Clinical Reflection of Wound Dressing: ICU Attachment, Nursing Report

This report presents a clinical reflection on a nursing student's experience with wound dressing during a one-week attachment in the ICU. The reflection utilizes Gibbs' reflective cycle to analyze the experience, detailing the student's description of the wound dressing procedures, including the use of disposable sets, hand hygiene protocols, and the role of a supervisor. The report explores the student's feelings, including initial nervousness and growing confidence, and evaluates the effectiveness of different wound dressing methods, such as vacuum therapy. An analysis of external factors, such as hygiene and its impact on healing, is also provided. The student concludes with an action plan to improve wound handling skills and adapt to new wound management methods, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and professional development in the field of nursing. The report highlights the importance of precautions and concern in understanding the wound healing process, detailing the role of the student and impact of hygiene on the healing process.

Running head: CLINICAL REFLECTION OF WOUND DRESSING 1
Wound Dressing
Student’s name
Professor’s name
Institution Affiliation
Date

CLINICAL REFLECTION OF WOUND DRESSING 2
The reason for this reflection is to explain my clinical nursing experience in wound
dressing. I would be using Gibbs reflective cycle to expound on structure and my reflection
development (Husebø,'Regan, & Nestel, 2015). The purpose of this reflection is to learn
something from my prior experiences.
Description
This essay reflects on wound dressing while I was in my one-week attachment at the ICU
department, Gibbs model will assist me in explanation of the scenario, to explore my feelings,
evaluate myself and the event, come up with an analysis of different methods in dressing. Lastly,
I will recap with an action plan to reflect if the same scenario happens in future, what other
methods or ways in which I would respond to the situation
During my attachment, my assignment involved numerous wound dressing cases. This new task
would sharpen my skills in wound dressing, proper care and management for the wound
(Saunders et al., 2018) I was under the supervision, and I looked up to my superiors to provide
guidance. I took note of the various method of wound dressing used and the manners in which
the activity was conducted. More so, I was able to learn how preventive measures are undertaken
while maintaining high standards of hygiene.
During this time, the hospital had a conventional way of dressing wound which was by
means disposables sets which were plastics, and often they were on top of latex gloves. A
washing agent would later be applied on a gauze rather than the cleaning set. To prevent the
spread of infection and contamination, gloves were used once and disposed. The new gloves
were applied after a thorough washing of hand using an alcohol-based rub (Thet et., 2016). I was
only supposed to touch the new dressing materials after washing my hands. However, this

CLINICAL REFLECTION OF WOUND DRESSING 3
situation wouldn’t have been a success without the presence of my supervisor, who at this time,
acted as assistance, especially in opening packages containing the dressing set. Dressing would
by myself was a different task, and it gave me essential skills to apply in future
Feelings
The attachment provided me with a chance to sharpen my skills in wound dressing. Most
of the time, I was nervous since the hospital involved patient in critical conditions. Nevertheless,
my confidence after the activity was always high, and I could not wait to dress another wound.
The principle of hygiene helped me to observe the decontamination method properly (Andersen,
2019). My supervisors kept on reminding me this. At one point, I forgot to wash my hands, and
my supervisor didn't take it lightly. The aseptic method greatly helped me in reducing
contamination.
Evaluation
The attachment provided new experiences for me. I was motivated every time my patient
smiled, or my supervisor nodded after performing a wound dressing. Like I said, during this
scenario, when I forgot to wash my hand, I was exhausted after wound dressing a surgical
wound. However, thanks to my supervisor, who assisted me, thus upholding the hygiene
standard at all cost. I was able to experience the use of vacuum therapy, and I was thrilled to see
how effective this method was (Naumenko et al.,2017).
Analysis
The attachment taught me that apart from dressing the wound, precaution and concern
should always come first in understanding the healing process in wounds which involved various
factor, external and internal. External factors significantly included me. Taking Precautions

CLINICAL REFLECTION OF WOUND DRESSING 4
while performing these activities would dictate if complications would occur or not. If proper
hygiene is not considered, prolonged healing and even spread infections would be the expected
results (Rubin, Samore, & Harris, 2018). I understood that in future if faced with a similar
situation, the concern should always help me to attend the patient and uphold the proper hand
hygiene.
Looking back, I can appreciate the way this attachment greatly helped me to improve my skills
and learning process
Conclusion
If I were to consider making changes, I would strengthen my wound handling methods
and take any opportunity along the way. Nevertheless, this attachment greatly enhanced my
clinical skills and helped me always to take every situation as a learning process. If I would go
back, I can't hesitate to try using vacuum therapy in wound dressing.
Action plan
In future, I will grab any changes along the way and improve my handling skills. With
changing times and more improved method of wound management, I have to keep up with skills
needed in this professional in order to respond to critical scenarios that may present themselves
in future. This is something I'm positive to do, and with time I will improve my skills and
knowledge.

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REFERENCES
Husebø, S. E., O'Regan, S., & Nestel, D. (2015). Reflective practice and its role in
simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), 368-375.
Saunders, D. R., Arnold, E., Seaman, K., Green, A., & Gullick, K. (2018). Graduate registered
nurses’ reflections on implementing safety and quality improvement projects. Reflective
Practice, 19(5), 678-689.
Rubin, M. A., Samore, M. H., & Harris, A. D. (2018). Contact Precautions to Prevent Pathogen
Transmission—Reply. Jama, 320(4), 407-408.
Naumenko, L., Horehliad, O., Mametyev, A., Kostrytsya, K., & Domansky, A. (2017). Healing
of severe polystructural limb wounds using vacuum therapy. Orthopaedics,
Traumatology and Prosthetics, (4), 57-61.
Andersen, B. M. (2019). Wound Care: Skin and Soft Tissue. In Prevention and Control of
Infections in Hospitals (pp. 273-277). Springer, Cham.
Thet, N., Jenkins, A., Bean, J., & Alves, D. (2016, July). Intelligent Wound Dressing for
Therapeutic and Diagnostic Management of Wound Infection. In 5th Global Healthcare
Conference. Global Science & Technology Forum.