Formative Professional Assessment Flashcards
1 Assessor must ask the student:
How do you ensure that your practice is safe and effective?
Adherence to the HCPC standards and only doing things that are within my scope of practice and I have been trained to do. If im unsure about something I can ask for advice from someone more senior.
Quality Assurance of equipment, making sure that its recording doses properly and its working properly.
Reflective practice and continuous learning.
Managing workload and team collaboration, working in multidisciplinary teams,
Radiation Protection and applying ALARA, justifying requests and ensuring others are sfae too such as making sure the door is locked.
Documentation, so on solution we record we did the example, ID checks and doses, but this is also checking records, before so we can have a patient history, have they had this exam before?
This also means DEXTA documentation so if something does go wrong I would record it all to prevent it from happening again.
Patient safetly, so e.g dont get people to stand if they arent well enough
2 Practice within legal and ethical boundaries
In your practice, how do you ensure that you act in the best interests of service users?
Patient-centered care, respecting the dignity of patients, and safeguarding pateints, so e.g nightstick fracture I would get safeguarding involved.
Obtaining informed consent.
Confidentiality,
Advocate for the best interest of the patient for example, when a patient is complaining the pain is elsewhere in their body, you would call a doctor to reassess the patient.
Radiation Protection and applying ALARA, justifying requests and ensuring others are safe too such as making sure the door is locked.
Mental capacity act and informed consent
3 Maintains high standards of professional conduct
Assessor should look at student’s clinical handbook to review their feedback sheets for tick-boxes and comments regarding professional conduct.
If there are any concerns or queries on student’s professional conduct from this, lead assessor should ask the student “Do you think as a qualified radiographer you have any responsibilities to demonstrate how you are maintaining your standards of professional conduct?”
Yes, accountability
Ethical practice
Professional development
Patient safety e.g. you wont pat slide a patient with a NOF
4 Exercise autonomous professional judgement
As a band 5 radiographer, you will be required to work autonomously. Can you think of a time during a patient examination when you or your supervising radiographer had to refer to your/their own knowledge and expertise in order to manage the situation?
In CT there was a patient for a contrast TAP examanination, and I did the questionnaire with him. I noticed that he seemed very confused and was struggling to answer the questions. He didnt have a nurse escost so I told the radiographer, that he is struggling to answer the questions and seems too confused to safety administer contrast. The radiographer then went to read the patients notes and decided its best not to do the scan, as we dont have the information to do the questionnaire to ensure its safe to do the scan with contrast.
5 Aware of the impact of culture, equality and diversity
Can you give any examples of where you have had to adapt the way you work in order to meet the needs of an individual from a different culture or ethnic background to yourself?
In the past Ive had patients that have requested only female radiographer
A few things when i’ve had to get patients changed for their chest x-rays, ive told them they can keep their hijab on, as they dont need to take it off.
Another example is with staff who have to pray at certain times, I just went on a later break to help out.
Once I had a patient ask if they can pray before their chest x-ray for good luck as they were extremely stressed and I gave them time to do this.
6 Practice in a non-discriminatory manner
What would you do if you were the only radiographer available and you were asked to image a person with whom you have had negative interactions previously?
I would act in a professional manner and deliver high quality care, applying patient centered principles. Such as dignity and privacy. I would ensure to have clear communication with the patient and if they don’t want me to image them, I would respect that right and tell them they would have to wait longer for another radiographer to be available if that’s what they want. I would put any bias to the side, but if I am struggling, I would seek support from someone more senior.
7 Understand the importance of and be able to maintain confidentiality
You are working lates and an individual comes to radiology reception and asks if his wife is in one of the x-ray rooms. You know that your colleague is currently in the x-ray room with his wife imaging her facial bones. What would you do?
Confirm the Identity of the Inquirer: First, I would politely confirm the identity of the individual making the inquiry to ensure they are indeed the spouse of the patient in question.
Do Not Confirm or Deny: I would not confirm or deny any specific information regarding the patient’s presence in the radiology department, as this would breach the patient’s confidentiality.
Explain the Importance of Confidentiality: Politely and professionally, I would explain to the inquirer the importance of maintaining patient confidentiality and how it is a fundamental ethical principle in healthcare. I would reassure them that patient information is kept secure to protect the privacy and well-being of all patients.
