Social network mapping is one of the important aspects of an individual’s professional development in his/her career. Creating a social network map is important for professionals in clinical practice because clinical practitioners are increasingly realizing the significance of informal social support in their practice (Tracy & Whittaker, 1990). In essence, analysis of social support resources is necessary in identifying routine practices and assessment that are clinically beneficial. Consequently, several social network mapping techniques have been developed to help an individual assess his/her social and environmental resources (Tracy & Abell, 1994). Social network maps gather information regarding an individual’s social network in terms of size and composition, relationships, and frequency of contacts with others. This paper provides my social network map in relation to my clinical practice. It is divided into three major segments i.e. field work, map creation, and a portfolio.
Field Work
I am currently working as a registered nurse in a trauma hospital, which comprises different healthcare practitioners. As a registered nurse in this facility, my daily role involves dealing with trauma patients who visit the hospital’s emergency room or intensive care unit for a variety of reasons. In essence, my clinical practice in the trauma hospital revolves around dealing with critically ill patients who suffer from traumatic injuries. The traumatic injuries emanate from a wide range of factors including falls, car accidents or assaults. Therefore, these patients have different kinds of injuries including brain injury, internal bleeding, and fractures in different parts of the body. Given the nature of healthcare needs of trauma patients, a multidisciplinary team works toward meeting these needs by providing timely, high-quality healthcare services to patients depending on their condition.
As part of a multidisciplinary team, my role at the trauma hospital entails working with different kinds of healthcare practitioners. During this process I communicate with different members of the multidisciplinary team to provide care services to patients. For this assignment, I used a three-day sample of my contacts in the trauma hospital to create a social map. The three-day data collection period reflected my typical periods of work as a registered nurse in the hospital. I worked and communicated with a small group of 10 people or members of the multidisciplinary team. I communicated and worked with trauma doctor, respiratory therapist, cardiologist, lab technicians, the charge nurse, and other clinicians (nurses) in each of the three-day data collection period.
My work at the trauma hospital is a typical 8-hour shift that begins by ensuring that trauma rooms have the required medical equipment and supplies.
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Upon the arrival of the patient in the trauma room, I work with the other members of the multidisciplinary team to stabilize him/her as quickly as possible. Once the patient has stabilized and required additional medical attention, I work with the team to facilitate his/her transfer to the intensive care unit. I also work with the team to document every aspect of patient care depending on his/her healthcare needs and condition. While my work sometimes differs depending on the patient’s condition and needs, my typical day still entails working with the different members of the multidisciplinary team.
Map Creation
As previously mentioned, the creation of my social network map involved data collection for a three-day period. The three-day data collection period enabled me to determine how my typical day as a registered nurse at the trauma hospital looks like. I defined contact or communication with the 10 members of the multidisciplinary team as phone conversations and text messages as well as face-to-face communication. I did not include email messages since I rarely use emails to communicate with my colleagues during patient care delivery. My job requires more face-to-face communication with the other members of the multidisciplinary team. Additionally, we tend to engage in phone conversations and text messages as we carry out our work, which implies that emails are not commonly used. Therefore, contact with members of the multidisciplinary team during patient care delivery does not include emails and other forms of communication.
The social network map, which is provided in the next segment of this paper, involves the use of titles for the different nodes. In this case, I avoided using the real names of these individuals, but titles for the nodes. I also used different lines to demonstrate the different kinds of relationships or contacts I have with these people. First, the solid lines reflect individuals I have direct contact with on a daily basis as I carry out my work. Secondly, I used dotted lines, which signifies individuals I have indirect contact with, but provide the context for my direct contacts and relationships with the others. Additionally, I used dotted lines to show individuals who have direct contact with each other and play a critical role in my work as a registered nurse in the trauma hospital. Finally, the type of contacts with these individuals were two-way conversations that focused….....
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