reflection student nurse essay

How to Write a Nursing Reflective Essay (Guide for Nurse Students)

If you are a nursing or medicine student, you are aware that you will come across or have already come across assignments requiring you to write a nursing reflection essay. At first, such a task always appears challenging, but given the understanding of the steps, things flat out, and you can write reflective essays and get better grades.

Reflective practice is highly encouraged in nursing. Reflection entails making sense of situations, events, actions, and phenomena in the workplace.

As a nursing student, you will be asked to write a reflective essay on your clinical placement, practicum, shadowing experience, shadow health DCE activities, personal nursing philosophy, why you want to become a nurse, nursing program, ethical dilemma, knowledge, skills, and abilities, systems, and processes.

The easiest way to complete the reflective essay assignment is by first determining what reflective writing entails, its significance, its steps, and some of the best tips that form the core of this ultimate guide.

Basics of Reflective Writing in Nursing

Reflective writing is an analytical writing practice where the writer describes a real or imaginary event, scene, phenomenon, occurrence, or memory, including their takeaway. It entails the critical analysis of an experience, including recording how it has impacted you and what you intend to do with the new knowledge or how to act when such an occurrence recurs.

As you document the encounter, you can use first-person pronouns and write subjectively and objectively. This means that you can decide to either use personal experiences alone or support these experiences using citations from scholarly sources.

When writing a reflective essay in nursing, you must recount the events and give critical detail of how the events shaped your knowledge acquisition. Reflection helps nursing students develop skills in self-directed learning, which is directly associated with high motivation and improved quality of care .

In most cases, reflection occurs on what went well and what went wrong. It could be a successful operation, a thank you note from a patient, a patient who regained their health faster, or a new nursing care plan that worked. However, it can also be about adverse events such as death, postoperative complications, death of an infant at birth, dissatisfied patient, medical error, or a failed procedure.

As a nursing student, when you learn to reflect on situations, you grow to become a professional nurse who diligently does their noble duty.

When writing a reflective essay, you begin by setting the scene (explaining what, where, how, and who-the situation), detailing how you felt (emotional state), why it happened (making sense of the situation), critical review and development of insights, a note on what was learned, and strategies to address future recurrence.

Your professor may ask you to write a nursing reflective paper about various topics in your course or your experience working in a group, how you solved a problem, a healthcare issue, or clinical practice. Consider the following example of a reflective statement in nursing; in my clinical practices, I realized I focused more on the technical aspects but failed to explain what it was doing to improve their health. I would like to understand more about listening to patience and their concerns to better care for them.

As you will notice later, these reflective stages are structured into different reflective models and frameworks that we will explore in-depth. So, with the understanding of what comprises reflective writing and its importance in nursing, let's now get solid on the structure.

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Structure of a Reflective Essay in Nursing

A reflective essay is an analytical writing piece describing and evaluating encounters or experiences. When asked to write one, you should know that an excellent reflective essay consists of different parts, just like a typical academic essay. It comprises the cover or title page, introduction, body paragraphs, conclusions, and a references page.

The title page contains information about the assignment. If you are writing the reflective essay in APA, include these on the title page:

• Title of the reflective essay
• Course code and name
• Instructors name
• Name of your institution
• Date of submission

When writing in Harvard format, the title or the cover page will consist of the following:

• Title of the essay in title case and the page number (upper right margin),
• Title of the essay in CAPS,
• Name of class or course,
• Name of the instructor,
• Name of your school,
• City and state where your school is located and,
• The date of submission.

Introduction

The introduction begins with an attention grabber or a hook sentence to attract readers' attention. It should then explain the essay's purpose and signpost the ideas that will come later in the essay. The introduction also has a thesis statement at the end of the paragraph- the last sentence. The thesis is concise, clear, and relatable and should reflect your position.

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs of a reflective essay can be three or more, depending on the length of the essay. Essentially, the body comprises 80% of the total word count.

The first paragraph is where you describe the situation, including the events, why they occurred, how they occurred, and those involved.

The second paragraph entails your personal feelings or reaction to the situation and how it made you feel.

The third paragraph can include making sense of the situation. You have to think about why things happened the way they did. You should also critically review and develop insights based on the situation. Finally, think of the factors that could have influenced the situation.

The next paragraph should explain how the event or situation will change your practice, approach, decisions, perspective, or perception. This is where you evaluate the experience by detailing the knowledge and skills you took from the experience.

The last body paragraph should entail a critical reflection on the learning opportunities. First, describe the situation and what it made you learn. Next, elaborate on how you intend to make yourself better poised to address such situations.

Mostly, you should structure the body of your essay as per the preferred nursing reflective model.

After everything else falls into place, you need to summarize the information you presented in the essay. Then, finally, restate your thesis and have a call to action to bring a sense of closure to your readers.

Steps for Writing a Nursing Reflection Essay � The Guide

When assigned to write a reflective essay for your nursing class, here are the surefire steps to get you to success.

Read the instructions

The first step after receiving an assignment is to begin reading the instructions. as you read, note what your instructor or professor expects in the paper you will submit for marking.

Reading instructions helps you to get informed on the scope of the paper, word count, number of references and pages, and the formatting style to use.

Besides, you also get to plan your paper with the deadline highlighted in the instructions.

You need to get a conducive environment where you can start writing.

The first step of writing is to brainstorm about situations during your clinical hours when you were shadowing a Nurse Practitioner or one you have read about.

