University Social Care Worker Reflection: Gibbs Model Analysis

This assignment presents a reflective analysis of a social care worker's experience within a healthcare setting, employing Gibbs' reflective model to critically examine a challenging situation. The student recounts an instance where, as a care coordinator in a rehabilitation ward, they faced difficulties managing a multidisciplinary team, leading to communication breakdowns, medication errors, and ultimately, compromised patient care. The reflection details the author's feelings, the positive and negative aspects of the experience, and insights gained regarding the importance of effective leadership, communication, and team dynamics. The assignment concludes with an action plan outlining how the student would approach similar situations in the future, emphasizing evidence-based practices, team-building strategies, and improved time management to enhance patient care and satisfaction. The student discusses the use of the Gibbs model and how it has helped them to identify areas of improvement.

Running head: SOCIAL CARE WORKER - REFLECTION
SOCIAL CARE WORKER - REFLECTION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Every healthcare professionals need to develop an important skill for providing best
service to their clients. This skills is the ability to be reflective of the events experienced by them
in order to recognize the mistakes and hence try their best to develop knowledge and skills which
would prevent any mistakes in the future times (Finkelman, 2015). Researchers are of the
opinion that reflective practice is indeed one of the best ways by which the healthcare individual
can learn from their own experiences. A reflective practice mainly involves recalling the events
and analyzing the activities conducted and the outcomes that resulted. Upon critical analysis, the
individuals can realize the mistakes and can understand the initiative that should have been taken
to provide better outcomes of the situations (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018)). It helps a
healthcare professional to recognize the strength as well as weakness so that knowledge and
skills can be enhanced. It also helps the individuals to develop self-awareness that helps to
improve the practice for the client and in turn help them provide better quality lives. This
assignment would help to exhibit how reflective practice is conducted with the help of proper
model and how practices can be developed with effective model.
Use of Gibbs model:
Description stage:
The first step of the model is called the description stage where the entire event is to be
discussed in details. Due to the absence of the care coordinator in the community healthcare
ward, I was assigned the duty of care coordinator in the rehabilitation ward. Although, I had
proper skills of management of clients and meeting their needs and requirements in the correct
manner and correct time, I had no experiences in team management and collaborative care

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coordination. An old woman was admitted to the ward from the emergency department after she
had suffered from stoke and had fallen on the ground. After treatment in the emergency ward,
she was out of danger and therefore had been transferred to the community rehabilitation ward
for further treatment. A large number of healthcare experts had to be appointed by me so that all
her care needs could be attempted successfully and efficiently. I appointed the multidisciplinary
team and allocated all the professionals. There were social care workers, speech therapist,
physiotherapists, clinical nutritionists, nursing professionals and healthcare educators who were
forming the multidisciplinary team. However, the patient was seen not to be satisfied with the
team where she complained that both the speech therapist and the physiotherapist had visited her
ward at the same time and were arguing among themselves in front of her. Both of them argued
and left the place without treating her. On the other hand, it was seen that the nursing
professionals also faced conflicts among them as the junior nurses suffered from complexes and
could not develop bonds with seniors. Seniors also did not have a helping approach and never
helped the new people. Medication errors, high waiting time of the patient, lack of proper
communication of the patients and among the healthcare members of the team were noticed. I
could not understand what I should have done to develop the situation. Moreover, power
struggles were noticed among the different professionals who therefore did not communicate
with each other effectively. The direct effect of this situation was that the healthcare team could
not provide the best care to the patient and the indirect effect was that the patient had very poor
health outcomes. Her family member lodged a complaint against the team stating that proper
care was not taken for which their patient’s health had deteriorated.

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Feelings stage:
In this stage, individuals need to discuss what they were feeling during the time of the
occurrence of the incident. I was already very nervous, as I had no clue about how to manage a
multidisciplinary team efficiently. Although, I developed the team by allocating members who
needed to attend the patient as per the latter’s health requirement, I could not understand the
initiatives that I needed to take and felt helpless. I could not plan how to proceed with the
allocation of tasks to them for which they felt directionless. As they got no directions from me, I
saw them arranging their own schedules and planning and conducting themselves accordingly. I
felt inferior as a leader as I could not provide them with effective feedback that is very important
for them to develop their skills and knowledge. I had to hear repeated complaints from the family
members, the patients and the higher authorities as well which used to hurt me emotionally. I felt
hopeless about the situation, as I could not understand what initiatives I should take to overcome
the situation and establish effective teamwork. At one time, I started to question my own skills
that made me lose my confidence as a care coordinator and manager that impacted not only the
team’s performance but also the health of the patient.
Evaluation stage:
This stage mainly helps in stating the various negative as well as the positive factors that
were associated with the experiences. The positive factor of the entire incident was that it
provided me a scope to experience the role of leadership and helped me to realize how I fare in
my leadership capabilities. This experience helped me realize that although I have high quality
skills in management of patients an can provide therapeutic treatment that satisfies them and
provides them quality life but I do not have proper leadership skills. I realized that I need to

