 Changes to healthcare policies or regulations
 Shortage of tools, equipment and supplies
 Lack of funding
 Geographical roadblocks

Curious to know more? Many of the challenges faced by healthcare organizations during the
pandemic could be categorized as threats, since they resulted from external factors affecting
these industries.

What is a SWOT analysis?

A nursing SWOT analysis is a planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or business venture. The analysis can be
conducted by individuals or groups, and it can be used for marketing purposes, strategic
planning, or risk assessment. The results of a SWOT analysis can help individuals and businesses
make better decisions about their projects and operations.

A SWOT analysis is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats. It’s a strategic planning method that helps individuals or groups identify their most
important internal factors and external factors in order to manage the business or project more
effectively.

Strengths: What are some strengths of nurses?

There are many strengths of nurses. They are some of the most highly trained and educated
professionals in the world. Nurses are able to care for patients in a variety of ways, from
providing basic needs such as food and water, to administering medication and treatments.
Nurses also have a unique understanding of the human body and how it works, which allows
them to provide valuable health information to their patients. Additionally, nurses are often able
to develop close relationships with their patients, which can help improve patient outcomes.

Weaknesses: What are some weaknesses of nurses?

There are many weaknesses of nurses. One weakness is that nurses often work long hours and
may be overworked. This can lead to fatigue and make it difficult for nurses to provide quality
care to their patients. Nursing is also a physically demanding job, and nurses can be injured if
they are not careful. Nurses also need to be able to communicate effectively with patients and
their families, and some people may find this challenging. Nurses also need to be able to handle
difficult situations, such as dealing with death or caring for patients who are in pain.

Opportunities: What are some opportunities for nurses?

There are many opportunities for nurses. Nurses can work in a hospital, clinic, or private
practice. Nurses can also work in the public or private sector. Nurses can specialize in a certain
area of nursing, such as pediatric nursing or critical care nursing. Nurses can also work in
administration or management.

Threats: What are some threats to nurses?

Nurses are one of the most important members of the medical team. They are on the front line,
taking care of patients and working closely with doctors. It is essential that nurses are able to
work in a safe environment. Unfortunately, there are many threats to nurses’ safety.

Some of the most common threats to nurses include: violence from patients or their families,
hazardous materials, infections, and workplace injuries. Violence from patients or their families
is a serious problem for nurses. In some cases, they can be seriously injured or even killed.
Nurses also face a risk of exposure to hazardous materials such as radiation, toxic chemicals, and
blood-borne pathogens. Infections can also be a serious threat to nurses’ safety. They can spread
easily from patient to patient and can be difficult to treat. Workplace injuries are another major
hazard for nurses.

Basic nursing SWOT analysis, precisely identifying the

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Strengths
 Supportive and committed nursing leadership.
 Accredited by national and international bodies
 Perceived by our external contractor as delivering an excellent standard of nursing care.
 Dedicated nursing education team recognized in the entire organization.
 Specialist nursing services.
 Established mandatory & departmental orientation program.
 Established competency program; all staff are familiar with the process.
 Comprehensive policies and procedures that support nursing practice.
 Availability of well-trained nurses in the nursing department with more than five years
clinical experience in spite of the impending problem of staff shortage.
 Available of detailed job descriptions for all nursing levels.
 Compliance to code of conduct of hospital care providers.
  Structured periodic evaluation of nursing staff (human resource department & unit
competencies).
 Availability of in-service education program for all staff.
 Strong informal communication channel.

Weaknesses
 Frequent turnover of nursing staff especially in specialist areas, which depletes
experienced pool of nurses.
 Insufficient number of support staff i.e. Clerical and portering, which means nursing, has
to carry out non-nursing duties.
 Dependence on the nursing education team for life support training both internal and
external.
 Lack of empowerment on some nurse managers which in turn is filtered to the lowermost
member of the department.
 Insufficient reward and recognition for nurses.
 Centralized structure of hospital administration.
 Top management controls every aspect of the organization’s planning and decision
making which results in low commitment.
 High nurse-patient ratio as effect of frequent staff turnover.
 High rate of absenteeism among staff.
 High rate of job dissatisfaction and burnout among nursing staff.

Opportunities
 Optimal location of the hospital.
 Serves large population in the locality and neighboring municipalities.
 Continuous renovation of areas in the hospital.
 Expansion of the hospital to improve services.
 Access to training facilities in other facilities to enhance skills and experience of nursing
staff.
 Access to experts in the field of nursing competency program.
 Not working alone; part of a group to develop and implement program.

Threats (Challenges)
 Global nursing manpower shortage affects recruitment.
 Opportunities with competition for nurses with experience to return to positions in
government and ministry facility with better working and housing conditions.
 Inability to attract new hires and retain nurses due to low salary bracket compared to
other hospitals.
 Opportunities for experienced nursing staff in UK, US, Australia and parts of the middle
east etc.
 Insufficient support in information technology to encourage staff development.

Six strategic directions

Every hospital should adapt the six different directions as follows:

1. Customer Perspective
2. Employee Perspective
3. Financial Perspective
4. Continuous Improvement Perspective
5. Community Perspective
6. Learning Growth Perspective

Customer Perspective:
Goals
  Improve patient safety.
 Improve patient satisfaction.

Objectives

 To assure our patients that the nursing staffs are equipped with relevant trainings and
competencies necessary for delivery safe patient care.
 To monitor hospital efforts and activities in ensuring that patients are safe during their
visits and stay in our hospital.

Target

 By the second quarter of starting the service, the Nursing Education Unit will be able to
strengthen the Nursing Competency Program with the influx of new staffs and to fully
implement the additional competencies required in conjunction with local and
international accreditation requirements.
 To achieve 100% Basic Life Support for Nurses, Emergency Medical Technicians and
Anesthesia Assistants and CPR Heartsaver & AED trained Health Aides, Porters and
Ward Aides in all areas of the Nursing Department by end of the year.
 To increase Patient Satisfaction Survey by at least 5% from the previous year’s results.

Customer Perspective Action Plan

Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation
Activity Status of progress
party achievement needed indicators
Strengthen the
nursing
competency
program with the
Implementation of
influx of new Office
All staff the new
staffs and fully Supplies
Nursing Second completed the competencies has
implement Reference
education unit quarter required commenced and is
additional materials
competencies. ongoing for all staff
competencies (books)
in the areas.
required for local
and international
accreditation
requirements.
In-hospital training
conducted. Request
Increase
for life support
opportunities for Attendance
Nursing Financial training to be
training in and Annually sheets and
education unit allocation forwarded to a
outside hospital certificates
certified training
venues.
center for PALS,
NRP and ATLS.
Overhead Activities are
Nursing QI Attendance
Increase projector, ongoing; monthly
coordinator sheets and
participation with Annually computer lectures already
and all Nursing QI
QI activities. and office planned and
nursing staff annual report
supplies scheduled.
Improve Nursing QI Hospital Monthly
compliance to the coordinator, supplies, monitoring is
Annual QI
international all nursing Annually equipment conducted and
report
patient safety staff and NQI and reports are being
goals. team manpower consolidated.
Monthly
Hospital
Decrease Nursing QI Annual QI monitoring is
supplies,
incidence of coordinator reports and ongoing and
Annually equipment
patient injury in and all submitted incident reporting
and
the hospital. nursing staff incident reports are made, filed and
manpower
taken action.
 Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation
Activity Status of progress
party achievement needed indicators
Fire drills and
Conduct of drills Head nurses, Hospital
mock hospital code
to assess readiness nursing supplies, Attendance
drills were
in case of true Supervisors, Annually equipment sheets and
conducted in some
hospital FMS and certificates
areas, others are
emergency codes. department manpower
scheduled already.
Employee Perspective:
Goals

 Better staff job satisfaction

 Increase staff retention

Objectives

 To provide opportunities and activities to all nursing staff to update their knowledge and
skills and develop their attitude in the performance of their nursing profession.
 To create a work environment that would best make use of our staff potentials and
provide chances for professional growth.

Target

 To increase by 5% in next year, the total number of staff nurses sent for outside hospital
relevant trainings and lectures.
 To decrease by at least 5-10% the number of staff who will go exit in last six months
compared to the previous year.
 To be in the top 5 departments in the hospital with high satisfaction rate in the annual
staff satisfaction survey.

Employee Perspective Action Plan

Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation
Activity Status of progress
party achievement needed indicators
New edition of
Lippincott Manual
of Nursing Practice
and other specialty
Purchased
Acquisition of reference books i.e.
books and
books and Nursing AACN and AORN
Second reference
reading education unit Financial has been purchased
quarter of the materials plus
materials for and the nursing allocation and distributed to
year reports from
research and director. the areas for their
medication
references. use. Anatomy and
supervisor
physiology and
emergency nursing
reference book to
be purchased.
Head nurses
Nursing quality
nursing Ward Data
improvement
supervisor (census, bed
coordinator
Workload nursing quality End of the occupancy, Reviewing staffing
report and
analysis improvement year etc) and plan in every ward
director of
coordinator and office
nursing annual
nursing supplies
report
director
Yearly training Nursing education
Develop and
Financial program is keeping track of
implement a
Nursing allocation schedule the staff due for
training Annually
education unit and office attendance training renewals
program for all
supplies sheets and and other needed
nursing staff
certificates trainings
 Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation
Activity Status of progress
party achievement needed indicators
Orientation of
new hired
nursing staff Ongoing
Nursing To be Accomplished
and competency
education unit completed on Office and updated
competency evaluations are
and head respective supplies competency
evaluation to done in all the
nurses due dates evaluations
both new hired units
and existing
nursing staff
Concerns of the
Develop and Director of
Financial staff mentioned in
implement a nursing annual
Nursing For coming allocation the exit form for
retention plan report and the
director year and last year shall be
to decrease staff retention
manpower aggregated and
turnover rate rate
interpreted
Open more Attendance
Some staff has
opportunities sheets,
Nursing Financial been sent already
for outside certificates and
education unit allocation for training while
Hospital Annually annual report of
and director of and others are already
trainings nursing
Nursing manpower scheduled for
lectures and education unit
upcoming trainings
seminars for the last year
Nursing quality
improvement Annual Some reports for
Conduct staff
coordinator and Office employees staff satisfaction
satisfaction Annually
quality supplies satisfaction surveys has been
survey
management survey report consolidated
department
Financial Perspective:
Goals

 Improve cost-efficiency in the hospital

 Maximize the hospital’s expenditure

Objectives

 To optimize the use of hospital resources and equipment during delivery of health care
services.
 To minimize high staff turnover rate.

