1.1 Identify standards relating to professional development in health and social care.
Several recognised professional development standards underprop the provision of health and social care. These include the Standards for Social Care from The National Council for Adult Social Care (NCASC) and The Nursing & Midwifery Council’s Good Practice in Professional Development Guidelines. Other key standards include those set out by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in its national framework for qualifications in Health and Social Care, as well as NHS England’s Quality Standards for Professionals working in Health & Social Care.
A range of different types of training programmes is available to professionals working within health and social care, covering topics such as dementia, mental health issues, safeguarding children or vulnerable adults, and coping with bereavement or PTSD. A wide variety of resources are also available to support practitioners through their professional development journey, including online learning modules, books/videos/articles etc., allowing them to find what is most relevant to them specifically.
National policy-makers (e.g. NHS England) and professional bodies (e.g., QCA, NMC) are continually working to develop new standards to ensure that health and social care professionals have the best possible training to provide high-quality services. This means that there is always a need for new/updated resources, which can be found online or through professional associations or societies that support continuing professional development in health and social care.
The care act 2014, in relation to reflective practice, states:
- That all professionals who provide care or support should have the opportunity to develop their own learning, understanding and practice of care in ways that are reflective and involve discussion with others;
- The standards for social care set out by the national council for adult social care (case) emphasise the importance of professional development as a means of sustaining, enhancing and advancing competence within social work;
- Quality standards for professionals working in health & social care developed by NHS England stipulate that all practitioners must have access to quality professional development that is relevant, evidence-based and designed to improve effectiveness;
- The national framework for qualifications in health & social care sets out minimum requirements concerning training provision across different levels (i.e. foundation level through degree level);
- International bodies such as Thomson Reuters/QS World University Rankings regularly release rankings identifying which universities around the world offer the best teaching environment for healthcare providers;
- Professional bodies (e.g., QCA, NMC) offer a variety of resources for health and social care professionals, including online learning modules, books/videos/articles etc.
Other answers in the full document:
- 1.2. Explain ‘continuing professional development’.
- 2.1. Discuss theoretical perspectives on reflection in relation to professional development.
- 2.2. Explain how reflective practice supports the professional development of the health and social care practitioner
- 2.3. Analyse how reflective practice supports positive outcomes for:
– Individuals/Parents / Carers
– Staff Team
– Other Professionals. - 3.1. Analyse how the health and social care practitioner’s own values, beliefs and experiences can influence delivery of care.
- 4.1. Identify:
– Sources of support for learning and development
– Professional development opportunities. - 4.2. Discuss methods for identifying and planning for professional development needs.
- 5.1. Reflect upon own learning using a model of reflection.
- 5.2. Use outcomes from reflection to assess and plan for own development.