Case Study Reflection On Placement
Introduction to Case Study Reflection On Placement
The current case report involves Daniel, a 15-month-old boy, and his
aunt, Amanda, who is a caretaker for Daniel while his parents’ work. One afternoon, Amanda
saw bruising on the bottom of Daniel as she was changing his nappy. Worried
about his welfare, she reported the incident to social services but did not
first mention the claims to Daniel’s mother, Jessica. This is a significant
professional dilemma in terms of the tension between protecting the child
and preserving intrafamilial trust. The case is used to illustrate key
values and principles of health and social care practice, specifically
person-oriented provision, confidentiality, and the protection of children.
These principles are essential in providing safe, effective, and compassionate
care, especially for vulnerable people, including children. It also symbolizes
the need for professionalism and responsibility in health and social care in
general, accountability and moral decision-making, and adherence to a code of
conduct that makes professionals more placed to deliver responsible and
effective care in the most challenging circumstances.
Understanding Principles and
Values in Practice
Values and principles in health and social care Values and
principles within health and social care essentially refer to the main ethical
concepts that underpin professional and service user treatments. It serves not
only to underline the best practice in each field or situation, but also
promotes an environment of respect, dignity, and fairness which is a
fundamental right. Person-centered care, safeguarding, confidentiality, and
ethics are principles that offer an operational framework to health and social
care practitioners, which empowers them to support and protect people,
particularly vulnerable people such as children. Accountability is a
fundamental principle because health and social care colleagues are required to
be responsible for the decisions and acts, they undertake (Farchi et al., 2024). In a case
scenario, Amanda had an observation of unexplained bruising on Daniel and
decided it was necessary to make the Cuts That Bruise decision. It was decided
by her as a family member, and not a formally trained health caregiver, that
some action had to be taken. There were no formal mandates to be followed but
morally, she was bound to acts that people of reason need to take whose welfare
is at stake. In this case, Amanda was taught how proactive informal caregivers
can be in protecting. Not reporting and discussing concerns professionally
gives rise to considerable risk and should be avoided by experienced
practitioners using available guidelines. The 6 Cs of care which are
Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage, Commitment, and Care outlines
the important values that were and needed to be used throughout in Amanda’s
case. As she showed compassion, Amanda took care of Daniel frequently, and she
even observed how his condition evolved over time (Moran et al., 2024). Amanda's bravery was noted in
reporting the bruising, this action easily creates conflict within the family.
Although her interactions with Jessica were limited in the beginning, Amanda
did her share in notifying the right people, which demonstrates his advocacy
for Daniel's safety. She was not a trained practitioner, but her professional
actions in that setting were aligned with the expectations of the field. There
are conduct codes set by the NMC and the HCPC that uphold these principles of
professional expectation. Even if Amanda does not work under these
organizations, she carries ethical obligations that are akin to these codes
such as upholding dignity, just treatment, and protection of the vulnerable (Shafqat et al., 2022). Maintaining
such standards, even informally, fosters the provision of good and ethical
care. Ethical practice informs all aspects of health and social care. Amanda's
ethical challenge was resolving her honesty dilemma with her sister and
deciding to report the bruising while ensuring Daniel's safety. This relates to
the ethical theory of deontology focuses on duty and rules rather than
outcomes. From the deontological perspective, Amanda was obligated to fulfill
her moral duty to report her worries about protecting the child even if her
relationship with her sister is affected. This case can also be linked to
dealing with long-term conditions like asthma in one's practice. Caring for a
child with asthma requires relaying medical information to relevant schools or caregivers
which engages issues of confidentiality and informed consent (Henriksen et al., 2021). Similar
ethical boundaries of risk disclosure regarding abuse while maintaining privacy
and confidentiality for the child and the family must be managed as well. As in
Amanda's case, person-driven care in children with asthma means providing care
that ensures the patient's safety in all settings and working with families and
other services to provide consistent, ethical, and compassionate care.
Figure 1: 6Cs of Nursing
(Source: Thornton, 2024)
Analysis of How Chosen Standards
Apply to and Support Provision of High-Quality, Safe, and Effective Care
Chosen Individual and Relevant
Care Certificate Standards
Daniel, a minor suffering from unexplained bruising, is the
individual chosen from the extended family case study. He is a young boy whose
case portrays the vulnerability of children and the need for considerate,
precautionary, and effective care. Daniel’s circumstances require the Care
Certificate standards of Safeguarding Children, Effective Communication, and Handling
Information or Confidentiality. These standards have been developed to make
sure Daniel can trust those who care for him and to provide care that is
optimal in quality (Shero et al.,
2023). Safeguarding Children applies to Daniel's case because he is in
physical danger, and protection from violence must be administered to stop the
continued infliction of harm. Effective communication is essential in
trust-building, not only with Daniel but also with his family, and it ensures
that all professionals are working towards one goal of understanding all his
needs (Agache et al., 2024).