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develop my leadership traits that would help me to manage huge healthcare teams and guide
them to provide the best care service to patients. I also understood, that in order to manage and
lead a team effectively, I need to have a set of skills that would help in developing the climate of
the workplace and would help in developing bonds among the members. Developing of bonds is
extremely important for developing collaborative output that is indeed the main aim of
multidisciplinary teams (Ortega et al., 2014). Although making me realize the facts was a
positive aspect of the incidence, the negative aspect was more harmful. In this incidence, the care
of the patient was compromised. Due to internal conflicts of the team as well as mismanagement
from my part, I noticed that the patient was the individual who suffered the most. Medication
errors, long waiting time of the patient, poor communication with the patient, not involving her
in decision making, mismanagement of appointments with her and many others took place for
which she was affected. Her quality of life got poor and she got anxious and depressed which
might have affected her mentally and emotionally. These were the negative aspects of the
incidence.
Analysis stage:
This stage mainly helps in developing senses from the entire incident. From the entire
incident, I understood the importance of effective leadership in team development. From the very
first day, I realized that I have lacked many leadership skills that had been very important for
effective team management. The presence of complexes and power struggles had been the main
reason for conflicts between the nursing professionals and therefore as a manager of the team, it
becomes important for me to make the employees overcome the power struggles and complexes
(Gopee & Galloway, 2017). Effective bond development was extremely important so that the
professionals could not only help each other in times of requirement but also help to guide them

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for effective healthcare practices. I should have developed a culture of effective communication
among the members for which various negative outcomes took place. Researchers have stated
that effective communication decreases the chances of medication administration and in turn
increase proper coordination among the members (Thomas, 2015). Effective communication also
ensures development of good bonding among the members and makes them emotionally
dependent on each other that influence the workplace climate (Ortega et al., 2014). I had not
taken any initiative by which communication could be developed among the members. Hence,
improper sharing of information had also taken place for which overlapping of appointments had
taken place between the physiotherapist and speech therapist. All the negative impacts had taken
place due to improper communication. I had not been able to infuse the importance of
communication in the workplace among the members by proper initiatives for which the patient
was affected. I also did not have proper feedback giving and receiving skills that made the
members feel that they are not respected and cared for by the organization. I also did not conduct
any group discussion sessions that would have helped them to clear their concerns. All these had
actually affected their morale and therefore they could not participate in effective teamwork
(Frich et al., 2015). My multitasking ability was poor for which I could not manage so many
responsibilities at the same time and therefore many crucial points slipped my mind.
Conclusion:
The last stage mainly shows what the individual could have done in the situation. While
forming the team, I should have first tried to evaluate the relationships each of the member has
with each other. This evaluation would have helped me to understand the different issues that the
members were having with each other. I should have developed proper skills for effective time
management so that allocation of tasks would have been done on time and the list would have

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been passed on to all experts at the correct time. Moreover, I should have possessed multitasking
ability so that I could have allocated tasks according properly to the nurses according to their job
experiences. This would have reduced their chances of asking for help from senior nurses in the
situation. Moreover, I should have also guided the senior nurses about how to treat the junior
nurses effectively so that they can develop their skills. I should have also attained to the
complaints of the family members and communicated with them properly to understand their
concerns. The patient was not satisfied as she was not included in decision-making and therefore,
it was my responsibility to handle the delicate situation effectively by proper communication
skills. I should have take effective feedback from the team members to know about their concern
and should have provided them with feedbacks so that they can feel included and loved by the
organization. I should have led the team effectively, which would have reduced the negative
outcomes that took place due to the occurrence of the situation.
Action plan stage:
In this situation, the individuals need to reflect on the initiatives he should be taking if
such situations offer once again. If I would have to go through similar situation once again, I
would have first gone through several evidence-based articles that would provide me
recommendations about how a team should be led in healthcare. A large number of internet
articles are also available which guide us through effective leadership (Weng et al., 2015). After
allocating the members, I would first arrange for a meeting where individuals would introduce
each other so that all members can develop bonds with each other. I will arrange for meetings
every weak where the members would discuss their concerns and provide effective feedback to
each other. These will help everyone to enhance their skills and develop bonds among them
(Nica et al., 2015). I should also arrange for on job training sessions by which communication

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skills would be taught to the individuals so that effective communication takes place and
negative outcomes do not take place (Cunningham et al., 2015). I should try to plan my work and
allocate myself with specific timeframes so that I can complete all work on time and does not
leave out any specific tasks. All these would help in maintaining high quality care and increase
patient satisfaction.

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References:
Cunningham, J., Salomone, J., & Wielgus, N. (2015). Project management leadership style: A
team member perspective. International Journal of Global Business, 8(2), 27.
Finkelman, A. (2015). Leadership and management for nurses: Core competencies for quality
care. Pearson.
Frich, J. C., Brewster, A. L., Cherlin, E. J., & Bradley, E. H. (2015). Leadership development
programs for physicians: a systematic review. Journal of general internal medicine, 30(5),
656-674.
Ginter, P. M., Duncan, J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The Strategic Management of Healthcare
Organizations. John Wiley & Sons.
Gopee, N., & Galloway, J. (2017). Leadership and management in healthcare. Sage.
Nica, E. (2015). Moral leadership in health care organizations. American Journal of Medical
Research, 2(2), 118-118.
Ortega, A., Van den Bossche, P., Sánchez-Manzanares, M., Rico, R., & Gil, F. (2014). The
influence of change-oriented leadership and psychological safety on team learning in
healthcare teams. Journal of Business and Psychology, 29(2), 311-321.
Thomas, T. (2015). Management and leadership for nurse administrators. Jones & Bartlett
Publishers.
Weaver, S. J., Dy, S. M., & Rosen, M. A. (2014). Team-training in healthcare: a narrative
synthesis of the literature. BMJ Qual Saf, 23(5), 359-372.

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Weng, R. H., Huang, C. Y., Chen, L. M., & Chang, L. Y. (2015). Exploring the impact of
transformational leadership on nurse innovation behaviour: A cross‐sectional
study. Journal of nursing management, 23(4), 427-439.