Critical Reflection Using The Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Research Paper Sample)

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Critical Reflection Using “The Gibbs Reflective Cycle”
Description
During my second year, I was placed with the vascular team and a patient admitted to the unit because of a stroke was required to undergo a duplex carotid scan. The patient arrived in our unit, and the notes indicated that he had difficulties with communication and aphasia. I was working under the supervision of my mentor, he informed us of the memory problem, the patient had and that he even did not remember when he was admitted, and any discussion on the stroke would cause distress to him. We performed the scan under the supervision of my mentor, and it was successful.
As we were preparing our notes, another nurse came showing two members of the public around the ITU, as it was hospital policy to help reduce any worry before a stay in the ITU. The nurse and the two members of the public came to the patient's bed, and this was before his surgery. Without any introduction of herself or the members of the public, the nurse looked at the patient's notes and started explaining to the members of the public about the patient's admission in the ITU due to stroke. Upon hearing this, the patient was overly distressed, and even the head nurse's talking and calming did not work. More sedatives were needed to calm the patient, and undue anxiety was caused by all those witnessing the incident including the staff and the two members of the public. I together with other staff members reported the incident to the hospitals in-house critical incident.
Feelings
When the incident was taking place, I felt anxious just like anyone that was witnessing it. The ITU for me as a practicing student was a comfortable environment since I had been around many times. However, for the many times, I had been in the ITU I had never performed the duplex carotid scan, and thus I was anxious and nervous at the same time since I wanted the first time to be a success. The incident caused distress to me and it was an upset to witness it since the actions it caused could be avoided, and it was a senior staff member that caused it. However, I felt relieved after we reported the incident, as is the requirement by the hospital policy.
Evaluation
My role through my mentor's supervision as a nursing student on placement was to perform the carotid ultrasound scan and establish if the carotid disease was present or absent. To the professionalism of the practice, I fulfilled my role, and the results would be important in determining the best cause of action for the patient. However, I believe that I did not fulfill my role completely as I failed in acting in the best interests of the patient. All the ITU staff me included had the responsibility of protecting patient confidentiality (Nursing and Midwifery Council n.p.). As the ITU staff, we failed to act cohesively, and the theory of group cohesiveness presents the issue as it presents the high probability of a group acting according to the social norm when group cohesiveness is high (Rutkowski et al. 15).
Additionally, informal interventions could be used to deal with any professional behavior classified as irresponsible (Koocher and Keith-Spiegel 35). The authors established that the people who take action in most situations are those in senior positions and the positive outcome that results are caused by the action or intervention. In this situation, regardless of the outcome, any response would have led to bias since other staff members would be very happy or pleased, as it would be acting in a manner deemed appropriate. It is, however, important to note that situations related to professional misconduct that lead to damage or harm to the patients are dealt effectively through the formal route. It was important for us as the ITU staff to complete the critical incident report, as it was the formal way to deal with such unprofessional situations. Failure to report such incidences is a clear breach or decline of the healthcare professionals and thus acceptance of poor healthcare standards. The acceptance of poor standards would indicate that the hospital was poor at leadership, policymaking, recruitment, and training (Francis report 45). The internal incident report reaches the high-ranking nurse managers, and thus the formal approach was good.
Analysis
The increased anxiety and nervousness even before the incident was a result of the jugular line on the patient, which led me to believe that the difficulty level of the scan would be high. Failure to intervene after the scenario was because of the high levels of anxiety and nervousness though it is not an excuse as to why my colleagues and I did not intervene. We took the formal route to deal with the incident, but I believe the informal approach, which would have entailed us intervening earlier, and protecting the patient’s confidentiality would be a better approach (Healthcare Professional Council n.p.).
Conclusion
Being a witness to such a situation, I have gained important knowledge and skills related to assertiveness and courage in the healthcare profession. The distress the situation caused to my colleagues and the patient, the...