Reflective Essay on Type of Care Received by Mr. Taylor

This essay reflects on the type of care received by Mr. Taylor and evaluates how the service delivery could be improved by reflecting on his experiences. It discusses the NSQHS standards of nursing and the “Need theory” of nursing to reflect on the experience.

Running head: Reflection essay
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Introduction
This essay aims will argue about the type of care received by Mr Taylor and will evaluate
how the service delivery could be improved by reflecting on the experiences of Mr.Taylor. Mr.
Taylor is a 75 old man who had suffered from three falls back to back, three years before that is
still having an impact on his life. While describing about his own experience, he also brings
forwards some of the bad experience related to medical care that disappointed him and refrain
him from further visiting a hospital
However this essay will refer to the NSQHS standards of nursing and the “Need theory”
of nursing to reflect on the experience.
Description
The subject of my Gibb’s reflection is Mr. Taylor, who is a 75 years old man and had
suffered from three falls consecutively. It can be seen from this case scenario that, due to his past
experiences, Mr. Taylor does not want to visit a hospital, and rather waited for the next day to
see the GP. His unwillingness to visit a public hospital is due to the fact that once he had to wait
unattended, for about 11 hours in the waiting room with an intense pain of kidney stones, and
thus he prefers to wait at home rather than spending time in the waiting room.
Mr. Taylor’s experience regarding the GP had also questioned the attitude of the health
care professionals. Few years back Mr. Taylor had a 30 cm tear in the muscles due to a sudden
fall, where he encountered a surgeon who used an abusive sentence that directly displays
violation of patient’s respect and dignity.

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Hence the key themes that will be discussed in this essay is, equal care for very patients,
irrespective of the age group and ethnicities and the ethical conduct of the health care
professionals. The main rationale for choosing these themes are due to the fact that each and
every person has got the equal rights of getting the basic care , which is also in compliance with
the Australian nursing standards and the codes of ethics of the nurses.
Feelings and thoughts
While reflecting on the experience of Mr. Taylor, I was surprised to find out that the
person had an immense sense of patience and in spite of all these, still has faith on the health care
professionals and still appreciates the ways of treatment. Focusing on the incident where Mr.
Taylor actually had to wait for long 11 hours with pain, I should admit that although hospital
wards, sometimes remain overcrowded, but some considerations should be meant for elderly
people like Mr. Taylor, so that they atleast get the basic primary care treatment (Shahriari,
Mohammadi, Abbaszadeh & Bahrami, 2013).
Apart from being active in their treatment, empathetic words and being in tune with the
sufferings of the patients acts as a healer for the patients. Hence, I strongly feel that, referring an
old man as an old rag is equally disrespectful and rude.
Values and beliefs
Apart from the nursing codes of ethics there are some of my personal values that I have
received from my parents that directs me to treat each and every person with respect and the
dignity. It is this personal belief that would help me to develop in my professional practice.
Furthermore before taking up the profession of nursing I was made well aware of the different
nursing codes of ethics whose main element is care and compassion (Zahedi et al., 2017). Apart

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from providing care to the patient, it is the duty of the nurses to preserve the basic human rights
of the patients and put their interest in the first hand. It is this personal belief that helps me to
determine what is right or ethical for the patient (Lachman, 2012).
Analysis
This case scenario displays both the aspects of adequate care and inadequate care.
Instances of inadequate care that can be found in this case study is that, Mr. Taylor had to wait
for long 8 hours in the waiting room of a hospital with a pain of intensity 8, due to a kidney
stone. The patient did not get the adequate care and had to visit the pharmacy by himself to get
the pills, when the intensity of the pain peaked, which proves that there were lack of nurses to
take care of the patient.
There had also been some instances of adequate care, such as the type of care received
from the female physiotherapist, where Mr. Taylor was taught how to use the arm with the
assistance of the other arm, and other lifting exercises. It seems that Mr. Taylor is also quite
satisfied with the advanced technology of the health care such as a pill cam. Mr. Taylor also had
an experience with iron infusion, where he had been totally satisfied with the role of the nurses
as she played a comprehensive role of a nurse, starting from taking care of the patient to
providing him with psychological support. A nurse is accountable to assess the patient and
provide him with a holistic (Van Zwanenberg & Edwards, 2018).
Health care professionals should work in accordance to the requirements of the patients.
The “need theory” of Virginia Henderson, a health care worker should get inside the skin of the
patient to understand the need of the patient (Ahtisham & Jacoline, 2015). Reflecting on the
adequate care that he got, it can be said that the physiotherapist actually knew the type of care

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needed by Mr. Taylor at this position. Furthermore, as per the NSQSH standards, it is essential to
work in partnership with the patients for a safe delivery of the health care (The Australian
Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care., 2016 Furthermore, it is essential to have
adequate workforce in a clinical care setting to support the heavy load of the patients (Abbott,
Mc Sherry & Simmons, 2013). Had there been adequate staffs, Mr. Taylor would not have to
wait for long in the waiting room.
Conclusion Drawn
The one negative indicator in this case study is lack of proper attendance of medical
staffs and the physicians when Bill has visited to a public hospital with complications in kidney
stone. He waited there for 11 hours with intense pain and agony. The second negative aspect
include, inappropriate behaviour coming from doctor. The doctor who was operating Bill’s arm
replied that sewing 30 cm tear in his muscle will be like sewing old rag into a new pair of jeans.
According National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard (2012), to partnering with the
consumers is an important aspect of care. Here partnering with the consumers means attending
the healthcare service users via satisfying their queries and concerns while giving them proper
health related information. However, Warnock (2014) are of the opinion that information must
be given in such a way that it patient and family members do not feel disheartened or loss faith
from the treatment.
The first positive indicator is proper support from his family members. Bill mentioned
that when he encountered serious injury in his arms muscle, his wife supported him and helped
him getting dressed on his way to hospital. She also drove her husband to hospital and afterwards
too as Bill was unable to drive post 7 to 6 months of injury. The second positive aspect includes

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knowledge of Bill about the medicines. He is well aware about the name of the medicines along
with the name of the disease against that particular medicine works. According to According
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard (2012) proper knowledge of the patients
about the medicines helps to avoid medication errors or medication overdose and at the same
time helps informed decision making. Active support coming from family members help to
increase the patient participation in care and in this case, Bill or Mr William Taylor received
support from his wife (Boger et al., 2015).
Action Plan
The main plan will be involving patient in the decision making process by providing
correct information in a friendly manner and that too on time. First strategy include the breaking
of the bad news can be done with a friendly approach with no use of harsh or sarcastic sentences.
This will not demotivate patients or demoralise them as in case of Mr Taylor or Bill. Second
strategy will be to attend the patient without waiting them in long line. Taking into consideration
of the other patient needs as well, patient will be informed when and how he or she will be
treated.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that there were many instances in the scenario that
demonstrated adequate care as well as inadequate care. However, it is necessary to assess one’s
personal belief and then link them to the nursing standards. Furthermore effective planning and
collaboration with the family strengthens the type of care.

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References
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