Assess whether the situation or scenario you have thought, encountered, or chosen can help you write a reflective essay that meets the requirements.

Research and Plan

After choosing a scenario, the next step is researching the best reflective model.

You can use your class text, the instructions, the college library, course readings, and online nursing journals to get articles and resources with information about specific reflective models.

Select the best reflective model and take notes on the steps it entails.

As you research, write down notes on how to address your paper based on your selected framework or model of reflection . Additionally, research nursing journal articles with information you can use when critically analyzing a situation.

Plan how you will handle the paper as well. For instance, as you research, develop a thesis statement that grounds your entire paper, then draft an outline on how to develop the thesis.

Write an Outline

Outlining is a crucial aspect of writing. It helps you envision how you will meet the objective of writing a reflective essay. As an essential part of the essay writing process, outlining helps create a good flow of ideas and can come in handy in helping you overcome writer's block. Your outline should comprise the following:

• The hook or attention grabber
• Thesis statement
• Main points of each body paragraph (topic sentence, evidence, examples, illustrations, etc.)
• Conclusion (restated thesis and call-to-action)

With the outline done, you should take a break and resume writing your first draft of the nursing reflection essay. Writing with an outline helps avoid mistakes and also helps you write faster.

Describe the Experience

Once you have identified the relevant experience, begin describing it chronologically.

Describe the experience that prompted you to consider nursing your ideal career goal. Think of this experience's key elements, such as the setting, patient demographics, and significant events that impacted you.

Show how these events changed your perspective on life. Ensure you are as descriptive as possible to paint a clear picture for readers.

Consider the following questions to come up with a good description:

• What happened?
• Was there someone involved? If yes, what part did they play?
• Where did the event take place?
• What actions did you take?

Set the context of this experience by giving relevant background information. Ensure you are objective and pay attention to the facts.

Provide a Reflection

Talk about your feelings and thoughts concerning the particular experience you went through. You have to be honest and open up about your initial expectations and challenges you faced at each stage of the experience. The following questions can help you come up with a good reflection:

• What was I trying to achieve?
• What prompted me to act the way I did?
• Are there any consequences for my actions? If yes, what are they?
• How did I feel about this event as it was happening?
• How did those around me react to it?
• How do I know how those around me felt about it?

Analyze the Experience

Description of an experience is essential, but so is analysis. You have to move beyond the surface and give a critical analysis of your experience.

State your actions, and your overall experience will give insights into your experience. Think of how the experience has impacted your actions, feelings, and thoughts.

Give an Evaluation

Evaluate the skills and knowledge you got from the experience. Show how you can apply these skills and knowledge in your nursing practice. Also, state the actions and interventions you took during the nursing experience.

State whether you achieved the desired outcome and if there are any specific areas that you need to improve on.

Talk about how you built or improved skills like communication, teamwork, and critical thinking.

As you evaluate the experience, identify what you believe to be your strengths and weaknesses in the nursing experience. What have you learned from the experience? State the areas where you excelled and what abilities contributed to your success.

Talk about how those you were with during the clinical experience complimented you. Similarly, acknowledge your weaknesses.

What kind of mistakes did you make, and how did you improve them? Talk about the tasks that drain you most during the experience.

Illustrate Learning

Demonstrate elements of deeper thought and reflection levels. This is a great point to include nursing theories in your reflection essay to support analysis of your experience.

Relate your experiences to the theoretical frameworks you were taught in class. This is effective learning and will demonstrate your ability to apply knowledge to real-life nursing situations.

Doing this will also show that you can effectively deduce different things from observations made during the reflection process.

Ensure you also demonstrate a change in perspective, as this will prove that you learned something from the experience.

Write Your Conclusion

Conclude by summarizing your points and highlighting the lessons learned.

The lessons you reached as part of your reflection should support your overall conclusion.

Also, restate your thesis statement.

Come Up with an Action Plan

Now that you have learned from your reflection develop an action plan for future nursing practice.

This part should contain all the details you have learned and actions needed to improve when faced with a similar situation. Consider the following questions:

• What would I change if faced with a similar situation?
• How can I develop the necessary skills needed to face this situation?
• How can I act differently in a similar situation?  

Ensure you identify areas to improve and set realistic goals to enhance your nursing skills. Discuss how you intend to seek additional education, training, or mentorship to address your shortcomings.

Finally, end the essay with a happy note so readers know you learned something from the experiences.

Proofread, Edit, and Polish

After doing your first draft, take a break to relax and get out of the writing mood - it helps you to become objective.

You can then resume reading out loud to yourself, make necessary tweaks, and ensure that every part you include meets the rubric requirements.

Edit for grammar, punctuation, tenses, voice, spelling, and use of language. You should also proofread the essay to adhere to the style, organization, and presentation requirements.

Ensure that all the in-text citations are accounted for in the reference list and are up-to-date. You are good to go when you have an essay that meets all the instructions.

Finally, you can submit the paper for grading.

Writing is not everyone's cup of tea. For that reason, you can hire a nursing reflection essay writer from our website to assist you in crafting a top-grade paper. In addition, we have nursing writers whose forte is writing various nursing papers.

Choosing the suitable Reflective Model or Framework

As you can see above, many reflective models are used for your reflective essay. We have not exhaustively listed and expounded on all of them. Other reflective models and frameworks you can also consider when writing a reflective essay in nursing include:

• Bouds Reflective Model
• Brookfield Reflective Model
• Pender's Health Promotion Model
• Roper Logan and Tierney Model
• Driscoll Reflective Model
• The Johari window model

Note that most nursing instructors will often suggest the models they prefer for you to use in your essay.

