Self-reflection on My Clinical Development

Reflection is an insight of an individual action to focus on the strength and the weakness of the individual to further improve it. It is a process in which mistakes or the strength is focused and discussed further to ensure that improvement can be made and the strength are enhanced for future development.

This essay is a self-reflective essay that will assess my clinical development through an analytical reflection of the health assessment done on my peer and having to reflect on my peer review of how my clinical skills were performed during the health assessment. Articles found to prove on the importance of self-reflection as it benefits the student in understanding their self-better by picking up the problems they face by allowing them to convey their emotions and feeling, and how to release it.

Following the Gibbs’ (1988) model of reflection, I will consolidate the practice and the theory. Gibbs’ model of reflection consists of six stages which is the description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.

Description

The module requires me to perform health assessment on my peer. There are several systems for the examination but we only required to choose one system. On the day of assessment I need to draw lots to see what assessment I will need to perform on my peer. The assessment that I’ve gotten was cardiovascular system. After examination, I need to present the findings of the assessment to my subject coordinator following the SBAR tools. SBAR mean to explain the situation, give the background history of the patient, assessment done on the patient and lastly will be the further recommendation to be done on the patient.

I was initially very nervous before knowing which system that I will be getting. As from my previous experience on health assessment examination I only get to choose the system minutes before my examination starts. But for this course we are given ample time to practice before the examination. We were allowed to draw lot earlier. Throughout the assessment with my peer, I carried out my examination with confidence and calm manner. I proceed to the lecturer after the assessment to present my findings to her. From the look of the lecturer she seems impressed as I am calm when informing her about the findings according to the SBAR tools. I gave her my recommendation on what to be done to the ‘patient’ after the assessment.

On the whole it was a great experience as it enhances my knowledge on my nursing skills. But there are certain areas that I think needs more improvement base from my peer review and also my own reflection.

For example for critical thinking, I have forgotten to take the ‘patient’ blood pressure and other vital sign as a baseline reading before proceeding to the assessment. It is because I was too engrossed to start with the health examination. As nurses I should know the importance of having a baseline reading as there is literature to support the importance of having baseline profile as it will influence the impact of continuous monitoring in the hospital practice.

For safe practice on the patient, I have also forgotten to demonstrate my hand hygiene but instead I just verbalize to my peer that I will be doing my hand hygiene. In this area I should take action in doing it rather than just verbalize.

For communication wise I would say that I have done my best as I communicate my action and rationale to my ‘patient’ before I do any examination on her. To add on to this I have manage the ‘patient’ emotion well by ensuring that she was well informed and ensure that she is feeling comfortable throughout the whole process. I break the ice with the patient by asking casual question like her daily activities. By doing this it will help me gain my patient trust and able to develop cooperation.

As for technical skills I have performed pretty well as my health assessment on her cardiovascular system was very systematic.

Analysis

I have made an analysis on my skills. As we know that critical thinking is essential in nursing practice. It is important for nurses to make a clinical decision without compromising patient safety. In my situation I should have planned on what need to be done on the patient first before starting with the assessment. For example, monitoring the patient baseline vital sign so that I can make a good clinical recommendation for the patient after the assessment.

In hospital safe practice is the very top most priority. So in this event I should have place a hand rub near my working station so that I can adhere to the hospital protocol of the 5 moments of hand hygiene. As we know that hand hygiene is the top foremost thing to be done by a healthcare worker to reduce the transmission of infection in the work settings. As for communication I believe that I have done well in this part as I always interact with the patient during the assessment. This is to create patient awareness of the rationale as why the assessment has to be performed. Communicating with the patient also helps to allay the anxiety of the patient which will helps to build trust and gain cooperation from the patient. Informing the findings to the patient would also help the patient understand her medical status better. Communicating with patient is a helpful information to work out with them to obtain better health and education.

As for my technical skills I have perform the assessment systematically. This is to prevent from missing any important data needed to evaluate the patient medical condition. I have strictly followed to avoid misinterpretation of the findings.

Conclusion

In conclusion this reflection has benefits me by making me realize of my mistakes in my nursing skills. This will help me to improve myself in my working area. It also helps me in opening myself to receive feedbacks from my peers. As with all the feedbacks given it will make me to strive harder and better to enhance and improve my nursing skills. With this it will make me a better nurse with quality skills in the future.

In future when I have to do an examination on my patient, I will quickly make plans in my mind to avoid making mistakes. I will ensure that I take the patient baseline vital sign and record it on a piece of paper. I will bring in a hand rub near my work station to ensure that I have easy access when I need to do my hand hygiene. Hoping that with all this reflection it will benefit me in performing my duties efficiently.

Works Cited

1. Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Routledge.
2. Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit.
3. Guo, Y., Lam, L., & Hung, S. (2017). An analysis of the effects of reflection on learning performance for the different personality traits in a web-based learning environment. Computers & Education, 113, 135-145.
4. Mann, K., Gordon, J., & MacLeod, A. (2009). Reflection and reflective practice in health professions education: A systematic review. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 14(4), 595-621.
5. Moon, J. (1999). Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Routledge.
6. Nguyen, T., & Yen, N. (2019). Developing reflective thinking in pre-service teacher education: The influence of teacher education program. Journal of Education and Learning, 8(5), 145-154.
7. Sandars, J. (2009). The use of reflection in medical education: AMEE Guide No. 44. Medical Teacher, 31(8), 685-695.
8. Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Jossey-Bass.
9. So, W. W. M., Chan, W. K., & Chien, W. T. (2017). The impact of reflection on learning in clinical nursing education: A systematic review. Nurse Education Today, 50, 8-17.
10. Tisdell, E. J., & Taylor, E. W. (2015). Self-narratives and reflection in the transformative learning process: A literature review. Adult Education Quarterly, 65(3), 229-246.