Reflective Journal: Analysis of Clinical Experience in Pediatrics

This reflective journal details a nursing student's experience in a pediatric ward, focusing on an incident where a doctor failed to follow proper hand hygiene protocol before examining a patient's wound. The student, using Gibbs' reflective cycle, describes their feelings of apprehension and the ethical dilemma they faced. The evaluation highlights the potential risks to the child's health due to the lack of infection control. The analysis draws upon the Royal College of Nursing and Nursing and Midwifery Council's guidelines to emphasize the importance of hand hygiene and patient safety. The conclusion reflects on the student's inaction and its consequences, leading to an action plan for future clinical placements, where the student intends to address similar situations assertively and advocate for patient safety. The journal references key literature on infection control and nursing ethics to support the reflections.

Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL ON CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL ON CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Description:
The case of care for the patients gained prime importance. During my course as a care
provider in paediatric ward, I gained immense experience to understand the problems among
the patients. In similar regards, I realised that job role of a professional paediatrician is highly
different from that of a normal general physician. The gestures of a 5-year-old patient is hard
to comprehend; making it immense harder to prescribe care. In similar regards, it should be
fair enough to understand that the aspect of care might seem redundant in case similar
medical study I gained knowledge about the non-touch procedure. I saw my immediate
supervisor to treat a 5 year Old’s surgical wound without sanitizing her hands.
Feelings:
I was highly apprehensive about the fact that she failed to follow the basic nursing
protocol. However, I was extremely scared to rectify her faulty procedure, fearing she may
feel hurt or even subjected to insult. Under the guidance of my supervisor, I was supposed to
learn basic ethics and health protocol. However, I was confused that she herself failed to stick
to the rules. I was alarmed, and expected the doctor to wash her hands. Later, I decided to
speak to my mentor about the same incident. Understanding my concern, I thought she would
suggest me to directlytalk to the physician about it, but out of fear, I could not make it to her.
Evaluation:
The incident above was extremely challenging for me. I highly regret that I failed to
generate quick response. Due to the lack of my response, the patient was subjected to septic
infections. The 5-year-old child may suffer from serious infections or even sepsis and her life
can be at danger. I faced a dilemma that can take her life and due to lack of self-confidence
and the courage to react and respond in the most important situation, I fear the child can

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suffer. Since the patient is a child, the doctor must have taken proper safety measures in order
to avoid any contamination and infection.
Analysis:
The Royal College of Nursing claims Hygiene of hands is the main task to decrease
cross-infection, and refers to the lack of decontamination in many healthcare workers. The
Professional Conduct Code of the Nursing and Midwifery Council says that as a nurse one
have to behave to define and minimize patient and client danger. This also refers to my own
practice as a nurse under the advice of my mentor.
Conclusion:
Looking back, I can see that I ought to have acted earlier and assured the doctor had
cleaned her palms before examining Nur. Now I can see that my inaction puts the child’s
well-being at danger in this incident. I know I must be respectful of peers and understand the
pressure they face, but make sure that they do not bring the patients in danger.
Action Plan:
I will seek to create my strong abilities in future when I work with peers to guarantee
that patient’s well-being is preserved. In my next positioning, I will create this a target for my
teaching and talk to my mentor about how I can do so. I'll make this an objective and address
it to my mentor in my next placement so that I can develop approaches to achieve it.

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References:
Dekker, M., Jongerden, I.P., van Mansfeld, R., Ket, J.C., van der Werff, S.D.,
Vandenbroucke-Grauls, C.M. and de Bruijne, M.C., 2019. Infection control link nurses in
acute care hospitals: a scoping review. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1),
p.20.
Loke, J.C., Lee, B.K., Lim, D.K. and Laurenson, M., 2016. Caring: A Useful Tool to Embed
Sustainability Concepts into Nursing Education. In Fast forwarding Higher Education
Institutions for Global Challenges (pp. 135-146). Springer, Singapore.
Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. (2019). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia -
Professional standards. [online] Available at:
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-
standards.aspx [Accessed 3 Jul. 2019].
Ward, D., 2016. Role of the infection prevention and control link nurse. Primary Health
Care, 26(5).