Target

 To decrease by at least 5-10% the Nursing Department’s staff turnover rate in coming
compared to last.
 To decrease by 10% the number of equipment directly handled by nursing staff sent to
maintenance for repair.

Financial Perspective Action Plan

Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation Status of
Activity
party achievement needed indicators progress
Some staff has
Attendance been sent
Provide training
sheets, already for
activities Nursing Financial
certificates and training while
relevant to education unit allocation
Annually annual report of others are
hospital setting and nursing and
nursing already
specially outside director manpower
education unit scheduled for
Hospital venues
supervisor any upcoming
trainings
 Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation Status of
Activity
party achievement needed indicators progress
Central nursing
Employee
office is
experience and
Nursing director conducting
competent Nursing Financial
Annually annual stuffing verification on
nurses through director allocation
report the employed
recruitment
nursing staff in
mechanism
hospital
Compilation of
Regular Head nurses all Daily for nurses
Financial equipment This system was
checking of the nursing staff and as per
allocation monitoring already
hospital and request for
and office sheets and established in
equipment and maintenance maintenance
supplies maintenance the areas
machines department department
report
Copies of
Acquisition of purchase request
New equipment
latest model of Director of Financial forms and filed
Annually already in use in
equipment and Nursing allocation equipment
the unit
machineries distribution
forms
Proper All units are
utilization of conducting
Head nurses,
paramedical, monitoring and
nursing staff Annual
stationary, Annually Manpower inventory of the
and the nursing unit/ward report
laboratory items, equipment,
supervisors
linens and linens etc. in
equipment their area
Continuous Improvement Perspective:
Goals

 Intensify quality improvement in the hospital.

 Institutionalize quality systems and planning in the organization.

Objectives

 To promote participation of all staff nurses in quality improvement projects in the

hospital.
 To develop a quality improvement project in every hospital unit/area.
 To understand that quality is a vital component of the organization’s growth.

Target

 By the end of next year, all nursing staff in all hospital units will have a full
implementation of their respective Quality Improvement Project.
 To decrease by 5% in next year, the total number of incident reports submitted from last
year.

Continuous Improvement Perspective Action Plan

Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation Status of
Activity
party achievement needed indicators progress
Conduct Attendance
Nursing quality
Awareness of sheet,
Overhead improvement
the certificates and
Quality projector coordinator
importance of annual report of
improvement Annually computer contacts lectures
reporting risk quality
coordinator office on incident and
events in improved in
supplies Sentinel event
hospital nurse
reporting
nursing coordinator
Workload Head nurses, Semi- Ward data Nursing quality Staffing plan in
analysis nursing annually (census, bed improvement every ward is
 Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation Status of
Activity
party achievement needed indicators progress
supervisors,
occupancy,
nursing quality coordinator and
etc.)and currently
improvement nursing director
office reviewed
coordinator and annual report
supplies
nursing director
Nursing quality
Compiled
improvement
Participate in copies of unit Quarterly clinical
coordinator, the
clinical focus-pdca monitoring is
nursing quality Office
monitoring Quarterly projects and now conducted
improvement supplies
activities in nursing quality randomly in the
team and quality
hospital coordinator area.
management
annual report
department
To identify 1
All nursing staff, Compiled
Develop and FOCUS PDCA
nursing quality copies of unit
implement per Financial for the Nursing
improvement focus-pdca
unit quality allocation Department for
coordinator and Hospital year projects and
project using and office the year and then
quality nursing quality
FOCUS- supplies identify area
management coordinator
PDCA specific FOCUS
department annual report
PDCAs.
Conduct root Nursing quality
cause analysisimprovement
Nursing quality This activity is
for hospital coordinator,
Per Office improvement already
events with nursing director
occurrence supplies coordinator established in
adverse and quality
report hospital
effects management
patients department
Nursing quality
Monitoring Monthly
improvement Nursing quality
and reporting monitoring on
coordinator and Office improvement
of nursing Annually nursing quality
nursing quality supplies coordinator or
quality indicators are
improvement annual report
indicators being done
team
Community Perspective:
Goals

 Improve hospital services for the community.

 Increase the customer-based services catered in the hospital.

Objectives

 To have additional services in the hospital.

 To have an additional building/clinical area in the hospital.
 To encourage the community population to seek healthcare services in our institution.

Target

 To increase at least 5% the Patient Satisfaction Rate both inpatients of the hospital for the
coming year
 To increase community outreach participation for the coming year by 2-3% (i.e. Outreach
Programs arranged thru Marketing Department).

Community Perspective Action Plan

 Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation Status of
Activity
party achievement needed indicators progress
Reading
Hospital
Increase materials, leaflets,
renovation are
Awareness of Nursing quality brochures and
Office ongoing and
newly opened improvement Annually annual report of
supplies new services or
Hospital coordinator nursing quality
soon to be
services improvement
opened
coordinator
Nursing quality
Last year
Conduct improvement
patient
inpatient and coordinator, Annual patient
Office satisfaction
outpatient social worker and Annually satisfaction
supplies survey report
satisfaction quality survey report
has been
survey management
consolidated
department
Improve
staffing in the Financial Staffing plan in
Nursing director
hospital units allocation every ward is
Nursing director Hospital year annual staffing
including out- and currently
report
patient manpower reviewed
department
Acquisition of Some new
additional Copies of equipment
Financial
equipment and Nursing director Annually purchase request received and is
allocation
Hospital forms already used in
supplies the unit
Hospital
Staffing of Financial renovation are
new clinical allocation Staffing plan for ongoing and
Nursing director Annually
areas in the and new area new services or
hospital manpower soon to be
opened
Learning Growth Perspective:
Goals

 Continuous growth of being a learning institution.

 Increase opportunities for staff professional growth.

Objectives

 To provide more opportunities for training and professional practice updates for nursing
staff.
 To comply with special staff training as required by the national and international
accreditation institutions.
 To adopt methodologies by International Accreditation to promote growth and
improvement of hospital systems and management.

Target

 By the end of the current hospital year, the nursing education unit will be able to send
staff from hospital special areas to at least 2-3 new relevant trainings as required by the
national and international accreditations.
 To increase by 5% the total number of educational activities within the hospital (lectures,
demonstrations, seminars, symposium, etc.) for next year.

Learning Growth Perspective Action Plan

 Responsible Timeline for Resources Evaluation Status of
Activity
party achievement needed indicators progress
Increase Some staff has
educational Attendance been sent already
activities and Nursing Financial sheets, for trainings
training including education unit allocation certificates and while others for
Annually
inter-unit and and nursing and annual report of already
cross training and director manpower nursing education scheduled for
outside hospital unit supervisor any upcoming
venues training
Nursing quality
improvement
Implement quality Nursing
Financial coordinator
standards and quality Unit quality
allocation, report, director of
guidelines improvement projects are
Annually manpower nursing annual
consistent with coordinator currently
and office report and filed
hospital quality and nursing ongoing
supplies documentation of
management plan director
quality plans and
implementation
Nursing
quality
Participate improvement
actively in the coordinator,
Office Attendance
tracer nursing
supplies, sheets, tracer
methodology education unit, Annually –
files and methodology
conducted by a nursing
records team reports
multidisciplinary director and
team in hospital quality
management
department
Ongoing training
Implement new
Office for new Implementation
nursing
First quarter supplies competencies in of new
competencies Nursing
of hospital and preparation for competencies is
required in education unit
year reference competency started in all the
preparation for
books assessment relevant areas
accreditation
procedure
Conclusion:

This strategic plan is a clear and concise strategy towards achieving our vision that: “the nursing
department will inspire excellence in nursing care provision through knowledge sharing and
leadership.”

The formulation of the strategic plan is the biggest challenge to the department’s leadership to
ensure its sustainability in planning, implementing and maintaining its gains. A systematic
implementation will guarantee that it is not just a document for presentation but instead a
blueprint that guides actions for continuous improvement.

Essential considerations will have to be made to ensure that the plan is carried out and that the
progress is visible. It has to be disseminated to elicit awareness and cooperation among the
people in the department. Committees/working groups should be organized and to ensure
sustainability and commitment towards one goal. Regular monitoring should be Conducted to
ascertain that the plan is realistic and attainable.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #2 – STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE ONE’S ATTITUDE IN THE

WORKPLACE

How To Develop a Professional Attitude

Updated February 1, 2023

Most people adjust the way they present themselves, also known as their attitude, to match the
situation they find themselves in, whether it's personal or professional. For example, you may act
differently with your boss than you do with your brother. Knowing how to develop an
appropriate professional attitude can help you maximize your professional connections and make
excellent impressions at work.

What is a professional attitude?

A professional attitude is the manner in which you conduct yourself in a professional setting. In
this context, the term attitude often describes both how you appear and how you act. A
professional attitude is often more formal than a personal attitude, in terms of appearance,
comportment and interaction. While personal attitudes come relatively naturally to most people,
professional attitudes are often specifically developed and tweaked to best fit the environment,
workplace or group of people you're interacting with.

