Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist A Case Study

Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist A Case Study Introduction: South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist: A specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More NSW Health. South Eastern Sydney local health district. Retrieved from http://nswhealth.erecruit.com.au/ViewPosition.aspx?id=145707 The chosen organization can be referred to as the St. George Hospital of the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. It is a state organization that provides healthcare services to the citizens of Sydney. As one might have already guessed from its title, the organization is located in the southeast of Sydney. South Eastern Sydney local health district (2013). Retrieved from Google Earth. Philosophy, Mission and Policies The philosophy of the given organization is not known as widely as one might want it to; however, according to what the people working at the hospital say, their mission statement can be summa rized in the following words: â€Å"we are all here to provide the best care possible within those limitations and patients are our number one priority† (About St. George Hospital, 2008, March 25). The hospital provides a wide range of services to a number of patients of different age, gender and social/ethnical background. To define its basic purpose, the hospital officials declare that they can be called a â€Å"designated major trauma service† (About St. George, 2010, June 16).Advertising Looking for case study on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More SESLHD and Ethics St. George also has a range of peculiar policies and principles. Among the most notable ones, the mobile heritage principle, which works not only for St. George, but also for the rest of the hospitals belonging to the South Eastern Sydney local health district in general. The staff, as well as the head of the district, must take proper care not only of the equipment and the heritage belonging to the hospital, but also about â€Å"any natural or manufactured object of heritage significance† (South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service, 2001, iv) within SHE, in accordance with the given principle. As for the principles and policies on patients treatment, St. George staff is supposed to provide each of their patients with the due care and decent services, striving for the well-being of each patient and addressing each health issue individually (Lindorff, 2010). With the latest resources at hand, be it surgical, therapeutic or pharmaceutical ones, the South Eastern Sydney local health district can offer its patients the most efficient medical assistance. The corporate culture of the organization is also quite peculiar. As it has been stressed above, the SESLHD Organization strives for the well-being of each of its clients and, therefore, maintains a specific corporate culture. â€Å"New employees in SESLHD MHS may need to be paired with a more experienced member of staff to act as a guide to the workplace and the corporate culture† (SESLHD policy cover sheet, n. d., 2). Goals and Rationale However, when it comes to defining the issues within the hospital setting, one must mention that some of the effects of the current management processes leave much to be desired. Because of the lack of cooperation between the members of the staff, which must have been spawned by the cultural differences between the younger trainees and the older staff, there are considerable disagreements concerning the methods of tending to the needs of the autistic patients (Olmstead et al., 2012). By developing a strong program that will help the staff feel more integrated, one can possibly shape the existing method of autistic patients treatment so that it could bring more fruitful result (Lobas, 2006). Management Plan Management As it has been stressed, the selected environment can be defined as th e SESLHD nursing care and patient treatment. Both the nursing staff and the patients are going to be involved into the experiment for the program to work both in favor of the patients and he staff. Seeing how the age gap seems to be the basic problem, the environment can be defined as human and socio-cultural one.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist: A specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When it comes to picking the leadership style, it is important to keep in mind that not only the process of training, but mainly the relationships between the staff members should be changed. Therefore, it will be necessary to reinvent the employees’ perception of training, as well as the attitude of the senior members of the organization to the trainees. Therefore, the transformational leadership seems to be the most reasonable option (Luzinski, 2011). That being said, it will also be required to introduce a role model for the senior employees and the trainees to follow. Thus, charismatic leadership model will be required as well (Levay, 2010). It is crucial that the elements of quality management should also be integrated into the program. As it has been stressed previously, patients are the focus of the given plan, and their progress is what one has to keep an eye on (Cherian Jacob, 2011). That being said, he relationships between the staff must also be coordinated to achieve better results. For the given purpose, the principle of knowledge sharing must be employed (Blyth, 2005). By establishing the principles of clarity and providing the staff with the ability to access information on any patient, one will be able to provide better quality and implement the program in a more efficient way. As the job description states, the program has to address the needs of the patients of the mental ward; therefore, it will be required to shape it in order to make it w ork within the aforementioned setting. Monitoring In order to provide efficient monitoring of the activities, which are carried out to improve the state of the patients with acute mental disorders, primarily neuroses and psychoses, it will be necessary to make sure that the actions of the team of specialist are well coordinated. Therefore, it is curial that the system of knowledge sharing should be integrated into the monitoring process. Presupposing that the data shuld be stored in a single database, which every member of the team should have an access to, it will help make the process more cohesive and balanced. In addition, it is crucial that the results of the activities carried out to improve the state of the patients should be recorded properly. Therefore, it is mandatory that daily reports on the results of the daily activities should be filed by every member of the team into the database. Assessment When it comes to the assessment of the progress that the patients will have made by the end of the given program, it is necessary to stress that the way in which the patients’ well-being is going to be assessed when the program is over depends greatly on their current state.Advertising Looking for case study on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Seeing how mental disorders remain one of the most complicated ones to deal with, it is required to take into account that in most cases, the disease will not be cured completely. In addition, the performance of the patients may vary depending on the severity of their disease, their age, hereditary diseases, etc. Nevertheless, the assessment rubrics can still be provided. It is imperative that the assessment