For example, in most nursing reflective essays. Whichever the case, readily available information expands on each model to make it easier to write a reflection essay on a specific aspect of nursing education or practice.

Read the assignment rubric and instructions to understand the specific model. If it is unclear, ask for clarification from your instructor early enough.

Tips for Writing a Good Nursing Reflective Essay

As you try to figure out how to write a nursing reflective essay, keep the following tips in mind.

Choose the Right Topic

If the instructions from your professors involve choosing a topic for the reflective essay, you must select one that is meaningful to you.

This will ensure you can easily write and easily develop relevant elements about the topic. Therefore, take time to pick a topic that you find interesting.

As you write, ensure you stay on topic, whether sharing a one-off event or a recurrent story.

Use the Right Tone

A reflective essay is more personal, unlike other types of academic essays. This means you don't need a strict or formal tone.

Since this is about your experiences, use personal pronouns such as I and Me.

Be Vulnerable

You must be extremely vulnerable to learn how to write a reflective essay in nursing.

Be open about your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about something you went through that sparked an interest in nursing.

It's okay to share mistakes or things you did wrong that eventually led you to this career path.

Choose the Right Focus

A reflection essay is all about narrating your experience during the nursing experience.

While including other people in your experience is okay, please let them not be the center of your reflection.

This is your essay, so you should be the focus of attention.

Keep it Brief

A good nursing reflection essay should be between 300 and 800 consciously written words. Because of this length, you must only write relevant information about your reflection. Refrain from lengthy reflections, as they make it difficult to pass your points across.

Convey Your Information Wisely

Even though a nursing reflection essay is about your personal experiences, it doesn't mean you should reveal everything about yourself. Ask yourself whether something is appropriate before including it in your paper.

Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Reflection Essay in Nursing

A good reflection essay involves reflecting on your nursing studies and practices throughout school and career to demonstrate your competence. For this reason, there are certain mistakes you should be aware of when writing an essay.

Not including a Personal Story

Like food tastes bland without salt, so does a reflection essay without a personal story. At the center of a reflection essay is You. This means the essay should focus on your personal story that led you to want a nursing career. A lot of times, students miss out on this instead of talking about their story. You need more than just the personal qualities you think will be a great fit for the nursing program; you must also share a story that shows how well you contributed to nursing care.

Failing to Share Your Experience

You will lose points when you fail to include nursing-related experiences in your reflection essay. Mentioning that you want to be a nurse is great, but failing to show specific events that led to the desire will cost you a great point.

Plagiarizing Your Essay

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense because it is considered taking other people's ideas and using them as your own without crediting the author. So, provide relevant citations and references for any ideas that aren't your own. Also, an AI will not write your essay as a human writer would. 

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Sample of a Nursing Reflective Essay 

The following is a sample of a nursing Reflective essay using Gibb's Model of Reflection. Use this sample to guide you when writing your own.

Introduction  Communication is an important element in healthcare practice as it determines patient satisfaction and treatment outcomes. This essay will focus on reflecting on an experience I went through with a 40-year-old diabetic patient who also had a foot infected with an ulcer. When I approached the patient to sign the consent form, I noticed that he wasn't happy because of the news given to him about his health. I concluded that there must be a communication dilemma. I will reflect on the experience using Gibb's Model of Reflection. Using this model, I will identify and discuss the actions taken to resolve the issue. Description  This incident happened a few months ago when I was working as a wound nurse in a Methodist hospital in my hometown. I was part of a care team handling the case of a 40-year-old male patient with diabetes and an infected diabetic foot ulcer. After careful examination, a team comprising various specialists concluded that his leg needed amputation below the knee. After making this decision, the team left, and I was asked to give the patient a consent form to sign. When I came back from retrieving the form, I noticed the patient looked sorrowful because of the news given to him. Feelings  As soon as I saw the patient, I knew what he was going through. He perceived the situation to be irreparable, but I wasn't sure whether to console the patient or not. I was powerless and couldn't imagine what he was going through. At the same time, I was startled that the team left without showing any compassion. They could have handled the situation more delicately. I, on the other hand, could have relayed the information better. I wasn't sure whether my approach would be acceptable or appropriate. Evaluation  I always go back to that particular situation and wonder whether I could have acted better. The situation helped me better understand the importance of good communication in patient care, particularly in therapeutic care. Before the incident, I didn't acknowledge the role of nurses play in caring for patient's emotional needs. I realized nurses must show compassion and console patients in their low moments.  Analysis  Most healthcare professionals do not know how to deliver bad news to patients. They find the process extremely challenging and always feel psychologically unprepared. This has a negative impact on patients and could lead to bad health outcomes. Furthermore, how information is relayed could impact a patient's adherence to treatment. Because of these effects, multiple protocols and approaches were developed to help with communicating bad news to patients. One of the approaches that was proposed is emotion-centered. This proposes that a healthcare provider acknowledges how sad the patient is and builds a professional relationship based on empathy and sympathy. Action Plan I now understand the essence of communicating bad news with compassion. The experience allowed me to look closely at different aspects of my professional development that needed more improvement. Thus, I plan to be more empathetic and speak up in support of patient's emotional and psychological well-being, especially when presented with traumatic news about their health. Additionally, I now understand I am not powerless when dealing with a sorrowful patient. I believe I have learned from my experience, and I'm not able to communicate well with patients any more. Conclusion  The experience allowed me to value good communication in nursing and the need to incorporate it into daily nurse-patient interaction. Nurses must learn how to deliver bad news and manage patient's sorrow. This has been and will continue to be my biggest priority in patient care. References Street Jr, R. L., Makoul, G., Arora, N. K., & Epstein, R. M. (2009). How does communication heal? Pathways linking clinician–patient communication to health outcomes. Patient education and counselling, 74(3), 295-301. Buckman, R. (1992). Breaking bad news: why is it still so difficult? BMJ: British Medical Journal, 304(6842), 886. Ptacek, J. T., & Eberhardt, T. L. (1996). Breaking bad news: a review of the literature. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 276(6), 496-502.