How to develop a professional attitude

If you'd like to develop your own professional attitude for work or other professional settings,
use these steps to help you:

1. Upgrade your wardrobe

One of the first things you can do to improve your professional attitude is to invest in a
professional wardrobe. "Professional" clothing can vary dramatically depending on what industry
you work in and your company's specific dress code. If you work in a formal setting, like a law
office, suits or equivalent clothing items are probably most appropriate. If you work in an
informal workplace or in a labor-intensive position where you need freedom of movement and
protective fabrics, ensure the clothing you wear is clean and free of damage while still meeting
the needs of your job.

2. Use formal speech

In most workplaces, speaking more formally than you would with friends and relatives is one of
the best ways to establish your professional attitude. You can increase the professionalism of
your speech by:

 Using proper grammar

 Avoiding slang and curse words
 Speaking about work-related subjects rather than personal topics
 Using niceties like "please" and "thank you" regularly with both colleagues and
customers

3. Focus on work

When at work, focus on work. Dedicate yourself to your job duties and helping others on your
team or in your department meet their objectives. Keep your work area clean and tidy and ensure
you meet your deadlines. Showing that your job is your top priority while at work is a fantastic
way to develop your professional attitude and build your professional reputation.

4. Be prepared

Come to work or other professional engagements prepared. Depending on your role or the
expectations of the event, this probably means carrying a notebook and pen at a minimum or
your laptop or tablet if you need more resources. With a small set of tools, you can take notes,
share ideas or produce examples when needed.

5. Take initiative
Taking initiative in the workplace can help establish your professional attitude. Ask your
supervisors for ways you can help your colleagues or for additional tasks if you finish your work
early. Seek out professional development opportunities and ask your supervisors for additional
training.

6. Ask for feedback

Seek feedback from your supervisors and your colleagues on your work performance and
professional comportment. Accept the feedback and use it to improve your productivity and
skills and to improve your professional demeanor in work-related settings.

7. Demonstrate gratitude

Show through your attitude and actions that you're happy to have your job and appreciate your
coworkers. Gratitude is a great tool for establishing a positive professional attitude.

Common traits associated with a professional attitude

A professional attitude is a collection of traits and choices. Review the common traits associated
with professional people:

 Honesty: Part of maintaining a professional attitude is remaining transparent and honest

at all times.
 Respect: Thoughtful professionals respect everyone on their team and respect their
customers.
 Communication: Maintaining open and clear communication is a vital component of a
professional attitude.
 Integrity: Professional attitude is often associated with integrity, by doing the right thing
whenever possible.
 Care: Having a professional attitude means caring about your job, your company and
your coworkers.
 Accountability: Those with a professional attitude hold themselves accountable for their
errors or missteps.
 Commitment: A professional attitude means a commitment to your job and your career
development.

Tips for improving your professional attitude

Use these tips to help you improve your professional attitude while in the office or representing
your company in a professional setting:

Know your workplace

When it comes to company culture, you know your workplace best. Some organizations are more
conservative in their sartorial style and prefer employees with tattoos or piercings to cover those
up, while other companies support their employee's body modifications. Follow the standards set
by your workplace, and if in doubt, speak with your manager or human resources representative
about appearance expectations.

Act like a leader

Even if you're not in a leadership role, it's likely that someone on your team or in your
department looks to you for guidance. Act like a leader at all times by remaining calm,
thoughtful and work-focused. As a bonus, acting like a leader can help your supervisor see that
you're a good candidate for promotion into a formal leadership position.

Manage any conflicts

Conflict is a normal and healthy part of any relationship, including professional relationships
between colleagues. How you handle conflict, however, can have a major impact on how you're
perceived professionally and your ability to complete your tasks. Learn how to effectively and
respectfully manage conflict.

Consider your responses

Many people communicate with their colleagues and customers through a number of different
platforms, including email, text messaging and phone calls. While you should strive to respond
to queries within 24 hours, take the time to carefully consider your response to ensure your
message is clear, tactful and free from grammatical errors.

Be reliable

Professionals are reliable. Show that you're a reliable employee by arriving to work slightly early
every day, requesting time off in advance and regularly meeting your deadlines.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #3 – GIBBS’ REFLECTIVE CYCLE/MODEL (DESCRIPTION,

FEELINGS, EVALUATION, ANALYSIS, CONCLUSION, AND ACTION PLAN)

What is Gibbs' Reflective Cycle?

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle is a popular model for reflection, acting as a structured method to enable
individuals to think systematically about the experiences they had during a specific situation.

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is a widely used and accepted model of reflection. Developed by
Graham Gibbs in 1988 at Oxford Polytechnic, now Oxford Brookes University, this reflective
cycle framework is widely used within various fields such as healthcare, education, and
management to enhance professional and personal development. It has since become an integral
part of reflective practice, allowing individuals to reflect on their experiences in a structured
way.

The cycle consists of six stages which must be completed in order for the reflection to have a
defined purpose. The first stage is to describe the experience. This is followed by reflecting on
the feelings felt during the experience, identifying what knowledge was gained from it, analyzing
any decisions made in relation to it and considering how this could have been done differently.

The final stage of the cycle is to come up with a plan for how to approach similar experiences in
future.

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle encourages individuals to consider their own experiences in a more in-
depth and analytical way, helping them to identify how they can improve their practice in the
future.

A survey from the British Journal of Midwifery found that 63% of healthcare professionals
regularly used Gibbs' Reflective Cycle as a tool for reflection.

"Reflection is a critical component of professional nursing practice and a strategy for learning
through practice. This integrative review synthesizes the literature on nursing students’
reflection on their clinical experiences." – Beverly J. Bowers, RN, PhD

The Six Stages of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

The Gibbs reflective cycle consists of six distinct stages: Description, Feelings, Evaluation,
Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan. Each stage prompts the individual to examine their
experiences through questions designed to incite deep and critical reflection. For instance, in the
'Description' stage, one might ask: "What happened?". This questioning method encourages a
thorough understanding of both the event and the individual's responses to it.

To illustrate, let's consider a student nurse reflecting on an interaction with a patient. In the
'Description' stage, the student might describe the patient's condition, their communication with
the patient, and the outcome of their interaction. Following this, they would move on to the
'Feelings' stage, where they might express how they felt during the interaction, perhaps feeling
confident, anxious, or uncertain.

The 'Evaluation' stage would involve the student reflecting on their interaction with the patient,
considering how they could have done things differently and what went well. In the 'Analysis'
stage, the student might consider the wider implications of their actions and how this impacted
on the patient's experience.

Finally, in the 'Conclusion' stage, the student would summarize their reflections by noting what
they have learned from the experience. They would then set an 'Action Plan' for how they will
apply this newfound knowledge in their future practice.

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle is a useful tool for nurses to utilize in order to reflect on their past
experiences and improve their practice. By using reflective questions, nurses can actively engage
in reflection and identify areas for improvement.

1. Description: Start by objectively recounting the experience. Helpful questions to ask

include: What happened? Who was involved? When and where did this occur?
2. Feelings: Capture your emotional response to the experience. It's essential to
acknowledge both positive and negative emotions, as they significantly affect our
interpretation of the event.
3. Evaluation: Assess the good and bad aspects of the experience. What worked well, and
what didn't? What were the positive impacts and negative consequences?
4. Analysis: Dig deeper into understanding why things unfolded as they did. This analysis
stage is where you draw on relevant literature and professional knowledge to interpret the
experience.
5. Conclusion: Determine what you could have done differently and what you've learned
from the experience.
6. Action Plan: Develop a plan detailing what you'll do if a similar situation arises in the
future.

Examples of the Reflective Model in Practice

The Gibbs Reflective Cycle, a model of reflection, can be a powerful tool for learning and
personal development across various vocations. Here are five fictional examples:

1. Nursing: A nurse named Jane had a challenging interaction with a patient. Using the Gibbs
Reflective Cycle, she first described the situation and her initial reactions. She then reflected
on her feelings, identifying negative emotions that arose. During the analysis stage, she
realized that her communication skills needed improvement. She concluded that better
communication could have led to a more positive outcome. Finally, she developed a personal
development plan to improve her communication skills, demonstrating the positive impacts
of deep level reflection.
2. Teaching: A teacher, Mr. Smith, had difficulty managing his classroom. He used the Gibbs
Reflective Cycle to reflect on a particularly chaotic day. He identified negative aspects of his
classroom management strategy and, through critical thinking, realized that he needed to set
clearer expectations for his students. He then developed a plan to implement these changes,
showing how the approach to reflection can lead to actionable improvements.
3. Customer Service: Sarah, a customer service representative, received constructive feedback
from a customer who was dissatisfied with the service. She used the Gibbs Reflective Cycle
to reflect on the interaction, identifying her feelings of disappointment and analyzing what
went wrong. She concluded that she needed to improve her problem-solving skills and
developed a plan to do so.
4. Management: A manager, Tom, struggled with delegating tasks to his team. He used the
Gibbs Reflective Cycle to reflect on a project that was delayed due to his reluctance to
delegate. He identified his fear of losing control as a negative emotion and realized during
the analysis stage that trust in his team was crucial. He then developed a plan to practice
delegation in future projects.
5. Counseling: A counselor, Dr. Lee, felt that her recent sessions with a client were not
productive. She used the Gibbs Reflective Cycle to reflect on these sessions. She identified
feelings of frustration and, upon analysis, realized that she needed to adjust her counseling
techniques to better suit her client's needs. She then developed a plan to implement these
changes.

These examples illustrate how the Gibbs Reflective Cycle can facilitate learning and reflection
across different vocations, leading to personal and professional growth.

An Exploration of Gibbs' Model

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle offers a structured approach to reflection, making it a helpful tool for
educators and learners alike. The model encourages critical reflection, stimulating the ability to
analyze experiences through questions and transform them into valuable learning opportunities.

Experiential Learning, a concept closely tied with reflection, suggests that we learn from our
experiences, particularly when we engage in reflection and active experimentation. Gibbs'
model bridges the gap between theory and practice, offering a framework to capture and analyze
experiences in a meaningful way.

