Write a critical commentary (3,000 words) on the importance of team-working,
effective leadership and management, and delegation skills learnt during the module.
Reflect on the progress you made in these areas since Year 1. You need to identify
indicative topic area for the innovation project to be completed in Year 3. Present an
action plan with SMART goals and a self-developed checklist on the steps you are
going to take to prepare for Level 6; to be submitted as an appendix.
Module Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1:
Appraise the roles, responsibilities, scope of practice, and the contributions of all
MDT members.
Learning Outcome 2:
Identify and evaluate digital technologies used for care delivery.
Learning Outcome 3:
Articulate a clear understanding the importance of effective leadership and
management in prioritising and delegating tasks, taking account of organisational
and other priorities.
Learning Outcome 4:
Analyse the role of leadership for practice improvement and quality of care
underpinned by policy.
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Assignment Guidelines – The Commentary Structure
You can remove any headings after writing your commentary to assist with the flow of your
academic
work.
Introduction (300 words).
Start by giving a short opening statement which is a description of what the
commentary is about using approximately 50 words. Your introduction should answer
these 3 questions:
a. What? The introduction needs to clearly explain what the commentary is
about. This section needs to explain in your own words what is required as
stated in the assessment brief given above.
b. How? The second part of the introduction needs to outline how the
commentary is structured or will be presented. You need to summarise the
details given below for Part 1 and 2.
c. Why? An introduction needs to articulate why the topics under consideration
are significant. This is your rationale. Use references to support it.
Part 1: Your commentary:
Please write Part 1 in the third person. In academic writing the convention is to write in the third
person. This means not using personal pronouns (words such as I, me or my), and avoiding
referring
to yourself.
Context (300 words)
Define leadership, management, teamworking, and delegation within the
context of the NHS and specifically nursing, briefly highlighting the importance
of leadership and managing in nursing and healthcare. Briefly outline what is
already known about leading and managing nursing care in the UK, what is
new, and what is happening now to provide high quality care and ensure patient
safety. You need to focus on events within your own field of nursing. (Learning
Outcome 3) (Session 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10)
Discussion (1700 – 1800 words)
This could be separated into sections to ensure you cover all the required material. The following
is a
suggested format though you are encouraged to be creative and sequence your work in the
most logical
way.
a. Briefly discuss the importance of leadership by incorporating recent events
within healthcare (for example Francis (2013) report; Mazars (2015) review;
Morecambe Bay Investigation (Kirkup, 2015); Care Quality Commission (2015);
House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
(2017); DoH (2012) report on Winterbourne View Hospital; Academy of Medical
Colleges in Scotland (2015); Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Report (2018); Public Accounts Committees report into mental health services
for children and young people (2019) ). (Learning Outcome 3) (Session 1,
10). This is not an exhaustive list, but try to focus on key developments in the last 5 – 10 years
where possible.. These are examples to get you started and you are advised to consider events
and/or reports relevant to your field of nursing.
b. Explore 2 – 3 relevant leadership and/or management theories, comparing
them, whilst also relating them to nursing practice and working within multi
disciplinary teams (MDTs). Again, link this to your field of nursing practice.
(Learning Outcomes 1) (Session 3)
c. Identify the role of leadership in quality improvement in healthcare, again with.
particular focus on your field of nursing. (Learning Outcomes 3, 4) (Session
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6, 7, 8, 9)
d. Explore the key theoretical concepts in team working within MDTs, this could
include team dynamics, values, attributes, and possible challenges. Also
explore the concept and importance of role modelling in leaderhip and why it is
essential to develop skills of networking in team working. (Learning Outcomes
1, 3) (Session 2, 6, 5, 8)
e. Explore the concept of delegation as a leadership and management tool that
supports effective MDT working. Ensure that you explore how delegation links
to leadership and management. Highlight common themes found in delegation
in nursing to ensure effective delegation. Also, highlight the challenges
experienced within delegation. (Learning Outcomes 1, 3) (Session 4, 5, 8)
f. You can start by describing or defining what digital data and information
technology (IT) are. Identify and comment on digital data, IT, and information
sharing in healthcare in relation to leadership and innovation to ensure quality
of care, patient safety, and effective MDT working. (Learning Outcomes 1,
2, 4) (Session 1, 6, 9)
g. Identify a gap in clinical practice/ healthcare that need improvement through
innovative practice to ensure service improvement. You may refer to the Year
2 – Evaluating Evidence for Translation into Nursing Practice module to support
you to identify the gap. This could then form the basis for your innovation project
on service improvement in Year 3. Briefly outline the steps you are going to
take in Year 2 to prepare for your innovation project to be completed in Year 3.
(both in practice and in the University). Develop the steps you outline into a
detailed action plan with SMART goals and a self-developed checklist as
appendices. (Learning Outcomes 2, 4) (Session 6, 7)
Part 2: Your Year 1 reflection (500 words)
You do not need a reflective model for Part 2, just write reflectively on your experience from
placement. For this part you can write your reflective piece in the first person where you can use
the pronouns “I,” “me,” “we,” and “us,” in order to reflect on your Year 1 experience from your
perspective. Use academic language and relevant literature to support your discussion here.
a. Reflect on one situation from placement that made you realise the importance
of team working in healthcare. Briefly describe what happened, analyse it, what
was good and what was bad, and explore what you learnt and how you felt
about it. Consider and evaluate the role of the nurse in the situation. Identify
and evaluate the roles of other MDT members in the situation. (Learning
Outcome 1) (Session 2, 8)
b. Reflect on your experience when a task was delegated to you during Year 1
placement. Discuss how this was undertaken, think about what worked and
what did not, what you think could be done differently, and summarise how you
felt about being delegated a task. (Learning Outcome 3) (Session 4, 5, 8)
Conclusion (200 – 250 words)