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How to Write a Nursing Reflective Essay as a BSN Nursing Student

• Author Jermaine Huey
• Published November 29, 2023

Welcome to NursingWriters.net, your go-to resource for expert information and guidance on writing nursing essays. In this article, we will provide you, as a BSN nursing student , with a comprehensive guide on how to write a compelling nursing reflective essay. Reflective essays are a personal reflection on your experiences in the nursing profession, and we are here to help you navigate this writing challenge.

As a busy nursing student, we understand that you may have limited time to spare. That’s where NursingWriters.net comes in, empowering you to excel in your BSN program by providing expert guidance on different writing and comprehension challenges you may face. Let’s dive into the world of nursing reflective essays and discover how you can effectively express your thoughts and insights.

Key Takeaways:

• Reflective essays allow nursing students to reflect on their experiences and personal growth in the profession.
• A nursing reflective essay is different from a personal statement, focusing on self-reflection rather than academic achievements.
• Key elements to include in a nursing reflective essay are the inciting incident, personal reflections, vivid details, and actions taken.
• The introduction should grab the reader’s attention and provide a clear thesis statement.
• The body paragraphs should delve into the writer’s reflections and emotions with specific examples and anecdotes.

What Is a Reflective Essay in Nursing?

A reflective essay in nursing is a powerful tool that allows nursing students to analyze their experiences, emotions, and actions related to their nursing practice. It provides an opportunity for self-reflection, critical thinking, and personal growth. Reflective writing can help nurses develop a deeper understanding of their own practice, improve patient care, and enhance their professional development.

Reflective essays in nursing differ from personal statements in that they focus on specific experiences and their impact on the writer’s growth and development. These essays require the writer to critically reflect on their actions, emotions, and thoughts, and identify ways to improve their practice. By examining their experiences and applying reflective frameworks, nursing students can gain valuable insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth.

When writing a reflective essay in nursing , it is important to follow a structured approach. This includes describing the incident or experience, analyzing personal thoughts and feelings, exploring the actions taken, and reflecting on the outcomes and implications. By structuring the essay effectively, nursing students can communicate their reflections in a clear and organized manner.

Key Elements to Include in a Nursing Reflective Essay

When writing a nursing reflective essay, it is important to include key elements that will make your essay comprehensive and impactful. These elements will help you convey your thoughts and experiences clearly, allowing the reader to gain a deeper understanding of your reflections on nursing practice.

Inciting Incident or Event

The first key element to include in your nursing reflective essay is the inciting incident or event. This is the moment or experience that triggered your reflection and made a significant impact on your practice. It could be a challenging patient encounter, an ethical dilemma, or a personal realization. By describing this event in detail, you set the stage for your reflective journey.

Personal Reflections

Your nursing reflective essay should also include personal reflections on the experience. This is where you delve into your thoughts, feelings, and emotions related to the inciting incident. Reflect on how the event made you feel, what you learned from it, and how it has influenced your growth as a nursing professional. Be honest and vulnerable in your reflections, as this will allow the reader to connect with your experience on a deeper level.

Vivid Setting and Descriptive Details

To create a vivid and engaging narrative, include specific details that paint a picture of the setting and the people involved. Describe the physical environment, the interactions between healthcare professionals and patients, and any other relevant details that contribute to the overall context of the experience. This will help the reader visualize the situation and understand the complexities of the event.

Actions Taken

Finally, it is important to describe the actions you took in response to the inciting incident. Discuss how you applied your nursing knowledge and skills to address the challenges or opportunities presented by the event. Reflect on the effectiveness of your actions and whether there were any areas for improvement. This demonstrates your ability to critically analyze your own practice and make informed decisions.

By including these key elements in your nursing reflective essay, you can create a comprehensive and impactful piece of writing that showcases your growth and development as a nursing professional.

How to Write the Introduction of a Nursing Reflective Essay

The introduction of a nursing reflective essay plays a crucial role in capturing the reader’s attention and setting the tone for the entire essay. It should provide a concise overview of the main points that will be discussed and create a sense of curiosity and engagement. Here are some tips to help you write an effective introduction for your nursing reflective essay:

• Start with an intriguing opening line: Begin your introduction with a captivating statement or anecdote that relates to the topic of your essay. This will grab the reader’s attention and make them eager to continue reading.
• Provide context and background information: Give a brief overview of the event or experience that you will be reflecting on in your essay. This will help the reader understand the context and significance of your reflections.
• Present a clear thesis statement: Your thesis statement should clearly state the main purpose of your essay and the specific points or themes that you will be exploring. This will give the reader a preview of what to expect in the body of the essay.