By using Gibbs' model, educators can guide students through their reflective process, helping
them extract valuable lessons from their positive and negative experiences.

Application of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle in Real-World

Scenarios
The flexibility and simplicity of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle make it widely applicable in various
real-world scenarios, from personal situations to professional practice.

For instance, Diana Eastcott, a nursing educator, utilized Gibbs' model to facilitate her students'
reflection on their clinical practice experience. The students were encouraged to reflect on their
clinical experiences, analyze their reactions and feelings, and construct an action plan for future
patient interactions. This process not only enhanced their professional knowledge but also
fostered personal growth and emotional resilience.

In another example, Bob Farmer, a team leader in a tech company, used Gibbs' Cycle to reflect
on a project that didn't meet expectations. He guided his team through the reflective process,
helping them identify areas for improvement and develop strategies for better future outcomes.
These scenarios underline the versatility of Gibbs' model, demonstrating its value in both
educational and professional settings.

Gibbs reflective cycle template

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle for Personal and Professional

Development
The use of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle can have profound effects on personal and professional
development. It aids in recognizing strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, providing
an avenue for constructive feedback and self-improvement.

In the context of professional development, Gibbs' model promotes continuous learning and
adaptability. By transforming bad experiences into learning opportunities, individuals can
enhance their competencies and skills, preparing them for similar future situations.

Moreover, the reflective cycle promotes emotional intelligence by encouraging individuals to

explore their feelings and reactions to different experiences. Acknowledging and understanding
negative emotions can lead to increased resilience, better stress management, and improved
interpersonal relationships.
Transforming Experiences into Learning: The Role of
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle is a practical tool that transforms experiences into learning. It
incorporates principles of Experiential Learning and emphasizes the importance of abstract
conceptualization and active experimentation in the learning process.

In the field of education, Gibbs' model can significantly influence teaching methods. It
encourages educators to incorporate reflective practices in their teaching methods, promoting a
deeper understanding of course material and facilitating the application of theoretical knowledge
in practical scenarios.

Moreover, the model can be used to encourage students to reflect on their experiences, both
within and outside the classroom, and learn from them. This process fosters critical thinking,
problem-solving skills, and personal growth, equipping students with the skills they need for
lifelong learning.

‍ Embracing Gibbs cycle in your organization

Here's a list of guidance tips for organizations interested in embracing Gibbs' Reflective Cycle as
their professional development model.

1. Understanding the Gibbs Reflective Cycle: Before implementing, ensure that everyone
in the organization understands the Gibbs Reflective Cycle model. This model consists of
six stages: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan. The
goal is to encourage deep level reflection on experiences to foster learning and improve
future actions.
2. Promote a Culture of Reflection: Encourage everyone in the organization to incorporate
reflection into their daily routine. Reflection should not be seen as an added task, but
rather as an integral part of the professional development process.
3. Use Real-Life Situations: For the methods in education to be effective, use real-life
situations when applying the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. This way, employees can relate to
the experiences, making the reflection process more relevant and meaningful.
4. Encourage Sharing of Reflections: Create a safe space for individuals to share their
reflections. This could be through team meetings, one-on-one sessions with managers, or
through online platforms. Sharing allows for collective learning and may provide
different perspectives on the same situation.
5. Integrate Reflective Practice in Training Programs: Use the Gibbs Reflective Cycle in
training programs. After each training session, encourage participants to go through the
 reflective cycle. This can help them understand the training content better and apply it in
their work.
6. Link Reflection to Personal Development: Connect the outcome of the reflection to
personal development plans. The Action Plan stage of the cycle should feed into the
individual's personal development plan, helping them identify areas of strength and areas
needing improvement.
7. Provide Guidance and Support: Provide guidance and support in the early stages of
implementing the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. This could include providing templates or
guides, or offering training on how to use the model effectively.
8. Continuous Review and Feedback: Regularly review the use of the Gibbs Reflective
Cycle in your organization and provide feedback. This will help ensure that the model is
being used effectively and is helping individuals in their professional development.
9. Model Reflective Practice: Leaders and managers should model reflective practice
themselves. This shows that the organization values reflective practice and can motivate
employees to engage in it themselves.
10. Celebrate Success: Recognize and celebrate when reflective practice leads to positive
changes or improvements. This can motivate employees to continue using the Gibbs
Reflective Cycle in their professional development.

What is the Difference Between Kolb's and Gibbs' Reflective

Cycle?
Both Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory and Gibbs' Reflective Cycle are influential learning
methods used extensively in education and professional development. While they share
similarities, such as promoting a cyclical learning process and fostering a deeper understanding
of experiences, there are key differences.

Kolb's cycle consists of four stages: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract
Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation. It focuses more on the transformation of direct
experience into knowledge, emphasizing the role of experience in learning.

On the other hand, Gibbs' cycle, with its six stages, places a greater emphasis on emotions and
their impact on learning. For example, a team leader might use Kolb's cycle to improve
operational skills after a failed project, focusing on what happened and how to improve.
However, using Gibbs' cycle, the same leader would also reflect on how the failure made them
feel, and how those feelings might have influenced their decision-making.

Other notable Learning Methods and Cycles

Learning Cycle
Origin Application
Theory
It's widely used in professional development and
Developed by David
higher education settings. It helps learners gain
Experiential Kolb in the 1980s. It's
knowledge from their experiences by going through
Learning based on the work of
four stages: Concrete Experience, Reflective
Theory (ELT) John Dewey, Kurt
Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active
Lewin, and Jean Piaget.
Experimentation.
Developed by the This model is popular in science education. It includes
5E Instructional Biological Sciences five phases: Engagement, Exploration, Explanation,
Model Curriculum Study Elaboration, and Evaluation. It promotes inquiry-based
(BSCS) in the 1980s. learning and active engagement.
The origins can be It's widely used in instructional design and training
ADDIE Model traced back to the US development. The five phases are Analysis, Design,
Military in the 1970s. Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.
Kemp Design Developed by Jerold This model is used in instructional design. It
Model Kemp in the late 1970s. emphasizes continuous revision and flexibility
throughout the learning cycle, including nine
components that are considered simultaneously and
Learning Cycle
Origin Application
Theory
iteratively.
This is commonly used in instructional design and
teaching. It includes nine steps: Gain attention, Inform
Gagne's Nine learners of objectives, Stimulate recall of prior
Developed by Robert
Events of learning, Present the content, Provide learner
Gagne in the 1960s.
Instruction guidance, Elicit performance, Provide feedback,
Assess performance, and Enhance retention and
transfer.
This model is used to improve learners' motivation.
ARCS Model of
Developed by John The four components are Attention, Relevance,
Motivational
Keller in the 1980s. Confidence, and Satisfaction. It is widely used in e-
Design
learning and instructional design.
It is used to classify educational learning objectives
into levels of complexity and specificity. The
Developed by
Bloom's taxonomy consists of six levels: Remembering,
Benjamin Bloom in the
Taxonomy Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and
1950s.
Creating. It is widely used in education to design
lesson plans and assessments.

Please note that each of these theories or models has been developed and refined over time, and
they each have their own strengths and weaknesses depending on the specific learning context or
goals.

Adopting the Cycle in Education

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle is an invaluable tool for nurturing professional skills and fostering
personal growth. By systematically integrating this reflective model into educational practices,
institutions can significantly enhance their students' professional development.

Here are seven innovative ways educational institutions can harness the power of Gibbs'
Reflective Cycle to boost skill acquisition, operational proficiency, leadership capabilities, and
personal skills mastery.

1. Incorporate Reflective Practice in Curriculum: Educational institutions can

incorporate Gibbs' Reflective Cycle into their curriculum, making it a regular part of
learning. This can encourage students to develop professional skills by continually
reflecting on their experiences and learning from them.
2. Real-World Scenarios: By using real-world situations or case studies, educational
institutions can provide practical instances for students to apply the reflective cycle. This
will help them understand the type of situation they might encounter in their professional
life and how to handle it.
3. Promote Skill Acquisition: Gibbs' cycle can be used as a tool for skill acquisition. By
reflecting on their performance in various tasks and projects, students can identify their
strengths and areas that need improvement. This can aid in the development of
operational skills, leadership skills, and personal skills.
4. Professional Development Workshops: Educational institutions can organize
workshops that focus on the application of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle for professional
development. These workshops could provide hands-on training on how to use the cycle
effectively.
5. Reflective Journals: Encourage students to keep a reflective journal. This practice can
help students regularly apply Gibbs' cycle, promoting introspection, and the development
of key leadership skills.
6. Mentorship Programs: Implement mentorship programs where experienced
professionals guide students in applying Gibbs' Reflective Cycle. This can provide
students with valuable insights into how reflective practice can enhance their professional
skills.
 7. Assessments Based on Reflection: Design assessments that value reflective practice.
Instead of solely focusing on theoretical knowledge, consider students' ability to reflect
on their experiences and learn from them. This approach can make learning more
engaging and relevant to real-world situations.

Conclusion
In the journey of life and work, we continuously encounter new situations, face challenges, and
make decisions that shape our personal and professional trajectory. It's in these moments that
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle emerges as a guiding compass, providing a structured framework to
analyze experiences, draw insights, and plan our future course of action.

Underlying the model is the philosophy of lifelong learning. By encouraging critical reflection, it
empowers us to not just passively experience life, but to actively engage with it, to question, and
to learn. It's through this reflection that we move from the realm of 'doing' to 'understanding',
transforming experiences into knowledge.

Moreover, the model emphasizes the importance of an action-oriented approach. It propels us to

use our reflections to plan future actions, promoting adaptability and growth. Whether you're an
educator using the model to enhance your teaching methods, a student exploring the depths of
your learning process, or a professional striving for excellence in your field, Gibbs' Reflective
Cycle can be a powerful tool.

In an ever-changing world, where the pace of change is accelerating, the ability to learn, adapt,
and evolve is paramount. Reflective practices, guided by models such as Gibbs', provide us with
the skills and mindset to navigate this change effectively. They empower us to learn from our
past, be it positive experiences or negative experiences, and use these lessons to shape our future.

