Reflection Assignment

This assignment discusses a reflection on nursing practices and the importance of understanding patient needs in providing effective care. It focuses on a specific incident where the author used their past experience to implement appropriate medication for a diabetic patient. The assignment highlights the significance of effective reflection and communication in healthcare.

Running head: REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
Reflection on nursing practices is a key skill for nursing professionals that allows them to
comment on actions and incidences happening in their healthcare facility (Caldwell 2013).
Effective nursing reflection allows the professionals to improve or enhance their practice skills
so that they can address the fundamental needs of health and wellbeing of their patients on the
daily basis (Bulman and Schutz 2013). Gibb’s reflection cycle is the most used reflective
process, which helps the nursing professionals to understand the specific areas which can
enhance their professional skills (Husebø, O'Regan and Nestel 2015). This cycle comprises 6
steps such as description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan which
helps the healthcare professionals to recall about any professional incident and evaluate it so that
appropriate action plan could be prepared (Husebø, O'Regan and Nestel 2015). In this
assignment, I will be discussing about one of my professional incidences which elevated my
confidence and helped me to understand that it is the role of the nursing professional to
understand the need of the patient and involve in the care process so that health and wellbeing
could be imparted in the care process.
Description of the event
This incident occurred during my placement in the surgical ward to care for Ms. Smith
(55), recently undergone total right knee replacement. The patient was diabetic and as diabetes
medication was on insulin for last 6 years. The patient was suggested with physiotherapy as well
as medications for her knee replacement. However, she was unable to take active part in these
therapeutic sessions because of her severe pain. Due to her pain, I was providing her diluted
patients control analgesia or PCA, however, her pain remains constant and she was unable to

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focus on her wellbeing sessions. After the physician came to visit the patient, he added oral
opioids to relief the pain of the patient. Despite these interventions, the severity of the pain
increased and then I recalled few of my past patient associations where I provided patients with
gabapentin so that their diabetic neuropathy related pain could be relieved. Hence, I discussed it
with the surgeon and with his permission I applied gabapentin to treat her pain and this
medication helped her by reducing the severe pain and she was able to focus on her
physiotherapies.
Feeling
I was tensed after each complaint of the patient that her pain was not decreasing even
after the application of PCA and PCA and oral opioids together. I used to discuss to healthcare
professionals, physicians about the patient and her pain, which provided the symptom of
neuropathic pain which occur in diabetic patients. I was mindful about my understanding of
patient and her complications and was trying to find out the reason of her pain by comparing her
symptoms to my past experience of treating patients with neuropathic diabetes. However, her
elevated pain, her discomfort and her deteriorating health affected my confidence and I felt
unsure while providing the patient with oral opioids and PCA. I was struggling with my thoughts
and in this course I remembered that I used gabapentin for one of my patients neuropathic pain. I
was hopeful towards this medication, as the patient on whom I applied the medication was
diabetic too and hence, I discussed the situation with the surgeon. Finally when the surgeon
accepted this medication for Ms. Smith I felt very confident and when the medication worked for
the patient I was relieved for the patient that I was able to reduce her pain and she was able to
focus on her physiotherapy.

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Evaluation
In hindsight, this experience I had with the care process of Ms. Smith, had good as well
as bad elements and I was able to understand my abilities, importance of my experience and
strength of my understanding about patient situations. At first, I was anxious, tensed as my
medications were not providing complete care to the patients. However, in this situation, it is
very important to stay calm and use the past experiences of treating a diabetic patient whonis
affected with neurological pain so that using the same drug gabapentin, the pain of Ms. Smith
could also be relieved (Sweet et al. 2012). In such a given situation, being a health professional
the first priority is to decrease the dose of PCA so that patient could focus on her
physiotherapeutic sessions (Moon 2013). This was important because the pain present along with
the discomfort was not allowing her to concentrate on her therapy. Firstly, I was fail to decrease
her pain, but my understanding and experience helped me to implement appropriate medication.
Hence, despite being anxious and stressed about my patient’s health, I used my nursing
experience to implement in her care and helped the patient with reduced pain and increased
comfort. Hence, this situation and experienced helped me to understand the importance of
effective reflection.
Analysis
As per Aiken et al. (2012), it is important for the healthcare professionals to understand
the preference for the patient and in the process; they should use their regular and effective
reflection so that patient could be provided with effective interventions to treat their ailment.
This situation helped me to understand that I was equipped with all the experience and
compassion required to conduct the care process properly and with effective reflection I was able
to understand the situation. According to Dossey and Keegan (2012), every healthcare

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professionals should be able to reflect on their past experience so that those experience could be
used in present patient situations Further, it is also important for the healthcare professionals to
communicate with each other so that effective care could be provided to the patients (Sweet et al.
2012). The communication with physicians, and surgeon will help to provide the complete detail
of patient condition which was important step for maintain effective communication and hence,
it was a collective approach of complete healthcare facility to conduct the healthcare process
(Thompson and Pascal 2012).
Conclusion
This process helped me to become more confident and hopeful in any future situation. I
was able to become more mindful of my implemented interventions so that I could use them in
future endeavors of mine and I could implement the process in future patient conditions. Further,
despite being anxious and stressed about patient condition, I was able to keep myself calm and
stress free and focus on aspects which could help me to implement effective interventions and
reduce her pain. Therefore, this experience helped me to understand that I am more aware of the
implication of using best interventions so that greater emphasis could be done of care process
and reducing the pain, that implementing strategies that are not effective in managing patient
situation. Further, this helped me to understand that it is important for me to communicate
properly with each professional so that patient and their condition could be treated properly.
Action plan
As action plan, I aim to become more active and will try to convey all the patient
symptom to the physicians and surgeon associated in the process so that effective care could be
imparted in the process. I will take part in the healthcare process for patient regardless of my role

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in the care team and will use my complete knowledge to help the patient as it is my duty and
responsibility to use my understanding to treat my patients and help them with my interventions.
In team, I will not assume that all of the members are thinking similarly and will put my
ideations in every step so that communication could be effective and proper care could be
provided to the patient. I will at last, keep my professionalism as my top priority as my emotions
and feelings can affect the care process negatively.

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References
Aiken, L.H., Sermeus, W., Van den Heede, K., Sloane, D.M., Busse, R., McKee, M., Bruyneel,
L., Rafferty, A.M., Griffiths, P., Moreno-Casbas, M.T. and Tishelman, C., 2012. Patient safety,
satisfaction, and quality of hospital care: cross sectional surveys of nurses and patients in 12
countries in Europe and the United States. Bmj, 344, p.e1717.
Bulman, C. and Schutz, S. eds., 2013. Reflective practice in nursing. John Wiley & Sons.
Dossey, B.M. and Keegan, L., 2012. Holistic nursing. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Husebø, S.E., O'Regan, S. and Nestel, D., 2015. Reflective practice and its role in
simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), pp.368-375.
Lauren Caldwell RN, B.S.N., 2013. The importance of reflective practice in
nursing. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 6(3), p.319.
Moon, J.A., 2013. A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and practice.
Routledge.
Sweet, L., Skinner, T., Battersby, M. and Delany, T., 2012. Information sharing for the
management of chronic conditions in primary health care: How does it work and what.
Thompson, N. and Pascal, J., 2012. Developing critically reflective practice. Reflective
practice, 13(2), pp.311-325.