By following these tips, you can craft an introduction that captivates the reader and sets the stage for a compelling nursing reflective essay.

“As I walked into the busy hospital ward on my first day of clinical rotation, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness. Little did I know that this experience would become a pivotal moment in my nursing journey, shaping my understanding of empathy, communication, and patient-centered care. In this reflective essay, I will delve into the details of this encounter and explore the personal and professional growth that resulted from it.”

With an attention-grabbing opening, providing context, and presenting a clear thesis statement, your introduction will set the stage for a compelling nursing reflective essay that captures the reader’s attention and lays the foundation for your reflections.

Nursing Reflection Essay Tips and Examples

Writing a nursing reflective essay requires careful consideration and thoughtful analysis. Here are some tips to help you craft an impactful and meaningful reflection essay as a BSN nursing student . Additionally, we will provide examples to illustrate how these tips can be applied.

Tips for Writing a Nursing Reflection Essay:

• Start by choosing a specific experience or event that had a significant impact on your nursing practice. This could be a challenging patient encounter, a critical incident, or a personal realization that transformed your perspective.
• Reflect on the experience and consider how it affected your emotions, thoughts, and actions. What did you learn from the experience? How has it shaped your growth as a nursing professional?
• Focus on the key aspects of the experience that were particularly impactful or meaningful to you. Avoid including unnecessary details or deviating from the main message of your reflection.
• Use specific examples, anecdotes, or patient scenarios to support your reflections. This will make your essay more engaging and relatable to the reader.
• Consider the ethical implications of the experience and reflect on how it has influenced your approach to patient care and decision-making.
• End your essay with a reflection on the implications of your learning for future nursing practice. How will you apply the lessons learned to provide better care and improve patient outcomes?

Now, let’s take a look at two examples of nursing reflective essays to further illustrate these tips:

“During my clinical rotation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), I encountered a complex patient case that challenged my critical thinking skills and decision-making abilities. The patient was a middle-aged woman who had undergone a complicated surgery and experienced numerous post-operative complications. This experience taught me the importance of collaboration within the healthcare team and the significance of advocating for the patient’s best interests…”

“One of the most significant experiences during my nursing education was my time spent in the pediatric oncology unit. Witnessing the resilience and bravery of children facing life-threatening illnesses had a profound impact on my perspective as a nurse. It taught me the importance of providing holistic care, not only addressing physical needs but also supporting emotional well-being and promoting a positive environment for healing…”

These examples demonstrate how personal reflections, specific details, and professional insights can be incorporated to create a compelling nursing reflective essay. Remember to structure your essay in a clear and organized manner, ensuring that your reflections flow logically and coherently.

By following these tips and utilizing examples, you can create a compelling nursing reflective essay that showcases your growth and development as a nursing professional.

How to Conclude a Nursing Reflective Essay

The conclusion of a nursing reflective essay serves as the final reflection on the writer’s growth and learning from the experience. It is an essential part of the essay that summarizes the main points discussed and leaves a lasting impression on the reader. The reflective essay conclusion should bring closure to the essay by restating the thesis statement and highlighting the key takeaways from the essay.

To write a strong and impactful conclusion, start by restating the thesis statement in a clear and concise manner. This reminds the reader of the main focus of the essay and reinforces its significance. Next, summarize the key points discussed in the body paragraphs, highlighting the most important insights and reflections. This helps to reinforce the main ideas and ensures that they are not overlooked in the final reflection.

In addition to summarizing the main points, a thought-provoking statement or future outlook can be included to provide a sense of closure and leave the reader with something to ponder. This can be a reflection on how the experience has influenced the writer’s future practice or a call to action for continued personal and professional growth. By ending the essay on a strong and meaningful note, the conclusion enhances the overall impact of the nursing reflective essay.

A well-crafted conclusion is essential for a nursing reflective essay as it reinforces the main ideas, leaves a lasting impression on the reader, and provides a sense of closure. By following these tips, nursing students can create a powerful and impactful conclusion that enhances the overall effectiveness of their reflective essays.

Tips for Writing a Nursing Reflective Essay

Writing a nursing reflective essay can be a challenging task, but with the right approach, it can also be a rewarding experience. Here are some helpful tips and strategies to guide nursing students in their essay writing process:

• Start early: Give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm ideas, reflect on your experiences, and write and revise your essay. Starting early will help you avoid last-minute stress and allow for a more thoughtful and polished essay.
• Conduct thorough self-reflection: Before you begin writing, take the time to reflect on your experiences and emotions related to your nursing practice. Consider how these experiences have shaped your growth and development as a nurse, and what lessons you have learned along the way.
• Organize your thoughts and ideas: Create an outline or a rough structure for your essay to ensure a logical flow of ideas. Group similar thoughts and reflections together to create cohesive paragraphs, and use headings or subheadings to further organize your essay.
• Seek feedback: Share your essay with trusted peers or instructors and ask for their feedback. They can offer valuable insights, provide constructive criticism, and help you refine your essay to make it stronger and more impactful.

Additionally, it is important to pay attention to the technical aspects of your essay:

• Grammar and spelling: Proofread your essay carefully to ensure it is free of any grammatical or spelling errors. Use grammar and spell-check tools, and consider asking someone else to review your essay for a fresh perspective.
• Coherent writing style: Use clear and concise language to convey your thoughts and reflections. Avoid excessive jargon or technical terms, and focus on communicating your ideas effectively.
• Formatting guidelines: Follow any formatting guidelines provided by your instructor or institution. Pay attention to font style, size, spacing, and citation style if required.