rubrics should follow the DSM-V principles, seeing how there have been several important amendments made to the previous DSM in 2013. Therefore, the assessment must be based on the following elements: Categorical diagnosis The mental problem of the patient is defined and the proper treatment is prescribed. Functional diagnosis The basic ability of the patient to recognize, perform and make commands is evaluated. Follow-up Needless to say, it is mandatory to keep an eye on the patients and their state of health even after they will have recovered, for the instances of recidivism are especially dangerous when it comes to mental issues. Hence, it will be necessary to make sure that the patients will be doing just as well in the traditional setting as they do in the hospital. The follow-up can be provided by scheduling a series of appointments with the healthcare team. Despite the fact that during the first several visits, there might be no problems spotted, it is essential to encourage patients or their family to make sure that the patient attends the appointments. Thus, a case of recidivism can be spotted at the earliest stage and cured efficiently. Feedback By far the most important part of the given process, the procedure of gathering feedback must be approached with all due seriousness and attention. Activities Since the selected target group suffers from autistic spectrum disorders, it is important to make sure that the patients should develop their communication skills firsthand. Transition activities One of the most peculiar features of people with aut istic spectrum disorders concerns their ability to be engulfed by a specific activity that they are ready to perform over and over again. The given specifics, however, presupposes that the transition from the specified activity to other ones is very hard for autistic people to carry out. Therefore, one of the basic activities of the training program will include practicing the skill of transiting from one task to another. Sensory-feedback activities According of the existing researches, it is crucial that autistic people should have a strong link to reality, which can be established by helping the patients communicate their experiences of getting in touch with the outside world. Therefore, the activities in which the patients have to recognize a shape, a color, a taste, etc., by using all of their four senses, will be encouraged in the training program. Evaluation Seeing how the patients that have enrolled into the program have different diagnoses and were at different stages of aut ism development, the evaluation of the patients and their progress should be carried out at different levels and with the specifics of each patient’s character and severity of disorder taken into account (Kendrick, 2011). As it has been stressed, in most cases, the progress of the patients will have to be evaluated separately, since their cases are very individual. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop two types of assessment rubrics, i.e., the general one that will allow defining whether the person in question can be classified as a person with mental issues, and the assessment that will help evaluate a personal progress of each patient. Below are the rubrics for the general evaluation: Procedures Performance Good Satisfactory Not satisfactory (needs improvement) Poor (patient’s condition deteriorated) Behavioral social skills The patients are capable of communicating their requests, as well as understand and fulfill ones. The patients are capable of comm unicating most of their requests, as well as partially understand and fulfill ones. The patients fail to communicate some of their requests, as well as understand and fulfill several ones. The patients are incapable of communicating their requests, as well as understand and fulfill ones. Individual psychotherapy skills The patients are capable of performing the basic everyday tasks. The patients are capable of performing most of the basic everyday tasks. The patients fail to perform some of the basic everyday tasks. The patients fail to perform most of the basic everyday tasks. In the course of the assessment, the patients’ ability to carry out the tasks and activities that they are assigned with is compared to the assessment results. Comments Addressing the needs of the patients with mental issues is an especially challenging task, seeing how it involves not only analyzing both the outside and inside factors that have affected the patient and led to the current state of mental degradation, but also the specifics of the patients’ temper. The given experience has helped me realize how the process of adressign mental healthcare issues is carried out in hospital settings and what practical challenges a diversional therapist can possibly face in the course of the treatment procedure. The given experience has a comparatively big value in that it helps define the challenges that a diversional therapist is most likely to face in the course of the project implementation, such as different stages of mental breakdown that patients have and the need to bend the existing treatment plan in order to help all patients, the necessity to keep the follow-up record on the patients and make sure that the possibility of instances of recidivism is driven to nil, etc. Rethinking the given experience, I must admit that it has helped me define my future goals. Now that I know what diversional therapist’s responsibilities include and, more importantly, what a diversional therapist can accomplish and how he or she can help patients with mental issues, I realize that I may devote my life to helping people as a diversional therapist in the future. Reference List About St. George (2010, June 16). Retrieved from sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au/sgh/about_sgh/ About St. George Hospital (2008, March 25). Retrieved from sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au/jmo/stg/about_STG.asp Blyth, A. (2005). An individual approach to leadership. Personnel Today, 12, 26. Cherian, J. Jacob, J. (2011). Impact of self efficacy on motivation and performance of employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 80. Kendrick, J. S. (2011). Transformational leadership. Professional Safety, 56(11), 14. Levay, C. (2010). Charismatic leadership in resistance to change. The Leadership  Quarterly, 21(1), 127–143. Lindorff, M. (2010). Political research and human research ethics committees.  Australian Journal of Political Science, 46(1), 141–156. Lobas, J. G. (2006). Leadership in academic medicine: Capabilities and conditions for organizational success. The American Journal of Medicine, 119(7), 617–621. Luzinski, C. (2011). Transformational leadership. The Journal of Nursing  Administration, 41(12), 501. NSW Health. South Eastern Sydney local health district. Retrieved from http://nswhealth.erecruit.com.au/ViewPosition.aspx?id=145707 Olmstead, J. et al. (2012). Perioperative annual employee evaluation: A 30-second process. Association of Operating Room Nurses, 96(6), 627. SESLHD policy cover sheet (n. d.). Retrieved from seslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/Policies_Procedures_Guidelines/Clinical/Mental_Health/Policies/SESLHDPD204-MH-OrientationandInduction.pdf South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service (2001). SHE movable heritage policy. Retrieved from sesahs.nsw.gov.au/csppint/Publications/Other/Heritage%20policy.pdf South Eastern Sydney local health district (2013). Retrieved from Google Earth.