Reflective Essay: Gibbs Model and Nursing Student Feedback

This essay provides a reflective account of a nursing student's experience with feedback received during a clinical placement in a mental health department. Utilizing Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, the student analyzes the impact of the feedback on their professional development, focusing on improved patient care and enhanced confidence. The reflection covers the student's initial nervousness, the value of supervisor feedback, and the subsequent development of essential nursing skills. The analysis highlights the importance of feedback in shaping behavior, promoting self-development, and achieving future success in a nursing career. The essay concludes with an action plan for continuous improvement, emphasizing attentiveness, confidence, and enhanced communication skills to excel as a nurse student in mental health.

Reflecting on
Feedback

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Gibbs model of reflection............................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Feedback is very important in the life of the students as it helps them to become more
responsible towards their studies as well as towards the future goals. Feedbacks in the
academic’s life helps the students to know about their weaknesses that they can overcome in
order to get more opportunities in the future (Kourgiantakis, Sewell and Bogo, 2019). Feedback
helps to attain the standards that helps to attain the standards in nursing. This helps to know
about own mistakes and then actions to improvise them. The use of Gibb’s Reflective cycle is
done to note down the learning from the reflection. This report covers the reflection which is
well related with the student who is placed in healthcare setting within the mental health
department as the student nurse. The reflection covers the feedback which is received from
supervisor while at clinical placement which help to make the improvement in student working
and reflect positively on student life for future.
MAIN BODY
Gibbs model of reflection
Gibbs model of reflection can be defined as one of the most effective model that helps in
evaluating the overall experience of the individual regarding their specific roles they have played
in the past. This model helps the individual to assess their performance and the task they have
performed in the past (Adeani, Febriani and Syafryadin, 2020). There are six stage in Gibb’s
model of reflection. In case of nursing, feedback helps to enhance all the problems of anxiety,
care that needs improvement. There are certain problems that a students of nursing faces and the
same are analysed to develop them in appropriate manner. It facilitates the individual to evaluate
the skills and the knowledge they have developed while carrying out the activity in the past.
When I was a student, feedbacks play a major role in my life that influence my behaviour in a
positive manner. It helps me in the overall development of mine. At same, currently I received
feedback from my supervisor in the clinical placement which is associated with mental health
department where I used to work as student nurse. In relation to the importance of feedbacks in
my life, Gibbs model has been described below:
Description: In studies related to nursing, I used to involve in many activities that was
carried out in the healthcare setting where I used to place which is mental health student nurse. It
1

is seen that the students of nursing are involved in certain experiments that are new to them this
enhances fear in them (Anglin, Halpin-Healy and Rosenfeld, 2020). There is need of having
proper understanding and confidence to carry on the projects. Every time we are given a new
project I assure that I do not harm the patient. There is need of skills and proper concentration to
work on them. After carrying the task, I used to take the feedback and listen if I have done any
mistake. This helps me to work on the aspect and the never repeat the same. Sometime, I am
unable to understand the scenario and the fear is the reason the activities are not carried on time.
For me specially this feedback was very valuable because it was a positive feedback I get to
know that how to care of a patient in an effective manner. And for this, I ensured to read some
caring guidelines for various patient. Since I am a healthcare's student and placed as a nurse
student, its my responsibility to take the feedback seriously and try to find out the solution for
those skill gap.
Feelings: In the initial days of work in my placement in mental health department as a
student nurse, I was very nervous because of not getting the opportunity in last placement. This
makes me under confident and morale goes down. Being a nurse is so challenging and taking
care of patients is of utmost importance. Each and every decision taken by me will have huge
impact on patients. Being a part of clinical work, I was too worried to take the suitable actions
(Mathie and et.al., 2018). Whenever my supervisor gave me the valuable feedbacks about my
work as a nurse student, I have done, it helped me a lot in getting knew how to handle the
particular patient in an effective manner. Now I think that feedback has changed my life because
from that valuable comment I have developed my professional skills because I got to know that
how to present mistakes and the one I do not have to repeat in future. I learnt to become positive
so that I am able to deal with all the complex situations in proper manner. After being positive
my level of confident enhance. I was able to communicate effectively with the patients and to
deal with them. This helped to take their better care that I have learned from the feedback
(Panneerselvam, 2018). After reflecting my skill gap, i was work on that then I had a high
confidence as nurse student in the mental health department after receiving the validation and
encouragement from my supervisor.
Evaluation: From that event, I can evaluate that feedback plays a major role in the
overall development of the individual in order to become more successful in the professional
career in nursing. It was overall a good experience because from that feedbacks of my
2

