Reflection on Dementia Care Practice in a Healthcare Setting

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PRACTICAL APPLICATION (REFLECTION)
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Table of Contents
Reflection (GIBBS- REFLECTIVE CYCLE)...........................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Description.............................................................................................................................3
Feelings...................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation...............................................................................................................................4
Analysis..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................6
Action Plan.............................................................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................7
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Reflection (GIBBS- REFLECTIVE CYCLE)
Introduction
The essay analyses my encounter with a service user in a company called B & M Care. The B
& M Care is a privately owned healthcare home providing service to the elderly and those
who have been clinically proven to have dementia. Further, the company offers long and
short term stay for the older people in the Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire region of
the UK. The Reflection will be made using Gibb’s reflective cycle which is beneficial for
learning with the help of personal experiences. It is said that a person or a professional will be
in a better position to learn through practical experiences rather than theoretical analysis.
Further, Gibb’s Model encompasses 6 different stages so that I as the reflector can able to
understand the various experiences through all the stages individually.
Description
A few years back, I was working in the psychiatric department of the B & M Care when an
elderly service taker was admitted with 3 rd stage Dementia. Due to increased threats of
memory loss, the patient was simultaneously suffering from depression as well. The
reflection will analyse the ways in which I along with the other nurses in the ward were able
to control the depression of the elderly lady and show compassion to her on her distressed
times. As influenced by Andrews (2015), the organisation dealt with the elderly population of
the society affected with dementia and other psychological problems, the organisation was
under the strict radar of human rights activists and the public servants in the country. I
noticed that the service use was extremely afraid of the human rights activists because she
believed that they came to take her to a place where she did not want to go. The service user
must have been highly tormented by a particular event in her life that caused her mental
disability. I along with another female nurse was able to calm her down by constantly
interacting with her and informing her that we will not let anyone take her away from the
home and she can stay there for as long as she wants.
Feelings
The needs and the requirements of each service taker are recorded in the files and it is a
mandate that each burse should be aware of the specific needs of the service user within the
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organisation. As influenced by Cottrell (2017), I, as a part of the organisation should have
thought twice before allowing the public servants to allow enter the wards. Further, I should
have made the front desk aware of the criticality of the concerned service user and shift the
service user to another ward during the time of the inspection. I asked one of the nurses who
were on duty, regarding the situation and informed that it might adversely impact the overall
psychological wellbeing of the concerned service user. However, I noticed that the nurse did
not take any steps to inform the officers regarding the conditions of the patients. I was unable
to take any step as I was just an intern and it was out of my overall jurisdiction. There were
several other incidences that were experienced by me during my working hours in the
organisation. This specific incident was important because it not only disrupted the overall
psychological wellbeing of the other Service users suffering from Dementia but it also leads
to an overall nervous breakdown of the individual. During the entire incident, I felt extremely
guilty and conscious of my role in the entire situation. I was not at all confident to inform the
other nurses and the front desk regarding the whole situation specifically because I was an
intern and not a permanent employee of the organisation. However, I should not have felt that
way at all. I was given the responsibility of the Service users and I should have taken all
possible steps to protect the Service users (Knott and Scragg, 2016).
Evaluation
The experience had both good and bad side to it. The good was that I was able to understand
the importance of listening to my gut feeling no matter what others think about the same. If I
had listened to by intuition then I would have been able to save the old woman form behaving
in the manner that she did. Further, I would have been able to stop her from disrupting the
psychology of the other service users in the ward. I was supposed to further persuade the
other nurses regarding their duties towards the service takers. As influenced by Verčič, and
Verčič (2016), while I worked there, I realised that the service users were old people who
have been disowned by the family or are not in mental stability to live without professional
care. The major needs of these Service users were some love and compassion towards their
situation. Thus, as a result, the incident revealed that the nurses are ready to show their
compassion after the entire incident has taken place. They are not interested to take any
proactive steps to stop the incident from taking place.