From fostering personal growth and emotional resilience to enhancing professional practice and
shaping future outcomes, the benefits of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle are manifold. As we continue
our journey of growth and learning, this model serves as a beacon, illuminating our path and
guiding us towards a future of continuous learning and development.

LO3 – Boost self-confidence and develop self-regulation

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #1 – FOUR COMPONENTS OF SELF-REGULATION BASED ON

SELF-REGULATION THEORY (SRT)

Self-Regulation Theory
Description
What we want is not always good for us. Short-term desires and urges might suggest that we eat
high fat food or punch people who annoy us, but clearly these have a longer-term cost.

Likewise, if a doctor suggests we should take regular walks or a teacher says we must study
more, and we know this is good advice, then we need to have the self-discipline to implement
such recommendations.

The question may even go to what we believe and think. Religions provide many guidelines as to
proper thought and adherents try hard to think the right things, difficult as this can be.

Self-regulation theory (SRT) says that we expend effort in control of what we think, say and do,
trying to be the person we want to be, both in particular situations and in the longer-term.

Much self-regulation is in stopping ourselves from doing things we know we should not do, for
example preventing ourselves from impolitely telling other people that they are stupid. Self-
regulation is also applied in creating positive behavior, such as studying for exams.
Self-regulation is typically needed when there is a conflict of motivations, for example to run
away from a fire as opposed to helping to rescue victims of the fire.

Four components of self-regulation described by Baumeister et al (2007) are:

 Standards: Of desirable behavior.

 Motivation: To meet standards.
 Monitoring: Of situations and thoughts that precede breaking standards.
 Willpower: Internal strength to control urges.

We do not always succeed at this task, partly because we also have to attend to other things, like
what the other person is saying and partly because the whole process of self-regulation is tiring.

Self-regulation includes impulse control, the management of short-term desires. People with low
impulse control prone to acting on immediate desires. This is one route for such people to find
their way to jail as many criminal acts occur in the heat of the moment. For non-violent people it
can lead to losing friends through careless outbursts, or financial problems caused by making too
many impulse purchases.

Example
When a person visits their partner's family, the family tend to make snide criticisms. The person
is constantly biting the tongue in order to avoid saying something back and causing a row.

So What?
Using it

Know what things in which you need to exercise important self-regulation and ensure these are
always done. To gain compliance with others, get them doing things that require self-regulation.
When they start to make mistakes in this, you can hold them up about it, or else slip in a
persuasive suggestion.

Defending

Do not take on too much at once, particularly when it involves doing things with which you are
uncomfortable or where you need to rein your natural self in.

The importance of self-regulation for learning

Self-regulation is the process by which students monitor and control their cognition, motivation,
and behavior in order to achieve certain goals. There are several interweaving theories of self-
regulation, but most common models conceptualize self-regulation in terms of a series of steps
involving forethought or planning, performance, and reflection[i] [ii]. These steps can be
explicitly taught and, while self-regulation increases to some extent with age, the research is
clear that self-regulation can be improved and that the role of the teacher is crucial in supporting
and promoting self-regulated learning. What is more, students’ emotions and their beliefs about
their own ability play a key role in the development and exercise of self-regulation, and teachers
can further support self-regulation by teaching students about growth mindset and the role of the
emotions in learning.

1. The first step in self-regulated learning is to plan and set goals. Goals are guideposts that
students use to check their own progress. Setting goals involves activating prior knowledge about
the difficulty of the task and about one’s own ability in that content area. Students may weigh in
their mind how long an activity may take and set a time management plan in place. They may
also think about particular learning strategies (such as asking themselves questions as they read)
that they will use in reaching their goal/s.

2. Students self-regulate by focusing their energy and attention on the task at hand. This next step
involves exercising control. Control can be exercised by implementing any of the learning
strategies (such as rehearsal, elaboration, summarizing or asking themselves questions) chosen in
the first step. Help-seeking can also be a form of control, but only when the learner uses it to
develop their own skill or understanding: help-seeking is not considered self-regulatory behavior
when it is used as a crutch to arrive at the answer without the hard work. Control can also take
the form of using attention-focusing strategies such as turning off all music, sitting alone, or
going to the library, and it involves postponing enjoyable activities in order to make progress
towards one’s goals. Simply put, control is general persistence to stick with the strategies that
work.

3. Next, self-regulated learners monitor progress towards their goal. Individuals can monitor
their own understanding, motivation, feelings, or behavior towards a goal. For example, by using
the metacognitive strategy they decided to use in the goal-setting stage (asking themselves
questions), students can clarify for themselves what they do and do not yet know. Other ways of
self-monitoring include keeping track of how much studying truly gets done with a study group,
or noticing which contexts and environments allow them to focus on their work.

4. Finally, students use the information gathered through the previous self-evaluation to
metacognitively reflect and respond. A student’s confidence in their own abilities will shape
how they reflect on their progress or lack thereof. For example, a student with a stable, high
belief that they are capable will attribute a low grade on a math test to their lack of sleep the
night before or their minimal study time as opposed to a lack of intelligence. Responding to a
self-evaluation functions like a thermostat, either turning up the dial on effort to increase
progress towards one’s goals or easing back to focus on other tasks. This adjustment can
manifest as help-seeking behavior, persistence, or shifting learning strategies.

Why is self-regulation important?

It is increasingly important that students are able to proactively evaluate and improve upon their
own learning. In a rapidly changing world, successful individuals must be life-long learners who
are metacognitive about and able to effectively evaluate their learning. Within the education
system, students without the ability to focus their attention and maintain perseverance will be
constantly pulled left and right by their immediate impulses. Furthermore, students who fail to
learn self-evaluation strategies will not be able to effectively direct their attention towards the
areas that need it the most. While some students may find poor study conditions, confusing
lessons or difficult texts to be insurmountable obstacles, self-regulation allows learners to
navigate these conditions by discovering solutions that work.

In addition to developing personal responsibility about learning, self-regulation also solidifies the
content of learning. Self-regulation practices improve the encoding of knowledge and skills in
memory, especially in reading comprehension and writing.[iii] Research has also identified that
self-regulation strategies are associated with increased student effort and motivation, improved
scores on standardized tests and general preparedness for class.

How do we cultivate self-regulation?

As discussed above, the self-regulation process is composed of a series of steps. These steps are
not rigid in their order. In actuality, self-regulated learners engage in many of these processes
simultaneously or shift the steps as they become adept self-regulators. To teach and develop
student self-regulation as a whole, teachers can support each of the underlying stages. It is also
important to support students’ self-efficacy, encourage them to adopt a growth mindset and
prioritize learning over grades and marks.

Match the form of learning with appropriate strategies

In this first stage, students identify particular learning strategies that fit with their goals. Basic
learning tasks such as encoding information for memory recall are best learned through
rehearsal, organization or categorization, mnemonic devices, or paraphrasing the information.
However, more elaborate strategies are used when students are asked to make information
meaningful. In building connections between new concepts and a learner’s existing knowledge,
students may choose to list underlying causes or themes, outline the structure of the process or
paper, or diagram spatial relationships to create a network of ideas. This is not a comprehensive
catalogue of learning strategies but serves to illustrate the value in carefully choosing a learning
strategy to align with goals. It is important for teachers to explicitly teach a range of learning
strategies, and to enable and support students to determine which form of learning strategy is
most appropriate for the type of work.

Always include positive feedback

Maintaining attention throughout a task takes practice. However, teachers can support students’
focus through positive feedback. Students often adopt their teacher’s evaluations of their work as
their own, which means that teachers can highly influence a student’s persistence in engaging
with a task or giving up. In addition, developing a culture around celebrating mistakes as
opportunities to learn is crucial. Authentically discussing areas of improvement allows room for
growth, and an inclusion of positive feedback should not be interpreted as giving exclusively
positive feedback. Teachers can also use their expertise to differentiate their level of positive and
negative feedback according to student self-efficacy in a particular task.

Maintain an environment conducive to focus

Teachers can ensure that the study environment is conducive to focus, as a relatively quiet space
for individual work is invaluable. Beyond this, students learn how to regulate their own attention
and impulses best through sustained and regular practice, increasing in duration each session.
While collaboration and discussion are an important part of learning, self-regulation becomes
much more challenging in a noisy environment. In secondary education this is particularly
important, as the higher critical thinking skills required by adolescents are severely inhibited by
distractions. Teachers can further support the development of self-regulation by providing
complex, open-ended tasks that give students the opportunity to practice managing distractions
and maintaining focus while tackling increasingly challenging academic work.

Guide students to track their progress

At the heart of monitoring understanding lies the question: ‘what do I know, and how can I
improve?’ Students can push themselves to become aware of the limits of their own knowledge
through recall, practice and extension, depending on the nature of the goal. One monitoring
strategy might be summarizing the main points of a lesson following direct instruction. A student
trying to increase her reading comprehension may pause to ask herself questions about the text
(at varying levels of complexity).

Some students may wish to improve their time management skills. These students would benefit
from keeping a record of how they spend their time and then comparing it with their task goals.
For example, I may believe that two hours of studying with a study group each week is a strong
plan in preparing for a test at the end of the term. However, I may in fact find that one of the two
hours is generally spent socializing. This new information can then be used to shift my behavior
moving forward.

Practice evaluating ‘like a detective’

In the reflection and response stage, students utilize feedback from the monitoring stage to
inform their shift in learning strategies or effort moving forward. This requires a high level of
resilience in order to bounce back from the inevitable highs and lows in learning. Similarly, it
also necessitates metacognition to dig into why certain strategies may not work, and why others
might be more effective moving forward. These metacognitive strategies can be taught explicitly
through talking with students about how to be a detective in reflecting on their areas of strength
or growth. In addition, resilience can be fostered through conversations surrounding growth
mindset, and context- rather than person-specific attribution of failure. Encouraging students to
attribute poor performance on a test to lack of preparation rather than unintelligence, and
supporting students to respond to feedback with an understanding that achievement is variable
based on effort rather than stable personality traits, are highly predictive of the development of
positive self-regulation in students.