Offer Assistance: While I cannot provide information about specific patients, I can offer to assist the individual in contacting their spouse’s healthcare provider or nurse. They may be able to provide an update on the patient’s location or condition.
Document the Interaction: It’s essential to document the interaction to ensure that any inquiries or actions related to patient confidentiality are appropriately documented, following the healthcare institution’s policies and procedures.
Inform the Colleague: If appropriate, I would discreetly inform my colleague who is working with the patient’s wife about the situation so they can be aware and ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained during the imaging procedure.
Seek Guidance if Necessary: If the situation becomes more complex or if the individual continues to seek information, I would consult with a supervisor or a designated authority within the healthcare institution to ensure that I am following the correct protocols.
8 Communicate effectively
Assessor should look at student’s clinical handbook to review their weekly feedback sheets for tick-boxes and comments regarding the student’s communication skills.
If there are any concerns or queries on student’s professional conduct from this, lead assessor should ask the student “What methods of verbal and non-verbal communication do you think are important during an imaging examination?”
Verbal Communication, involves explanation and getting informed consent, clear instructions such as holding breath and encourage the patient to ask questions if they have concerns.
Non-verbal communication- facing the patient, maintaining eye contact and touch when appropriate to show empathy.
For example, in angio, there was a lady for a lady puncture, and she was finding it very painful, so I gave her tissue and held her hand to just show that im there for her.
Gestures, are important as well for example, when there are patients in trolley and they might be hard of hearing or something, doing a breathing in gesture to get them to breath in when doing a chest x-ray for example.
9 Work appropriately with others
Can you give an example of when you have worked as part of a multidisciplinary team? Was it successful and why?
Neonate mobile, when i’ve had to ask staff to hold the baby and ask them when its okay to open the drawer to put the board in as they have to ensure the temperature is right for the baby.
It was successful because of communication and it was for coordinated care for the patient.
Another time, is when i’ve had a patient crash in RNI when I was working at city hospital, during a VQ scan, it was me, the radiographer and a student nurse, we all went and checked on the patient, and as soon as we realised what was happening, I ran and called for help, from the radiologist near by and I went and got the crash cart and oxygen whilst, the others started CPR and called the crash team. We kept doing CPR until the nurses taking care of the patient came and shown us that the patient had a DNR, so then we stopped CPR, and had a debrief about the situation. Since me and the other radiographer were upset, the other radiographer came to help make the patient look decent for the family to see the patient.
10 Able to maintain records appropriately
Assessor should look at student’s clinical handbook to review their weekly feedback sheets for tick-boxes and comments to see how well they have maintained their professional records.
If the student has not consistently recorded weekly aims and reflection and has not obtained regular feedback, lead assessor should ask the student “In your practice, how do you ensure that the records you keep are accurate and appropriate?”
Timely record keeping, and if I notice mistakes I promptly fix them.
Follow consistency, and if I find anything critical I would report it as soon as possible e.g NG tube is in the lungs.
Following confidentiality policies etc, so only sending images via established routes through PACS to other hospitals.
Continued training so if policies change I know what has changed so I can follow it. If i’m unsure ask for advice.
11 Able to reflect on and review practice
Assessor should look at student’s clinical handbook to review their feedback sheets for weekly evidence of reflective practice.
If the student has not consistently recorded reflective practice, lead assessor should ask the student “What is the significance of reflective practice?”
It gets you to critically think about your actions to improve your patient care, and identify ways to improve.
I personally find it useful for my mental health, looking back on situations and thinking about what went well so I don’t feel completely negatively about situations.
So it gives you that self-awareness in order to continuously improve
12 Able to assure the quality of their practice.
Assessor must ask the student:
What methods are used in the radiology department to ensure quality of practice and imaging?
Imaging, quality assurance, regular maintenance, and recording keeping of everything.
Radiation dose monitoring, and safety protocols, audits, equipment upgrades when needed.
Getting feedback from patients,
13 Apply their knowledge base to their practice.
Assessor must ask the student:
How will you apply your knowledge to your practice as a qualified radiographer?
Adhere to standards and local policy, and engage in reflectivbe practice, so I know what what actions I need to take.
Patient centered care
Team collaboration
Engaging in peer review activities.
Doing QAs
