Reflective Essay: Healthcare Experience with Elderly Patients

This reflective essay explores the experience of supporting elderly patients in a hospital setting, utilizing Rolfe's reflective model to analyze the author's actions, thoughts, and areas for improvement. The essay begins with an introduction to reflection and its importance in healthcare, followed by a detailed application of Rolfe's model, addressing the questions of 'What?', 'So What?', and 'What Now?'. The author reflects on their responsibilities, including communication with patients and their families, and the importance of physical assessments. The essay identifies a key shortcoming: the lack of psychological assessment of elderly patients, which affected the quality of support provided. The 'So What?' section analyzes the consequences of the author's actions and inactions, highlighting both positive outcomes like improved communication and areas where the patient's experience could have been enhanced. The essay concludes with a 'What Now?' section, outlining plans to improve emotional intelligence and address the identified shortcomings, emphasizing the importance of professionalism and patient-centered care.