By following these tips and strategies, nursing students can approach their reflective essay writing with confidence and produce compelling and insightful essays that showcase their growth and development in the nursing profession.

Reflective Tools and Models for Nursing Reflective Essays

Reflective tools and models can provide structure and guidance for nursing students when writing reflective essays. These tools help organize thoughts and experiences, allowing for a more comprehensive and meaningful reflection. By utilizing reflection models , nursing students can enhance their reflective writing skills and deepen their understanding of their own growth and development as healthcare professionals.

Gibbs’ Reflective Model

“Reflective practice is both an art and a science that requires ongoing commitment and practice.” – Gibbs

Gibbs’ Reflective Model is a widely used reflection framework in nursing. It consists of six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. This model encourages a structured approach to reflection, allowing the writer to systematically explore their thoughts and emotions, analyze the situation, and identify areas for improvement or further development.

Dewey’s Reflective Thinking Model

“We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” – Dewey

Dewey’s Reflective Thinking Model focuses on the importance of reflection as a tool for learning and growth. It emphasizes the need to actively engage with experiences, thoughts, and emotions, and to critically evaluate them in order to gain deeper insights and understanding. This model encourages nursing students to think analytically and develop a continuous learning mindset.

Kolb Reflective Model

“Knowledge results from the combination of grasping experience and transforming it.” – Kolb

The Kolb Reflective Model is based on the concept of experiential learning. It consists of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. This model encourages nursing students to engage in a cyclical process of learning, where they actively participate in experiences, reflect on them, conceptualize their insights, and apply their learning in real-life situations.

Schön Reflective Model

“Reflection-in-action is the heart of the learning process.” – Schön

Schön Reflective Model emphasizes the importance of reflection in the midst of action. It focuses on the ability to think and adapt in real-time, making decisions based on professional knowledge and experiences. This model encourages nursing students to develop a reflective mindset that allows them to learn and grow while actively engaging in their practice.

Benefits of Reflective Writing in Nursing

Reflective writing plays a crucial role in nursing practice, offering numerous benefits for nursing students and professionals alike. By engaging in reflective writing, nurses can enhance their self-awareness, develop their critical thinking skills, and gain a deeper understanding of patient experiences. This section will explore the advantages of reflective writing in nursing and its significance in healthcare.

Enhanced Self-Awareness

Reflective writing fosters self-reflection, allowing nurses to examine their thoughts, emotions, and actions in various clinical situations. Through this process, they gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. This heightened self-awareness enables nurses to provide more effective and compassionate patient care, fostering a patient-centered approach.

Improved Critical Thinking

Reflective writing encourages nurses to think critically about their experiences and the impact of their actions. It requires them to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of their decision-making and problem-solving skills. By reflecting on past experiences, nurses can identify areas where they can enhance their clinical practice and make informed decisions based on evidence and best practices.

Increased Empathy and Understanding

Through reflective writing, nurses develop a deeper empathy and understanding of patient experiences. By reflecting on their interactions with patients, nurses can recognize the emotions, fears, and challenges faced by individuals in their care. This increased empathy enables nurses to provide more holistic and patient-centered care, improving the overall healthcare experience for patients.

Continuous Professional Development

Reflective writing is an essential tool for nurses’ continuous professional development. It allows them to document their growth, learning, and achievements throughout their nursing career. By regularly engaging in reflective writing, nurses can identify areas for further development, set goals for improvement, and ensure they are providing the best possible care to their patients.

Overall, reflective writing in nursing is a powerful tool that empowers nurses to enhance their self-awareness, critical thinking skills, and empathy. By engaging in this practice, nurses can continuously improve their clinical practice, provide high-quality patient care, and contribute to the ongoing development of the nursing profession.

Nursing Reflective Essay Examples

Looking for inspiration for your nursing reflective essay? Here are some examples that showcase different experiences, reflections, and growth in the nursing profession.

These examples demonstrate how nursing reflective essays can provide valuable insights into personal experiences, reflections, and professional growth. They serve as excellent references to help nursing students develop their own reflective writing skills and gain a deeper understanding of the nursing profession.

Writing a Nursing Reflective Essay for Nursing School Application

A nursing reflective essay can be a powerful tool for nursing school applications. It allows applicants to showcase their self-awareness, critical thinking skills, and passion for the nursing profession. When writing a nursing reflective essay for a nursing school application, there are a few key tips to keep in mind.

Reflect on your passion for nursing

Start by reflecting on what drew you to the nursing profession and why you are passionate about it. Consider your personal experiences, such as volunteering or shadowing healthcare professionals, and how they have shaped your desire to become a nurse. Highlight your commitment to providing compassionate and quality patient care.

Share personal experiences in healthcare settings

Provide specific examples of your experiences in healthcare settings, such as clinical rotations or internships. Reflect on the challenges you faced, the lessons you learned, and how those experiences have impacted your growth and development as a future nurse. Discuss any significant interactions with patients, healthcare teams, or mentors that have shaped your understanding of the nursing profession.

Align with the nursing school’s values and mission

Research the nursing school’s values, mission, and educational philosophy. Ensure that your reflective essay aligns with these principles and demonstrates your commitment to the school’s mission. Use the nursing school’s prompts or essay questions as a guide to structure your essay and address the specific criteria they are looking for in applicants.