Apart from the inability of the other nurses to provide sufficient care to the service users, I
also faltered on some of the responsibilities on the whole. As an intern, it was my duty to
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look after the needs of the elderly people admitted in the wards and offer them food and
medicine on a timely basis. I was also responsible to check the reports of the Service users
and then offer medical treatment according to the reports. However, I faltered on my part
especially because I was not able to act on behalf of the best interests of the patients. Further,
I was not able to be a part of the team members and cooperate with each other to save the
incident from occurring. It is important for all the team members within the team to be aware
of the needs and the responsibilities of the organisation as well as the service users and I as a
team member should have persuaded the other nurses to cooperate with one another. I cannot
deny that I was not aware of the rules and norms of the company that are to be maintained
when allowing external individuals inside the premises of the institution. This was a very big
mistake on my part as it could have severely the safety and the security of all the service
users within the organisation.
Analysis
Service users with dementia are to be handled very carefully and in a tender manner.
According to McPhetres (2019), Service users with dementia are prone to depression and
high psychological disorders. The most important part is that they do not remember what they
have done or how they reacted a few minutes ago. The problem increases as the day passes
by and these Service users are to be kept under strict surveillance 24*7 in order to ensure that
they are safe and are not causing any harm to any other individuals in the society. Thus,
under these conditions, it becomes important for the organisation to have a very holistic
approach to identifying the needs and the requirements of the service users and make
arrangements of the services that are required by them. Apart from that, the professionals
should be trained in such a manner so that they can interact with the Service users in an
appropriate manner. According to Choy et al. (2019), the most important hindrance in
offering proper healthcare facilities to the people is the wrong treatment or lack of proper
understanding of the disease. Since psychological treatments require continuous counselling,
the psychiatrist fees are a way to high. As a result, most of the organisations cannot afford to
keep a psychiatrist all the time. This becomes a problem for the company on the whole. All
the medical practitioners and the nurses must follow the Code of Conduct that prioritises the
needs and the requirements of the Service users more than that of the organisation. According
to Tanaka et al. (2018), there are 6 cs that are to be introduced in the organisation in order to
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serve the patients. These include compassion, communication, commitment, courage, care
and competence. The nurses should abide by these 6 cs.
Conclusion
After the experience, I realised that I have to be extremely cautious about the rules and the
regulations that are to be followed for the safety and the security of the service users within
the organisation. I am more aware of the importance of proactive decision making and
teamwork. The decision should be made in a fast manner and the team members should
support the team leader in its decision making. Further, all the team members should be
aware of the needs of the respective patients.
Action Plan
I will further ensure that I will apply various different techniques to help the Service users
come out of depression. As influenced by Li and Peng (2018), those individuals who are
psychologically backward should be treated with care and compassion. I will understand their
needs and then treat them accordingly. I will not want them to face any kind of trouble for my
misdoings. Further, I should not assume that the other staff members will be mindful of the
patient’s conditions as well. I will have to assume that I am alone who is responsible for the
health and the safety of the Service users within the organisation.
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Reference
Books
Andrews, J. (2015). Dementia: The One-Stop Guide: Practical advice for families,
professionals, and people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Profile Books.
Cottrell, S. (2017). Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection.
Macmillan International Higher Education.
Knott, C., and Scragg, T. (Eds.). (2016). Reflective practice in social work. Learning Matters.
Journals
Choy, S. C., Lee, M. Y., and Sedhu, D. S. (2019). Reflective Thinking among Teachers:
Development and Preliminary Validation of Reflective Thinking for Teachers
Questionnaire. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 65, pp. 1-14.
Li, A., and Peng, T. (2018). Observing" Myself" in the Video: Fostering Reflective Practice
in Oral Presentation Training. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 9(3), pp. 138-144.
McPhetres, J. (2019). Comment on “Acetaminophen enhances the reflective learning
process.”. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, pp. 705.
Tanaka, M., Okamoto, R., and Koide, K. (2018). Relationship between Reflective Practice
Skills and Volume of Writing in a Reflective Journal. Health, 10(03), pp. 283.
Verčič, D., and Verčič, A. T. (2016). The new publicity: From reflexive to reflective
mediatisation. Public relations review, 42(4), pp. 493-498.
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