Clinical Reflection: Wound Dressing Experience and Nursing Practice

This reflective paper examines a nursing student's experience with a wound dressing procedure on a seven-year-old patient with a grazed shin. The student details the application of the Aseptic Non-Touch Technique (ANTT) and reflects on the feelings of satisfaction and areas for improvement. The paper evaluates the positive aspects, such as obtaining consent, and identifies shortcomings, including posture, pain assessment, and analgesic administration. Through analysis using Gibb's reflective cycle, the student outlines an action plan, emphasizing research on wound dressing techniques, nursing pharmacology, and patient assessment tools. The conclusion highlights the importance of supervisor feedback and clinical reflection for enhancing nursing practice, ultimately aiming to improve clinical reasoning skills and patient care through continuous learning and engagement in online discussion forums for knowledge exchange.

1Running head: NURSING
Nursing
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

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Description
In this paper, I would reflect on a clinical incidence that influenced my future nursing
practice with the help of Gibb’s reflective cycle. The incident relates to a seven-year-old
patient for whom I was responsible for carrying out wound dressing. The boy arrived at the
healthcare setting with graze shin. The shin is the front of the leg below the knee. My primary
responsibility was to carry out dressing following ANTT (Aseptic non-touching technique).
Poor standard of aseptic technique is a basic cause of healthcare acquired infections. The
ANTT has the main focus of minimising the introduction of micro-organisms into the site of
injury suffered by the patient. The assessment was carried out is an effective manner, and the
patient was relieved of the immediate complications of suffering a grazed shin.
Feeling
Since I was able to demonstrate my ability to successfully carry out the wound
dressing procedure, there was a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. Previously, I had not
much experience in providing wound dressing to patients. I would also like to mention that
the age of the patient, in this case, was a crucial factor. Caring for children requires much
more patience and competency as compared to adults. I took proud on myself after being
able to adhere to the aseptic technique for the patient. The experience gave me insight into
how wound dressing techniques are to be carried out. I understood that the ANTT technique
needs to be further researched on so that I can gain knowledge about the recent developments
made in this respect.
Evaluation
The positive aspected related to the case scenario was that I could successfully receive
consent from the patient before commencing on the wound dressing. The communication

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with the patient was clear and effective, that enabled me to educate the patient about the
detailed procedure of the wound dressing technique. However, there was a fault on my part to
not raise the bed of the patient to my hip level that could have facilitated the wound dressing
process. Due to my poor decision, I was compelled to put pressure on my back that was
disadvantageous. Further, I had not engaged in a conversation with the patient regarding his
pain score. This is important since I was aware of the fact that the pain scale rating was 2/10.
In addition, I had not administered analgesic after the dressing procedure was complete.
Analysis
At this juncture, I would like to analyse my experience so as to outline an action plan
for my future nursing practice. The mistakes that I had made while caring for the patient were
extremely undesirable and unprofessional on my part. Appropriate posture is required while
dressing wounds or any similar care activity for reducing the physical buden on the
professional as well as on the patient. Raising the bed to my hip level would have reduced the
burden on my hips while not adhering to the same practice would have led to an injury. Pain
score determination is a fundamental element of caring for patients suffering injury. Not
following this practice meant that the care provided was not comprehensive. Optimal quality
is care is provided only when it is comprehensive in nature. Lastly, analgesics are the first
line of medication for relieving pain and administration of the same would have ensured that
the patient was relieved of pain.
Conclusion
The experience had both positive and negative implications of it. My supervisor
provided me with valuable feedback that was constructive at its core. While I was praised for
my ability to carry out the dressing technique successfully, I was also criticised for my
mistakes. Feedback from a supervisor is essential to determine the areas of improvement for

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nursing practice. Reflecting on clinical incidences is an effective tool for working with
strengths and weaknesses pertaining to own practice. The present reflection motivated me to
work on an action plan that would be based on the mistakes I had done unknowingly.
Action plan
My priority at the present stage would be to engage in research for finding and
understanding best available evidence on a wound dressing. It will be appropriate if I refer to
the vast range of resources available over the internet for the research purpose. Considering
nursing pharmacology and patient assessment tools throughout my research would be aligned
with the present experience. Further, taking part in online discussion forums would be
beneficial for the exchange of ideas and experiences between professionals from the same
background. This would promote receipt of knowledge and enhance my ability to
demonstrate clinical reasoning skills.