By following these tips, you can write a compelling nursing reflective essay that effectively conveys your passion for nursing, showcases your experiences, and aligns with the nursing school’s values. Remember to proofread your essay carefully for grammar and spelling errors and seek feedback from mentors or trusted individuals in the nursing profession to ensure your essay is clear, concise, and impactful.

(Table) Tips for Writing a Nursing Reflective Essay for Nursing School Application

Writing a nursing reflective essay can be a transformative experience for BSN nursing students. It allows them to gain valuable insight into their own growth and development as future healthcare professionals. Throughout this comprehensive guide, we have provided expert information and guidance on how to write a compelling nursing reflective essay.

By understanding the purpose of a reflective essay and the key elements to include, nursing students can effectively showcase their personal experiences and reflections. Incorporating reflection models such as Gibbs’ Reflective Model or Kolb Reflective Model can also provide structure and depth to their essays.

At NursingWriters.net, we are dedicated to empowering busy nurses and providing them with the tools they need to excel in their BSN programs. Whether it’s writing a reflective essay or any other writing challenge, we are here to support and guide nursing students towards success.

What is a nursing reflective essay?

A nursing reflective essay is a personal essay where the writer reflects on their own experiences and how those experiences have shaped their growth and development in the nursing profession.

How is a reflective essay in nursing different from a personal statement?

While a reflective essay in nursing focuses on the writer’s personal experiences and reflections, a personal statement is more of a formal document that highlights the writer’s qualifications, achievements, and future goals in the nursing profession.

What are the key elements to include in a nursing reflective essay?

The key elements to include in a nursing reflective essay are the inciting incident or event, personal reflections on the experience, specific details to create a vivid setting, and a description of the actions taken by the writer. It is important to avoid including academic details and excessive focus on emotions.

How should I write the introduction of a nursing reflective essay?

To write an engaging and informative introduction for a nursing reflective essay, you can grab the reader’s attention with an intriguing opening line, provide context and background information, and present a clear thesis statement. Focus on the specific event or experience that will be the main focus of the essay.

How should I structure the body paragraphs of a nursing reflective essay?

The body paragraphs of a nursing reflective essay should have a clear structure. Use the first paragraph to present the thesis statement and provide background information on the event. Use subsequent paragraphs to explore your reflections, emotions, and actions taken. Use specific examples and anecdotes to make the essay more engaging.

How should I conclude a nursing reflective essay?

To write a strong conclusion for a nursing reflective essay, you can summarize the main points discussed in the essay, provide a final reflection on your growth and learning from the experience, restate the thesis statement, and leave the reader with a thought-provoking statement or future outlook.

What are some tips for writing a nursing reflective essay?

Some tips for writing a nursing reflective essay include starting early, conducting thorough self-reflection, organizing your thoughts and ideas, and seeking feedback from peers or instructors. Pay attention to proper grammar and spelling, coherent writing style, and adhere to any formatting guidelines provided.

How can reflective tools and models help with nursing reflective essays?

Reflective tools and models provide structure and guidance for nursing students when writing reflective essays. Models such as Gibbs’ Reflective Model, Dewey’s Reflective Thinking Model, Kolb Reflective Model, and Schön Reflective Model can be used as frameworks for organizing thoughts and experiences in a nursing reflective essay.

What are the benefits of reflective writing in nursing?

Reflective writing in nursing offers benefits such as enhanced self-awareness, improved critical thinking skills, increased empathy and understanding of patient experiences, and continuous professional development. It promotes lifelong learning and helps improve patient care.

Where can I find nursing reflective essay examples?

You can find nursing reflective essay examples that showcase different experiences, reflections, and growth. These examples incorporate personal reflections, specific details, and professional insights into nursing practice. They demonstrate the diversity of topics and experiences that can be explored in nursing reflective essays.

How can I write a nursing reflective essay for nursing school applications?

To write a nursing reflective essay for nursing school applications, reflect on your passion for nursing, personal experiences in healthcare settings, and future goals in the nursing profession. Address specific prompts and align the content with the nursing school’s values and mission.

How can writing a nursing reflective essay benefit BSN nursing students?

Writing a nursing reflective essay allows BSN nursing students to gain insight into their own growth and development as future healthcare professionals. It helps improve critical thinking skills, self-awareness, and understanding of patient experiences. It also promotes continuous professional development.

Jermaine Huey

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Nursing Reflective Essay: Examples + Useful Writing Tips [2024]

Do you need to write a reflective nursing essay? Whether you are a nursing student or already working, we know that you may be too busy writing papers. We’ve prepared information for you about reflection models and nursing reflective essay examples, writing instructions, and templates for the outline. This article will teach everything you need to make writing your essay easier.

So, how do you write an academic reflective essay?

What Is a Reflective Essay?

15 best reflective essay topics: nursing, nursing reflective essay examples, reflective tools and models, reflective essay writing tips, reflective essay body paragraphs, how to conclude a reflective essay.

In a reflective essay, you express your thoughts based on your knowledge, beliefs, reflections, and experiences. A reflective essay is best described as an exceptional and personal essay: you will have a lot to think about, comprehend, and explain. You have to demonstrate the feelings that you have experienced before. It should be honest. If you have any opposing thoughts and feelings about the topic, you should write them.

The peculiarity of a reflective essay, unlike an analytical one, is in the expression of thoughts based on personal experience.