supervisors, I got to know that how to deal with the patients in effective manner. I am able to
analyse that the challenges at the time of working helps to make me stronger and enhance my
skills even better. There is need of working in such a manner that all my patients are able to live
a healthy and safe life (Jackson, Power and Usher, 2021). It was a very good experience for me
because for the first time that I was able to learn nursing standards in proper manner. There are
conflicts that occur while working with the staff of nursing. But I managed to solve the conflict
that arise between my all the members. Overall from that work I got to know that how to present
the project in an effective manner. That feedbacks of my nursing supervisors helps me in
becoming more professional as well as responsible in order to complete the task in an effective
manner (Olaussen, Heggdal and Tvedt, 2020). It helps me in enhancing my assessing skills and I
become able to differentiate between what is good or not. It helps me in my professional life and
getting a good placement in the mental health care as a nurse student.
Analysis: It is analysed that there is need of proper nursing knowledge in order to deal
with the care patients. In the starting of the course, I was not serious and that is the reason I have
done many mistakes. I was not able to take proper care of the patients. In starting, I was not
aware about all the caring responsibility and the caring job which I should do as a nurse student.
But from that situation I am able to learn a lot and my confidence level has also enhanced. I am
able to learn that feedbacks from the healthcare supervisor directly helps in the professional
development of the individual. I am able to learn that all the patients require different level of
care and I have learned to understand them and their needs. This learning has taken place due to
the regular feedbacks being provided to me (De Gagne and et.al., 2021). I have analysed that
feedbacks plays an important role in influencing the behaviour of the individual towards the
professional development. This will assist me to grow my career in the better way as a nurse
student in my placement cell which is mental health department.
Conclusion: From the above scenario, it can be concluded that I have developed so many
professional skills from my nursing course that will help me to provide better job responsibilities
as a nurse in the mental health department. I got to know about the importance of the feedbacks
from the supervisor of the healthcare because it directly helped me dealing with the patients in
better ways. Apart from this I have started valuing the feedbacks because it helps me in the self-
development as well as to achieve more success in the future. I have particularly learned from
that feedback from my supervisor of nursing that giving importance to all the patients is
3

important. This helps to carry on the work in best manner and as per the requirements of them. A
person in nursing must have ability to communicate and develop relation with the patients. By
making them feel comfortable the recovery rate is enhanced.
Action plan: In order to enhance my skills, I will follow the feedbacks given to me
through my supervisor in proper way. There is need of being attentive and confidents so that all
the complex situations are solved in right time (Seibel and Fehr, 2018). There is need of being
socialised and helping the patients at each and every level. I will work on enhancing
communication skills so that I will get better results as a nurse student in the mental health
department. There is requirement of working on the mistakes so that there is better professional
growth. I will consider all the important feedbacks of my supervisor that they have given and
through which I will become able to get more success in my professional career. By doing more
clinical practises, I will achieve appropriate skills on prioritise healthcare values and decision-
making over personal values.
CONCLUSION
Form the above report, it has been analysed that feedback plays a major role not only in
the student’s life but also in the profession life because it makes them more successful and
responsible towards their duties. In nursing, feedback helps to learn as well as develop the level
of confidence to carry on all the caring work in effective manner. The use of Gibb’s model of
reflection has been done to show the learnings through the feedback given by supervisor to nurse
student. It directly helps the students to achieve more success and development in their
professional career. It shows so much significance in the life of the nurse student and another one
as they get to know about the valuable changes that they can implement in order to become more
attentive towards their goal. In this report, through the help of gibb's model of reflection,
importance of feedback in profession carrier has been discussed.
4

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Adeani, I. S., Febriani, R. B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020. USING GIBBS’REFLECTIVE CYCLE
IN MAKING REFLECTIONS OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. Indonesian EFL Journal,
6(2), pp.139-148.
Anglin, C., Halpin-Healy, C. and Rosenfeld, P., 2020. Reflecting art in nursing practice:
Developing visual arts programs to transform and strengthen practice. JONA: The
Journal of Nursing Administration. 50(5), pp.274-280.
De Gagne and et.al., 2021. Nursing Students’ Perceptions about Effective Pedagogy:
Netnographic Analysis. JMIR Medical Education, 7(2), p.e27736.
Jackson, D., Power, T. and Usher, K., 2021. Feedback as a balancing act: Qualitative insights
from an experienced multi-cultural sample of doctoral supervisors in nursing. Nurse
Education in Practice, 54, p.103125.
Kourgiantakis, T., Sewell, K.M. and Bogo, M., 2019. The importance of feedback in preparing
social work students for field education. Clinical Social Work Journal. 47(1), pp.124-
133.
Mathie and et.al., 2018. Reciprocal relationships and the importance of feedback in patient and
public involvement: a mixed methods study. Health Expectations, 21(5), pp.899-908.
Olaussen, C., Heggdal, K. and Tvedt, C.R., 2020. Elements in scenario‐based simulation
associated with nursing students' self‐confidence and satisfaction: A cross‐sectional
study. Nursing open, 7(1), pp.170-179.
Panneerselvam, S., 2018. Feedback among nursing professionals: a narrative
review. International Journal of Health Sciences and Research, 8(2), pp.266-271.
Seibel, L. M. and Fehr, F. C., 2018. They can crush you”: Nursing students’ experiences of
bullying and the role of faculty. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice. 8(6),
pp.66-76.
5