Similar challenges occur during the observation and treatment of minors and adolescents. Besides communicational gaps that may arise, sessions with children imply a wide range of strict rules. Dealing with legal or ethical considerations slows down decision-making and diverts attention away from the treated issue. Nonetheless, the application of Gibbs’ reflective model inspired me to explore, evaluate and analyze this topic. Reflection revealed the significance of legal procedures such as the process of informed consent for minors before any manual intervention. The primary purpose of consent is to protect patients by educating them about alternatives, benefits, possible risks, and privacy policies. While analyzing this procedure, I realized that informed consent also protects practitioners by legally ensuring the communication between osteopath and patient. Obligatory parent’s or caregiver’s presence during the session with a minor secures both practitioner and patient. As I mentioned, a patient-centered approach is crucial in the osteopathic field. Ensuring patients’ safety and confidentiality is essential for establishing a trustful and fruitful relationship between the operator, treated person, and their caregiver to achieve the best possible health outcomes and care quality.
Healthcare professionalism is determined not only by education and practical skills gained but clinical reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities. Thereby, it is vital to avoid limitations in the fields of reflection and think over all topics connected to practice and life from different perspectives. According to McIntyre et al. (2019), their findings in examining reflective practice “support the idea that structured learning by experience is critical in the development and maintenance of competency throughout a practice lifetime” (p. 14). A comprehensive approach based on reflective practice contributes to developing necessary skills and promotes professional and personal growth. Being a reflective practitioner requires profound thinking, appraisals, analysis, exploring ways to improve actions and avoid errors connected to studies, training, or work. Reflection allows enhancing clinical practice by examining any dimensions of educational, professional, or personal actions.
Reference
McIntyre, C., Lathlean, J., & Esteves, J. E. (2019). Reflective practice enhances osteopathic clinical reasoning. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 33, 8-15. Web.