Clinical Practice Reflection: Medication Administration Guidelines

Running Head: CLINICAL PRACTICE REFLECTION
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Clinical Practice Reflection
Name
Institution

CLINICAL PRACTICE REFLECTION 2
Clinical Practice Reflection
Introduction
Nurses have numerous responsibilities in providing care to patients starting with
assessments, evaluation, diagnosis, medication administration and follow-up. The most crucial
responsibility is medication administration which requires accuracy, efficiency and adequate
pharmacological and nursing knowledge to prevent medication errors (McKenna, 2017).
Medication errors result to mortalities, morbidities, lengthy hospital stays and adverse drug
events. This presents the need for nurses to strictly adhere to medication administration
guidelines and to develop evidence-based best practices that promote quality and safety in
medication administration.
Gibbs Reflective Cycle Model
Gibbs Reflective Cycle is a model that was developed by an American Psychologist to encourage
individuals to think about their experiences in a systematic manner during a certain activity or
event. Individuals are able to decipher the negative and positive impacts of a situation through
the reflective cycle. The cycle has six steps that start at description, then feelings, evaluation,
analysis, conclusion, action plan, and then back to description again (Gibbs, 1998). This paper
will decipher my clinical practice experience based on Gibbs Reflective Cycle.
My Own Performance, Feelings, Evaluation and Analysis
When I was administering oral diclofenac to an adult patient in the Clinical Practice Unit,
I remembered to confirm the patient’s identity, the drug, dosage and route of administration.
However, I failed to ask the patient of any medication allergies or any underlying chronic
illnesses. It’s mandatory for nurses to re-examine a patient’s medical history or verbally ask for