1. Explain a situation where you have made an ethical decision. Discuss how you weighed up the values involved in that decision, the decision you made, and how you reflect on the decision now.
Years back, I used to work as a registered nurse in the intensive care unit. We had an elderly patient who was on strict constant observation (obs). This also meant recording her vital signs every 5 minutes. During that time, my team and I were overworked due staff shortage. All of us on shift had to continue on through the night. Very early in the morning when my turn on the obs was done, I was supposed to be replaced by our team lead for rotation. When he came up to me, he told me to go take a break. He even invited me to get some food outside the hospital…with him. I asked him if he was going to take over the obs but he carelessly brushed me off and said it will be okay because we won’t take long. I was confused at first that my senior colleague was telling me to leave our patient unattended. What’s worse was, he wasn’t concerned at all. My first thought was I did not want to disrespect or get on the bad side of my superior. Also, I was very tired and hungry and a break was very tempting. However, it was an easy decision for me because my conscience would not allow it. I told my team lead that I would carry on. He can go outside if he wanted. Unfortunately, he did and did not relieve me for another hour. Reflecting on that decision, I would exactly do the same thing again. I don’t want to carry that guilt on my shoulder. Although after that shift, my team lead never did it again. He would always relieve me on time.
2. Describe how your culture and the people around you have influenced your values and identity.
Growing up in the Philippines had a great impact on how my values and identity was molded. Family relationships are very important and that reflects on how I value my family and consequently, how I interact with others. My friends back home also share the same values which makes it standard. In addition, I also had a lot of friends who were less fortunate. Being surrounded by them made me appreciate the value of hard work and resilience.
3. Identify your strengths and how they will support you during your learning journey.
After taking a survey from VIA Institue on Character (C), my top 5 strengths are listed below:
Based on the results, curiosity will surely help me with my learning journey. My eagerness to learn and my openness to be taught will give me the drive to excel. Every lesson will be treated with importance and every challenge is something to look forward to.
4. Evaluate your limitations in terms of your learning and career development. How might these affect your learning journey?
The limitation I see at the moment in terms of my learning and career development would be not having any history of programming. Sometimes I feel that I need to catch up on the knowledge. I know it can be learned although I feel like I need to do more and it pushes me to overdo the studying. Paired with my curiosity, I can see myself easily getting information overload.
5. Share an example of when you were trying to work productively with others, but there was resistance or tension. Discuss strategies you tried at the time, how effective they were, and your reflections on what other strategies you would try now and why.
There was a time in my previous job when my team and I had to do a task at work and two of my colleagues were having a dispute. There was not much time at hand and we had to move soon. Fortunately, I was the team leader and I was able to make a decision on the spot. Before we carried out the task, I called my team for a briefing and explained to them what was going to happen and what was expected of them. Knowing that there was tension in the group, I asked everyone if they can carry out what was expected of them. If they cannot, say it now and I will replace them with someone who can. No one argued with me and so we dealt with the task. After the task was done, I called the two colleagues who was having a problem to the back office. I had a conversation with the both of them and asked them if they still wanted to stay in the team. If they do then they better sort their quarrel. Both of them decided to stay and eventually they made up. At that time, my strategy worked. If I had more time prior to the task, the discussion with the two colleagues would have happened first. But reflecting on it now, the changes I would have done should have happened from the very beginning. It’s the team culture I should have invested on at an early stage. Conflicts within a team are normal. Though if we had a healthy team culture, conflicts would not setback the whole group. Every individual of a healthy team would know how to address tensions appropriately on their own time.