For example, a student who has failed a math test may feel like giving up completely in math.
However, she demonstrates emotional resilience and decides to reflect on which particular
problems gave her trouble in order to shift her learning strategies. On reflection, she realizes that
during the previous term she never went to the library by herself, summarized the material to
herself following a lesson, or asked the teacher for help. She considers the merit of these
changes, how she will implement them, and makes a plan to manage her time accordingly.

Measuring self-regulation

Periodically evaluating students’ social-emotional learning serves the dual purpose of informing
the teacher of their students’ progress and wellbeing, and prompting students to practice self-
awareness. While formal school-wide social-emotional assessments are valuable for collecting
comprehensive data, these measures are time-consuming and cannot practically be implemented
more than once or twice each year. For these formal assessments, one reliable measure with
strong evidence of validity is the Panorama Social-Emotional Learning Survey. However, on a
fortnightly or monthly basis, teachers can informally gauge student self-regulation by asking the
following questions:

 When you get stuck while learning something new, how likely are you to try a different
strategy? (Not at all likely/Quite likely/Likely/Highly likely)
 Before you start on a challenging project, how often do you think about the best way to
approach the project? (Almost never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
 Overall, how well do your learning strategies help you learn and focus more effectively?
(Not at all well/Quite well/Well/Very well)
 How often do you stay focused on the same goal for several months at a time? (Almost
never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
 When you are working on a project that matters a lot to you, how focused can you stay
when there are lots of distractions? (Not at all focused/Quite focused/Focused/Very
focused)
 If you have a problem while working towards an important goal, how well can you keep
working? (Not at all well/Quite well/Well/Very well)
 How consistently do you pay attention and resist distractions? (Not at all
consistently/Quite consistently/Consistently/Very consistently)
 When you work independently, how often do you stay focused? (Almost
never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
 How often do you follow through in completing the goals you set for yourself? (Almost
never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
 How do you keep yourself motivated when a concept or lesson is not inherently
interesting to you? _
 When you feel yourself becoming distracted, do you try to counteract this effect? How?
 The last time you experienced a setback in school, how did you respond?

Self-Regulation Theory
Self-regulation theory is a social–cognitive framework for describing how people manage their
behavior to move away from undesired outcomes (e.g., to be assessed as guilty), and to reach
desired goals (e.g., to be assessed as innocent).

Self-regulation Theories focus on the ways individuals direct the course of their development as
they select and pursue goals and modify goal pursuit based on personal and environmental
opportunities and constraints. The chapter reviews theoretical perspectives that have contributed
to the emergence of Self-regulation theories including William James and the concept of the self;
psychoanalytic theory and the ego; fulfillment theory and self-actualization; psychosocial theory
and identity; and cognitive developmental theory and formal operational reasoning. Insights from
self-regulation theories that address adolescent development include the SOC Model; a sense of
purpose; and self-determination theory. Five approaches to measurement are described: the
structure of psychological well-being; organismic self-regulation; the SOC Questionnaire;
conceptions of purpose in life; and self-determination measures. The theories are applied to key
aspects of adolescent life: homework; leisure time physical activity; reflecting on purpose in life;
parenting; and therapy. Strengths and limitations of self-regulation theories are summarized.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #2 – PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS

The Psychology of Personality Development
Personality development refers to the process of developing, enhancing, and changing one's
personality over time. Such development occurs naturally over the course of life, but it can also
be modified through intentional efforts.

When we meet new people, it is often their personality that grabs our attention. According to the
American Psychological Association, personality refers to the enduring behaviors, traits,
emotional patterns, and abilities that make up a person's response to the events of their life.

“Personality is a blend of behavioral and thought patterns that are relatively stable over time,
characterizing an individual's traits and attitudes," says Ludovica Colella, a CBT therapist and
author of "The Feel Good Journal."

Understanding how personality develops can provide insight into who someone is and their
background while also increasing our understanding of what's behind our personality traits and
characteristics.

At a Glance

Personality development involves all of the factors that influence how our personalities form and
change over time. This can include our genetic background and the environment where we are
raised. While personality tends to be pretty stable, it can change over time, especially as people
get older.

This article discusses how personality is defined, different theories on how personality forms,
and what you can do if you are interested in changing certain aspects of your own personality.

What Is Personality Development?

Personality development refers to the process by which the organized thought and behavior
patterns that make up a person's unique personality emerge over time. Many factors influence
personality, including genetics and environment, how we were parented, and societal variables.

While personality is relatively stable, Colella notes that it isn't entirely fixed. "People can
undergo changes in their attitudes, behaviors, and thought patterns in response to new
experiences or personal growth,” she explains.

Perhaps most importantly, the ongoing interaction of all these influences continues to shape
personality. Personality involves both inborn traits and the development of cognitive and
behavioral patterns that influence how we think and act.

Temperament is a key part of personality that is determined by inherited traits.

Character is an aspect of personality influenced by experience and social learning that continues
to grow and change throughout life.

Personality development has been a major topic of interest for some of the most prominent
thinkers in psychology. Since the inception of psychology as a separate science, researchers have
proposed a variety of ideas to explain how and why personality develops.

Theories of Personality Development

Our personalities make us unique, but how does personality develop? What factors play the most
important role in the formation of personality? Can personality change?

To answer these questions, many prominent thinkers have developed theories to describe the
various steps and stages that occur during the development of personality. The following theories
focus on several aspects of personality formation—including those that involve cognitive, social,
and moral development.
Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

In his well-known stage theory of psychosexual development, Sigmund Freud suggested that
personality develops in stages that are related to specific erogenous zones. These stages are:

 Stage 1: Oral stage (birth to 1 year)

 Stage 2: Anal stage (1 to 3 years)
 Stage 3: Phallic stage (3 to 6 years)
 Stage 4: Latent period (age 6 to puberty)
 Stage 5: Genital stage (puberty to death)

Freud also believed that failure to complete these stages would lead to personality problems in
adulthood.

In addition to being one of the best-known thinkers in personality development, Sigmund Freud
remains one of the most controversial. While he made significant contributions to the field of
psychology, some of his more disputed and unproven theories, such as his theory of
psychosexual development, have been rejected by modern scientists.

Freud's Structural Model of Personality

Freud not only theorized about how personality developed over the course of childhood, but he
also developed a framework for how overall personality is structured.

According to Freud, the basic driving force of personality and behavior is known as the libido.
This libidinal energy fuels the three components that make up personality: the id, the ego, and
the superego.

 The id is the aspect of personality present at birth. It is the most primal part of the
personality and drives people to fulfill their most basic needs and urges.
 The ego is the aspect of personality charged with controlling the urges of the id and
forcing it to behave in realistic ways.
 The superego is the final aspect of personality to develop and contains all of the ideals,
morals, and values imbued by our parents and culture.

According to Freud, these three elements of personality work together to create complex human
behaviors. The superego attempts to make the ego behave according to these ideals. The ego
must then moderate between the primal needs of the id, the idealistic standards of the superego,
and reality.

Freud's concept of the id, ego, and superego has gained prominence in popular culture, despite a
lack of support and considerable skepticism from many researchers.

While Freudian theory is less relevant today than it once was, it can be helpful to learn more
about these theories in order to better understand the history of research on personality
development.

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erik Erikson’s eight-stage theory of human development is another well-known theory in

psychology. While it builds on Freud’s stages of psychosexual development, Erikson chose to
focus on how social relationships impact personality development.

The theory also extends beyond childhood to look at development across the entire lifespan.

Erikson's eight stages are:

 Stage 1: Trust versus mistrust (birth to 1 year)

 Stage 2: Autonomy versus shame and doubt (1 to 2 years)
 Stage 3: Initiative versus guilt (3 to 5 years)
 Stage 4: Industry versus inferiority (6 to 11 years)
  Stage 5: Identity versus role confusion (12 to 18 years)
 Stage 6: Intimacy versus isolation (19 to 40 years)
 Stage 7: Generativity versus stagnation (41 to 64 years)
 Stage 8: Integrity versus despair (65 years to death)

At each stage, people face a crisis in which a task must be mastered. Those who successfully
complete that stage emerge with a sense of mastery and well-being.

However, Erikson believed that those who do not resolve the crisis at a particular stage may
struggle with those skills for the remainder of their lives.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development remains one of the most frequently cited in
psychology.

While many aspects of Piaget's theory have not stood the test of time, the central idea remains
important today: Children think differently than adults.

According to Piaget, children progress through a series of four stages that are marked by
distinctive changes in how they think. And how children think about themselves, others, and the
world around them plays an essential role in personality development.

Piaget's four stages are:

 Stage 1: Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)

 Stage 2: Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years)
 Stage 3: Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years)
 Stage 4: Formal operational stage (12 years and up)

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg developed a theory of personality development that focused on the growth
of moral thought. Building on a two-stage process proposed by Piaget, Kohlberg expanded the
theory to include six different stages:

 Stage 1: Obedience and punishment

 Stage 2: Individualism and exchange
 Stage 3: Developing good interpersonal relationships
 Stage 4: Maintaining social order
 Stage 5: Social contract and individual rights
 Stage 6: Universal principles

These stages are separated by levels. Level one is the pre-conventional level, it includes stages
one and two, and takes place from birth to 9 years. Level two is the conventional level, it
includes stages three and four, and takes place from age 10 to adolescence. Level three is the
post-conventional level, it includes stages five and six, and takes place in adulthood.

Although this theory includes six stages, Kohlberg felt that it was rare for people to progress
beyond stage four, stressing that these moral development stages are not correlated with the
maturation process.

Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been criticized for several different reasons. One
primary criticism is that it does not accommodate different genders and cultures equally. Yet, the
theory remains important in our understanding of how personality develops.

Why Personality Theories Matter

While these theories suggest different numbers and types of stages, and different ages for
progressing from one stage to the next, they have all influenced what we know today about
personality development.
5 Basic Personality Traits
The goal of personality development theories is to explain how we each develop our own unique
characteristics and traits. While the list of options could be almost endless, most of these
personality traits fall into five basic categories:

 Openness: Level of creativeness and responsiveness to change

 Conscientiousness: Level of organization and attention to detail
 Extraversion: Level of socialness and emotional expressiveness
 Agreeableness: Level of interest in others and cooperativeness
 Neuroticism: Level of emotional stability and moodiness

The "Big 5" is one of the most recognized models of personality and also the most widely used,
though some suggest that it isn't comprehensive enough to cover the huge variety of personality
traits that one can grow and develop.

Personality Development Tips

Theorists such as Freud believed that personality was largely set in stone fairly early in life.
However, we now recognize that personality can change over time.

Research suggests that a person's broad traits are quite stable, but changes do happen,
particularly as people age.

On a global level, people spend a lot of money on personal development, with this market
bringing in more than $38 billion annually (and expected to grow). If you're interested in making
positive changes to your personality, these tips can help:

Identify Your Current Traits

Colella notes that self-awareness and reflection are an essential part of personal growth. She
suggests that you can start by learning more about your traits, strengths, and weaknesses.

Reflect on your behaviors and how they impact your life and relationships. This self-awareness
lays the foundation for personal growth.

— LUDOVICA COLELLA, CBT THERAPIST

You won't know where to place your efforts if you don't identify the personality traits you need
to work on. A personality test can provide an assessment of your current traits. Pick one or two
traits to work on that you feel would help you grow as a person and focus on them. You can try
our fast and free personality test as a good starting point:

Identify Your Values

Colella also suggests that it is important to identify your core values. You can do this by thinking
about the values that are the most important to you. After you do this, you can prioritize your
goals and better reflect on how your behaviors and actions align with your goals and values.

Set a Daily Personal Development Goal

Commit to doing at least one thing every day to help develop your personality. This doesn't have
to be a big action either. Even baby steps will move you in the right direction.

Keep a Positive Mindset

It is also important to work on forging a growth mindset, Colella explains. This allows you to
recognize that personality is not set it stone and can instead evolve over time. "Embrace
challenges, learn from failures, and see setbacks as opportunities for growth," Colella says.
Changing yourself can be difficult, especially if you're working on a part of your personality
you've had for a long time. Staying positive along the way helps you pay more attention to the
pros versus the cons. It also makes the journey more enjoyable for you and everyone around you.

Be Confident

When you have something about yourself that you'd like to change, it can be easy to let your
perceived imperfection reduce your confidence. Yet, you can be confident and continue to
develop your personality in meaningful ways at the same time, giving you the best of both
worlds while pursuing personality development.

Stepping outside your comfort zone can be challenging, Colella notes, but slowly expanding
your horizons can lead to gradual growth. "Expanding your comfort zone involves taking small,
manageable steps, gradually pushing your limits at a pace that feels comfortable for you," she
explains.

Must-Have Characteristics for Health Care Professionals

Working in the health care field is a great way to help others, whether you tend to the sick and
injured or provide preventative services. Being a health care professional can also be
challenging, since it requires you to be able to think on your feet and make important decisions.
How can you make sure you succeed in this field? Knowing more about the characteristics of a
good health care professional can help.

What Is a Health Care Professional?

A health care professional is someone who provides health services to patients, including care
for physical or mental conditions. They study physical or mental illnesses and injuries that can
occur in humans. Some diagnose and treat these health conditions, while others focus on
preventing them from occurring. For example, an oncologist provides cancer diagnoses and
treatment, while a general practitioner conducts wellness exams. Health care professionals range
from medical doctors and nursing professionals to dentists, psychologists, and pharmacists.

Qualities of a Good Health Care Professional

What are some qualities of a successful health care professional? From having a strong work
ethic to an eye for detail, the following are some of the top characteristics you should have in
order to be a good health care professional. Keep in mind that some of these might come
naturally to you, while you can learn others in a degree program.

1. Service Oriented

Good health care professionals are motivated by a desire to serve and help others. They focus on
patient and client needs in order to make meaningful differences in their lives. Service-oriented
people acknowledge and act on their sense of responsibility to their community and society as a
whole. Working in the heath care field, you will need to be sensitive to your patient's needs while
working towards the best outcomes.

2. Empathy and Compassion

Having empathy and compassion is one of the most important characteristics of health care
professionals. Your work might involve caring for patients who are going through difficult health
problems. Even patients suffering minor health issues need to be treated compassionately and
respectfully. You should also be able to provide the best care possible to patients who hold
different beliefs and values from your own. Having empathy and compassion toward all patients
and their family members can help you deliver exceptional patient care.
3. Hardworking

Health professionals sometimes work long hours or handle intense situations that require making
difficult decisions. Some health care professionals work in stressful environments or spend
several hours a day on their feet doing physical tasks. Being a hardworking individual who can
meet these challenges is important when you choose this type of career. You’ll need to rely on a
strong work ethic as you go about your day-to-day routine.

4. Passion for the Field

Since health care can be a stressful career at times, it’s essential to be passionate about this kind
of work. When you have a passion for your career as a health care professional and the health
care field in general, it can motivate you to keep going on tough workdays. Think about why you
want to get into this line of work, such as the ability to help patients heal from injuries and
illnesses or the opportunity to help patients maintain good health.

5. Strong Communication Skills

Working in health care means communicating with other health professionals, patients, and
patients’ family members. Strong communication skills help lower the risk of misunderstandings
or errors in patient care. Good communication ensures that all members of a patient’s health care
team are on the same page. It also makes it easier to ensure that patients and their families
understand at-home care instructions. Effective communication skills are especially important
when a patient speaks a different language than you do.

6. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

Being as healthy as possible as a health care professional can help you handle the demands of the
job. For example, being physically fit makes it easier to move patients and equipment around and
remain on your feet most of the day. You’ll also have more energy for long shifts. When you
take good care of yourself through sufficient sleep, healthy eating, stress management, and
physical activity, you also set a great example for your patients.

7. The Ability to Multitask

Health care professionals might be expected to handle multiple tasks in a hectic work
environment. Being able to multitask means you can ensure these tasks are accomplished while
still providing quality patient care and ensuring patient safety. For example, you might have
several patients under your care. You’ll need to multitask effectively to check on their condition,
administer care, and update medical records.

8. Strong Problem-Solving Skills

Working in health care often involves making quick decisions as situations change. Sometimes
you might need to make decisions that affect a patient’s outcome, such as recommending certain
treatments for serious medical conditions. Since each workday comes with its own challenges,
it’s important to have solid problem-solving skills. You’ll need to be able to come up with
solutions to problems, even stressful ones, in a calm manner.

9. Detail-Oriented

As a health care professional, you might need to evaluate lab test results, imaging tests, and other
diagnostic tests, making the ability to notice details incredibly important. Being detail-oriented
can help ensure that you notice details that are needed for an accurate diagnosis. Having an eye
for detail is also important for completing patient medical records and other health-related
paperwork.

10. Knowledgeable

Patients who are under your care want to know that you have the skills and experience needed to
handle their medical problems. Being knowledgeable in your area of health care means that you
have undergone the right training for your profession. If you’re responsible for creating a
treatment plan for patients, being knowledgeable helps ensure high-quality patient care and
safety.

Soft Skills Every Healthcare Professional Should Have

Some personality traits, like respect, patience, and punctuality are valuable skills at work and in
life. And other traits, like inflexible thinking and emotional whimsy, make any job harder.

Healthcare is different. A very specific personality profile seems to shine brightest.

It’s not for everyone. People who have specific personality traits see the most success — and
personal fulfillment — in a healthcare career track. Read on to see if you recognize these traits in
yourself. A little self-assessment can help you set yourself up for success.

1. Great Communication Skills

Great communication is always in style, but especially in healthcare, where communication is a

matter of life and death. We recommend that students in all program tracks prioritize
communication skills.

Active Listening

Ironically, the most important part of communicating is silent. Focus on what the other person is
saying, and don’t begin thinking about your response until they’re done speaking.

Ask Thoughtful Questions

Asking questions demonstrates that you’re interested in what the other person has to say, it keeps
both parties engaged, and — especially important in healthcare — asking questions ensures
there’s no misunderstanding.

Keep Your Audience in Mind

In healthcare, you may have to deliver news that your patient doesn’t want to hear. If you’re
rescheduling an appointment, remember that it might be a real inconvenience for the patient, and
you can understand their irritation. If you’re asking a patient to do exercises that cause
discomfort or prescribing an expensive medication, push-back might be understandable. Keep
your patient’s situation in mind as you communicate with them.

2. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

You chose a healthcare career because you want to help others — so you’re probably already
very empathetic!

What is clinical empathy? The Society for General Internal Medicine defines empathy as “the act
of correctly acknowledging the emotional state of another without experiencing that state
oneself.”

It’s easy to see why empathy is important in a hospital or other facility where people are injured
or suffering. But it’s the latter part of the definition that may be of more concern: Nurses and
other healthcare workers don’t experience the patient’s state themselves, and so must keep an
emotional distance.

Emotional stability is your ability to stay calm under pressure. It is the other part of being
empathetic: understanding the other person’s emotions without being personally affected.

As a nurse or other healthcare worker, you’ll care for people who are in great pain, or whose
loved one is suffering — or worse. Your patients will appreciate your empathy, kindness, and
emotional stability.
3. Detail Oriented

You’ve heard the saying “the devil is in the details.” The best-laid plans fall to pieces when
unexpected details get in the way. Paying close attention to details is important in every job, but
it’s critical in healthcare when lives are on the line.

