Gibbs Reflection Cycle for Pain Assessment in Paediatrics

Running head: GIBBS REFLECTION CYCLE
Gibbs reflection cycle
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1GIBBS REFLECTION CYCLE
Description
The incident took place during my clinical placement when I was in paediatric ward at
the hospital. I was assigned to undertake a physical assessment of a young baby girl who
underwent acute appendicitis surgery. The atmosphere was such that she was suffering from
acute pain and crying. The baby was six year old and it was important to assess her pain level.
My mentor supervised and instructed me so that I undertake the physical assessment
successfully. As I had prior knowledge about pain assessment in paediatrics, I chose Wong baker
tools as an appropriate pain assessment tool for the young girl.
Feelings
Firstly, I was feeling nervous. There was screaming and crying that made me really
anxious and induced fear in me. On witnessing the young girl in pain, I was fidgeting in order to
relief her form pain. As the patient is a young girl with acute pain after appendicitis surgery, I
was panicking. However, I tried to comfort her by explaining her that each face represented a
person denoting face 0 to 10 from no pain to worst pain. I noticed she was able to demonstrate
her pain level by gradually pointing out to the face that best depicted the pain that she was
experiencing.
Evaluation
This incident made me realize that my prior knowledge in pain assessment helped me to
evaluate the pain of the young girl’s post-appendicitis surgery. I put my basic pain assessment
knowledge into clinical practice and that helped me to provide a safe and nurturing environment
in the paediatric ward. I did not rush into the assessment and used non-verbal communication
skills to engage the young girl into pain assessment procedure using Wong Baker tool.