To coach or not to coach? Part 3 – by Dawn Stott

Summary

In a new series of blogs, Dawn Stott, Business Consultant and former CEO of the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP), discusses how coaching and developing teams can support patient safety and its outcomes. 

In part one and part two, Dawn looked at the strategies and coaching methodologies that can be used to develop individuals and to support patient safety, and discusses the indicators of improvement, prosocial behaviours and the importance of good communication to improve culture and, ultimately, patient safety.

In the final blog of the series, Dawn discusses the importance of reflective practice and how it encourages  learning and growth, and helps us to identify and address challenges.

Content

Reflective practice is the process that you can go through to engage in thoughtful and purposeful consideration of the experiences you have had, the actions you have taken and the outcomes of those actions. It involves a conscious effort to gain insights, learn from experiences and enhance your professional and personal development. Reflective practice is used in various fields but is used a lot by healthcare professionals to analyse patient interactions, clinical decisions and the overall delivery of healthcare interventions.

To be able to engage in reflective practice it is important to understand your own thoughts, feelings and reactions to different situations. An open and honest mindset is key to achieving this. The ability and willingness to consider different perspectives is important – to challenge assumptions, your own and those of others. Your coach should encourage you to analyse and evaluate experiences, actions and decisions to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.

Part of the reflective learning process is viewing experiences as opportunities for learning and growth and actively seeking ways to expand your knowledge and improve your skills.

During my tenure at AfPP a colleague introduced me to a book called ‘The Three Minute Diary’. The diary provides you with an opportunity to reflect on your day and document experiences that in turn facilitates the reflection process. It asks what has been good in your day, what has been bad, what you were grateful for, etc. I found it invaluable, and I still dip into it when my pathway has become a little blurred and I need clarity.

From experience I know that it is very easy to walk away from a fiery or difficult situation and think about what you should have said. I call this the ‘if only’ scenario. If only I had said that. In the heat of the moment, we often forget to breath which in turn stops us thinking and behaving effectively.

Reflection isn’t only about thinking about what we should have said but also about enhancing our ability to identify and address challenges through thoughtful and clear analysis of the situation, which often provides you with alternative solutions.

It can deepen our awareness of personal values, beliefs and strengths and also our areas of improvement. This will support our ongoing learning and development, which contributes to our professional competence and effectiveness; resulting in heightened empathy and understanding of the perspectives of others, which can lead to improved interpersonal relationships both at work and at home.

We all want to be good decision makers and reflective practice can encourage us to review the decisions we have made and, in the future, consider the potential consequences and ethical implications of the choices you make.

Reflection supports continuous improvement in work or practice by identifying and addressing areas that can be refined. It aids personal growth, self-discovery and achieving any life goals you have set for yourself.

Reflective practice is dynamic and an ongoing process that contributes to continuous learning and improvement, fostering a mindset of curiosity, openness and adaptability.

The bottom line is that with coaching, people can become better at what they do and in a healthcare setting that is so very important to the safety of the patients.

Coaching is a very undervalued business tool that can be important to any professional no matter where they are in their career. Great athletes at the top of their game have a coach. Brilliant singers have voice coaches to keep them hitting the right note. We all reach our limits and are unable to improve because of the complexity of things going on around us – an external pair of eyes can help us focus on the blurred edges and help us to continue seeing the bigger picture.

However, we do have to feel safe in our environment to be able to speak openly and offer support and guidance to people who don’t always want it. Psychological safety is a shared belief that the environment is safe for interpersonal risk taking. 

It’s tough at the top and it’s tough to be a patient – so you should invest in yourself to ensure patients are kept safe. It’s not about how good you are right now, it is about how good you can be, or are going to be that really matters.

Any improvement, big or small, can impact greatly on patient safety and healthcare outcomes. 

Further blogs from Dawn:

• To coach or not to coach? Part 1
• To coach or not to coach? Part 2
• Developing cultural change in healthcare: Part 1
• Developing cultural change in healthcare: Part 2

About the Author

Dawn has worked in healthcare for around 30 years in many different roles.  She is a published author and a human factors/quality improvement consultant.  After 14 years, she recently stepped down from her role as AfPP CEO and is now – rather than putting herself out to pasture – pursuing opportunities that are her passion.

She has an all-round understanding of healthcare from primary care commissioning through to secondary care interventions.  Some of her previous roles have included commissioning new hospital and GP surgery builds, IT implementation programmes, customer care, team building and leadership training strategies. She also has a strong knowledge of charities and the legalities around running a successful and sustainable charity. Along with a colleague she has recently started a Yorkshire Charity Leadership group to support senior leaders in charities. From experience she knows it can be quite lonely at the top.

Since ‘retiring’ Dawn has also joined the British Association of Day Surgery as their Lay Member. She is looking forward to supporting their values and strategy. She is also working as a consultant for Pentland Medical on a project to support cultural change and standardisation of processes within the acute setting.

Her philosophy is that kindness is infectious and should be at the core of everything we do, kindness can support change and encourage growth for everyone around you, so BE KIND.