For dental lab technicians, the job is comprised of details! If a replacement crown is even of a
fraction of a millimeter too large or small, it will cause the patient severe pain — and cost the
dentist and the lab money to redo the dental implant.

From coloration to sculpting and sanding, a DLT’s job is focused on details. And from the lab to
the front office, the system only works if accuracy is a priority.

4. Adaptable

Happy healthcare workers are adaptable healthcare workers. Of course family obligations,
holidays, weather, and a host of other factors we can’t control determine our ability to be
flexible.

The unpredictability of many a nurse’s schedule comes with the territory. If you get upset when
you can’t plan months in advance or have to work a holiday, healthcare might not be the best
career for you.

But adaptability is also a mindset.

Being adaptable means considering all the options. It’s understanding that what you have in
mind is not the only possibility. Flexible thinking is one of the keys to finding fulfillment as a
healthcare professional, and it’s key to being great at your job. Flexible thinkers consider
different diagnoses and solutions for their patients, which lead to better patient outcomes.

If you think of things in terms of having only right or wrong answers, your inflexible thinking
might prevent you from being successful. The truth is, anyone with a quick mind and a big heart
has a place in healthcare. If you think you belong here, you probably do.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE #3 – SELF-HELP CONCEPTS (E. G., 7 HABITS BY STEPHEN

COVEY, TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS, PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL CONCEPTS)

Self-care for health and well-being

Key facts
 Self-care is the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote and maintain
their own health, prevent disease, and to cope with illness – with or without the support
of a health or care worker.
 Self-care interventions can include medicines, devices, diagnostics and digital tools.
Self-care actions include practices, habits, and lifestyle choices.
 Self-sampling of human papilloma virus (HPV) is an effective self-care intervention to
screen for cervical cancer.
 Male and female condoms are highly effective self-care interventions in preventing
unwanted pregnancies, and STIs, including HIV. Non-judgmental, person-centred
information should be provided to support condom use.
 Self-monitoring of blood glucose is a critical part of diabetes management, and self-
monitoring of blood pressure is an effective intervention for hypertension management.
 Appropriate self-care can reduce mortality and morbidity from the abuse of alcohol,
substances, and tobacco.
  Regular physical activity is a form of self-care that can avert an estimated 3.9 million
premature deaths each year.

Overview
WHO defines self-care as the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote their
own health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness with or without the support
of a health or care worker.

It recognizes individuals as active agents in managing their own health care in areas including
health promotion; disease prevention and control; self-management; providing care to dependent
persons; and rehabilitation, including palliative care. It does not replace the health care system,
but instead provides additional choices and options for healthcare.

What are self-care health interventions and who uses them?

Self-care interventions encompass tools that support self-care and actions that improve the care
of oneself. Self-care interventions include evidence-based, high-quality medicines, devices,
diagnostics and/or digital interventions that can be provided fully or partially outside formal
health services and can be used with or without the direct supervision of health and care workers.
Self-care actions include practices, habits, and lifestyle choices.

Some people may have good knowledge of certain self-care interventions and feel comfortable
using them independently from the outset, while others may need more support and guidance
before they can accept and use them independently. Self-care interventions that need initiation by
a health and care worker, or additional health and care worker support (e.g. to follow up on a
positive test), must be linked to the health system and supported by it in order to be safe and
effective.

Scope of the problem

Every year 100 million people are plunged into poverty due to out-of-pocket expenditure for
health. Furthermore, underserved and marginalized populations often lack access to quality
health information, services and products and face stigma and discrimination in healthcare. There
is an urgent need to find innovative strategies that go beyond a conventional health sector
response to address these challenges in accessing quality healthcare.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the unique and critical role that self-care interventions can
play in mitigating disease and saving lives through personal self-care actions, such as wearing
masks and physical distancing, and national level prioritization of self-care interventions.
Examples of quality, cost-effective self-care interventions include timely and accurate diagnostic
testing for SARS-CoV-2 as an essential part of a comprehensive COVID-19 response strategy.
Self-care actions to promote individual emotional resilience are also important for the well-being
of health and care workers.

Challenges
Before recommending specific self-care interventions, it is important to have evidence that they
are beneficial to health and cause no harm at individual and/or population levels.

Use of unregulated and substandard products, incorrect or unclear health information or lack of
access to health and care workers and/or health facilities for guidance or management of side
effects or complications are challenges that need to be addressed when promoting or generating
demand for these interventions. Currently one of the biggest challenges is ensuring that products
are available to those who need them and that they do not place added financial burden on
individuals.

Assessing and ensuring an enabling environment in which self-care interventions can be made
available in safe and appropriate ways must be a key initial piece of any strategy to introduce or
scale-up these interventions. Creating an enabling environment not only requires action from the
health sector, but also other sectors as well, for example, the education, justice and social
services sectors, because self-care interventions are mostly accessed and/or used outside formal
health services.

Self-care as a complement to the health system

Self-care interventions offer a strategy to improve universal health coverage, reach people in
humanitarian situations, and improve health and well-being.

WHO’s conceptual framework on self-care interventions has core elements from both “people-
centered” and “health systems” approaches, underpinned by the key principles of human rights,
ethics and gender equality.

Self-care interventions can connect with digital platforms and technologies and be incorporated
into the education of health workers for maximum scale and reach. Health literacy, including
digital literacy, is also important for the uptake of self-care interventions and provides the
foundation on which individuals are enabled to play an active role in improving their own health.

In addition, in times of major disruptions to the normal functioning of national health systems,
caused by health emergencies, self-care interventions can provide an important alternative to the
usual health facility- or health and care worker-based services.

WHO response
WHO recognizes the value and potential contribution of self-care interventions within health
systems, and the rapid advances being made in services, behaviors and information that can be
initiated by individuals. WHO recommends self-care interventions through a holistic approach to
the care of each person, taking account of their individual circumstances, needs and desires
across their whole life course, as well as the environment they live in.

The WHO consolidated guideline on self-care interventions and framework support and promote
these innovative approaches as ways to strengthen primary health care (PHC) to accelerate
attainment of universal health coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The framework and normative guideline are grounded in and advocate for a strengthened,
comprehensive, people-centered approach to health and well-being, including for sexual and
reproductive health and rights (SRHR); communicable diseases (CDS); and non-communicable
diseases (NCD).

The WHO global guideline is relevant for all settings. When implementing the global guideline,
WHO regions and countries can adapt the recommendations to the local context, considering
economic conditions, existing health services and healthcare facilities, and the needs and rights
of underserved populations.

WHO

A systematic review of workplace triggers of emotions in the healthcare

environment, the emotions experienced, and the impact on patient safety

Healthcare is delivered in emotionally charged settings [1]. Worried

patients present with complex health issues, and anxious relatives need
information and support, and safe care is reliant on clinical judgement and
effective multi-disciplinary teamwork within a time-pressured resource-
limited, complex system.

Working in this environment, healthcare staff experience a range of

emotions (e.g., anxiety, anger, joy, sadness, pride, and guilt) which can
impact the safety of the care delivered [1,2,3,4,5].

Clinical judgement often involves weighing up risk based on incomplete

information and uncertain outcomes. Research outside healthcare [6,7,8,9]
suggests that if, while making these decisions, healthcare staff experience
strong emotions, this can influence their decisions and behavior.

Research focusing on the role of emotion in patient safety is still limited

[1, 2, 10] and fragmented [11]. This may in part be because emotion
research is complex. For example, the experience and influence of emotion
can be approached and interpreted from a range of perspectives including
cognitive and social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and sociology.
There is also a lack of consensus on what is meant by ‘emotion’. In decision-
making research, ‘emotion’ has been distinguished from ‘affect’ [11]. In
response to stimuli or situations, ‘emotion’ is viewed as a slower, more
reflective process, whilst ‘affect’ is an instantaneous and automatic
reaction. Other research has focused on identifying and examining different
types of affect, such as ‘anticipatory affect’—an immediate, strong visceral
state in response to stimuli e.g. anger (Knutson, 2008) and ‘anticipated
affect’ – considering how current actions might make you feel in the future
e.g. regret [12].

Research often lacks a clear distinction between the different types of

feeling states being examined, and as such, it is difficult to build robust
evidence of the processes involved and the role they each play in judgement
and associated behavior [11]. Furthermore, the emotions experienced by
healthcare staff can be both positive and negative and can influence the
delivery of safe care in positive and negative ways. Until more recently, the
focus has tended to be on the impact of negative emotions, including their
role in diagnostic accuracy [13, 14], time spent on history taking,
examinations, and treatment decisions [15, 16], and the instigation of verbal
checking during procedures [4]. More attention is now being given to the
role of positive emotions in the workplace such as their effect on reasoning
[17], and engagement and teamwork [18].

There are many potential triggers (e.g. physical, circumstantial, tangible,

and psycho-social aspects of the immediate clinical work environment and
the broader organization) that generate a feeling state via reactions or
interactions of emotion in the workplace. Research exploring some of the
triggers of emotions within a healthcare environment has found that
involvement in care that has gone wrong [4], and interactions with patients
can elicit negative emotions [13,14,15,16] and that triggers of emotion can
be at a clinical, hospital and system level [15]. Only a limited number of
these studies have also explored how the emotions experienced by
healthcare staff impact patient care [15, 16]. While emotion has a direct
effect on patient care, it can also indirectly influence patient safety.
Burnout, sickness absence, and turnover are impacted by emotion
[19,20,21] and, in turn, are associated with healthcare organization’s ability
to provide safe care [21,22,23].

Due to the multifaceted approaches to research in this area, it is currently

unclear what contexts and settings elicit emotions in healthcare staff, how
these make healthcare staff feel, and the influence these feelings may have
on decisions and actions relevant to providing safe patient care. There is
therefore a need to synthesize the current evidence to help develop an in-
depth understanding of the triggers of emotions experienced by healthcare
staff in the work environment, the emotions experienced and the impact
these may have on patient safety.