Handling Information or Confidentiality is the measure that allows Daniel's
private information to be kept safe, thus sustaining dignity while enforcing
laws and ethics.
Application and Justification of
Safeguarding Children
Safeguarding children includes looking after the child's wellbeing
and development by having the appropriate environment and looking after
children's abuse and mistreatment as well. In Daniel's case, safeguarding is
indispensable. Mandated Reporting Laws Victims of Abuse and Neglect must be
reported, though there are certain exceptions for some forms of intrafamily
violence, so patients can reclaim their sense of safety, equity, and autonomy.
In Daniel's case, safeguarding is paramount (Helland, 2021) of safeguarding, embracing Early
Intervention, acting in the best interest of the child, escalating concern
appropriately, and protecting children's rights to safety. Although she is not
a professional, Amanda has great moral standing aligned with the legal and
ethical responsibility of this standard. Amending this standard in practice
means all practitioners supporting Daniel engage in multi-agency sharing and
applying clinical and ethical obligation to compassionately intervene and bias
for action. Practitioners must advocate on his behalf and must know systems for
raising doubts and concerns. Safeguarding encompasses not just caring but
collaborating very closely with different institutions, such as social services
and healthcare such as asthma related issues, to allow a thorough assessment
for protecting Daniel. This standard further emphasizes the growing effective
care ratio avoidance of danger configuration (Harding, 2021). Through the organization, safety and
negative risk juxtaposed enabling support to act pre-emptively to preclude
danger, aid precise interventions that thrive on clinical ethics caring in
protection for vulnerable persons.
Application and Justification of
Effective Communication
All aspects of health and social care employ effective
communication, more so in the case of children. For Daniel’s case, an
understanding of his perspective and providing a sense of safety requires
appropriate empathetic communication alongside clear, age-tailored dialogue.
Practitioners need to effortlessly navigate verbal and non-verbal interactions,
communicating with and regarding Daniel in an emotionally and developmentally
appropriate manner. In building trust with Daniel and the family, transparent,
consistent, respectful, and protective dialogue is necessary. Practically, this
means that visually he can be supported to use words that he wants to say,
especially when he is frightened or does not understand what is happening (Heponiemi et al., 2022). Also,
social work requires effective communication professionally among social
workers, educators, and health care personnel. Sharing pertinent details in an
appropriate manner enhances coordination, prevents duplication, and enables
constant, uninterrupted, and high-standard care for Daniel. This enhances
collaboration by effective understanding and mutual appreciation, and safety by
reduction of incorrect assumptions and enabling proper evaluation, diagnosis, and
treatment.
Figure 2: 7 Steps of Effective Communication
(Source: (Clearinfo, 2023)
Application and Justification of
Handling Information/Confidentiality
The confidentiality standard is critical with safeguards involving
children. The personal information of Daniel's case requires the utmost care
and protection due to his bruises resulting from potential domestic disputes.
Data must be stored in a manner that only permitted users can access it, and
information must only be disclosed on a strictly need-to-know basis. Even
though confidentiality is a primary right, there are exceptions that risk
remaining information compromising the safety of a child. For example, in
Daniel's scenario, ethical reporting (despite family conflict) standards are
applied by Amanda when she decides to report the bruising incident. Privacy of
the family is respected, but the fact is accepted that prioritization of a
vulnerable child's safety needs to be favored. The Child Act 1989, along with
the Data Protection Act of 2018, along with confidentiality in providing
wellbeing, and compliance with documentation, along with consent, allows
informed consent (Yanamala &
Suryadevara, 2024). In relation to the practitioner's responsibilities,
these standards were ensured with Daniel by maintaining precision in
documenting his injuries, actions taken concerning his injuries, and filing the
pertinent documents securely. These promote accountability, reasoned problem
solving, and mitigation of risk both for the child and the practitioner.
Upholding this standard allows professional reputation and trust to be
maintained, preserves crucial information for integrated care, and safeguards
effective care.
The integration of the Care Certificate Standards Safeguarding
Children, Effective Communication, Handling Information, and Confidentiality creates
a focus and systematic approach towards safeguarding and Daniel's care needs.
Each standard addresses his needs as a safeguarding vulnerable child, making
sure that his welfare is attended to through monitoring and control,
intervention, communication, and ethical use of sensitive information. These
standards represent the overall principles and values in the health and social
care fields, which include respect, dignity, responsibility, and duty of care.
This case exemplifies the need for person-centered and ethically sound care in
all decision-making about interactions, decisions, interventions, and
especially within the bounds of safeguarding. These standards ensure
professionals are not only treated with courtesy, but service practitioners are
compassionate and act in ways that advance the needs of their clients, like
Daniel.
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