How long does a reflective essay last? It’s simple. It depends on your topic and how you express your thoughts. But you have to remember that this is a highly brief type of essay, and you can do it with a few pages.

You can check out the 100% free essay samples to see it all.

What Is a Reflection in Nursing Essay?

Nursing involves many aspects of work, and reflection is one of the critical tools for developing professional competence and personal skills. In nursing, reflection is important because it provides all the prerequisites for further personal growth. It is a reflection that will allow you to take a broader look at your strengths and weaknesses and assess your prospects.

Think of your nursing reflective essay as a chance to reflect on your career, skills, and personality, which will lead to further improvement.

• Empathy and support in nursing.
• Communication with patients is one of a nurse’s most important tasks.
• Nursing is the art of caring for the patient during illness.
• The key is not to cause harm but to help afterward.
• Time management in nursing.
• The Patient’s Interests Come First.
• Why did I become a nurse?
• Doctor- patient confidentiality in nursing.
• The importance of enhancing soft skills for the nurse.
• Nursing knowledge should not be limited to narrowly professional information.
• Reflective essay on the internship .
• Nursing culture and ethics .
• Deontology of nursing and its synthesis with my personal experience.
• Nursing clinical reflection essay.
• Nursing issues for the elderly.

To better understand what reflexivity is, let’s look at examples based on these articles:

Scientists from different fields of science invented many models to simplify the process of reflection. Below are reflection models you can use in your essay nursing writing practice.

Gibbs’ Reflective Model

In 1998, Graham Gibbs introduced his reflexive model to the world. Gibbs’ model is a cycle and, therefore, excellent for analyzing repetitive experience.

It covers 6 stages:

• Description. What happened? Don’t judge or try to conclude yet; just describe.
• Feelings. What were your reactions and emotions? Again, don’t begin to analyze them yet.
• Evaluation. What was good or bad about the experience? Make value judgments.
• Analysis. Were different people’s experiences similar or different in importance?
• Conclusions. What conclusions can you draw in a general sense from this experience and your analysis? What conclusions can you draw about your particular, unique personal situation or way of working?
• Personal action plans. What steps are you going to take based on what you have learned? What are you going to do differently in this situation next time?

Dewey’s Reflective Thinking Model

John Dewey believed that reflective thinking is the active, persistent, and careful evaluation of a belief or assumed form of knowledge, the grounds for that knowledge, and the additional conclusions to which knowledge leads.

John Dewey’s Reflective Model was one of the first and has been the foundation for many other models. He identified five steps of reflective thinking:

• Step 1: Identify the problem.
• Step 2: Investigate the issue.
• Step 3: Generate several possible solutions.
• Step 4: Evaluate the options and select the best answer from the combination of solutions.
• Step 5: Test and implement the solution.

Kolb Reflective Model

The Kolb Reflective Model or “Kolb cycle” focuses on transforming information into knowledge. The basic four steps of the Kolb model are as follows:

• Concrete experience. Anyone should already have experience in the field or area they want to learn.
• Observation and reflection . This stage implies analyzing the person’s experience and knowledge .
• Forming abstract concepts . A model describing the information and expertise is built at this stage . Ideas are generated, interrelations are made, and new information is added concerning how everything works and is arranged.
• Testing in new situations . The last stage implies experimentation and testing the model’s applicability and concept . The result of this stage is a direct unique experience. Then the circle closes.

Schön Reflective Model

Donald Schön’s reflexive model was described in the book ‘ The Reflexive Practitioner .’ He explained how professionals solve problems with a kind of improvisation that is perfected through practice.

Schön’s reflective model , like his writings, is based in many ways on the Dewey we already know

• Action reflection involves reflecting on an experience you have already had or an action you have already taken. It involves considering what could have been done differently and the positive aspects of that interaction.
• Reflection in action involves reflecting on your efforts as you make them and considering issues such as best practices throughout the process.

Bouds Reflective Model

David Bouds paired with Schön to explore the limits of reflective practice. This model is based on learning by doing. By analyzing his own experience, the practitioner begins to understand better how to improve certain things.

Bouds suggests that by reflecting, a person may be unconsciously learning. In reassessing the events of his life, he systematizes and classifies emotions, ideas, and results, as well as results, and compares past goals with results.

Past experiences, experiences, and ideas require constant analysis attention to feelings. This leads to new perspectives, commitment to action overall positive changes in behavior.

Driscoll Reflective Model

John Driskoll proposed a simple model of reflection at the beginning of the 21st century. It involves reflection through extended answers to questions we are already familiar with. The scholar linked the three basic questions to the stages of the experiential learning cycle and then added trigger questions that must be answered to complete the process of reflection.

Step 1: What? Sets out to recall what happened as objectively as possible, without criticizing anything that happened

• What exactly happened?
• What exactly did you do?
• Was anyone else involved?
• Was it a good experience? Or a bad experience? Or both? And why?

Step 2: So what? It requires you to slow down and start looking for patterns or meaningful moments. The key here is to bring in concepts that help shed light on what is going on.

• How did you feel at that particular moment?
• How did you react?
• Why did you react that way?
• Did you feel the same way about the situation then as you do now?
• Did you experience conflict with your values?
• Do you think past cases influenced your experiences in this situation?
• Who else was involved in the situation? How did they feel? And how did they react? And why did they react that way?

Step 3: Now what? Encourages beginning to transfer new knowledge into future situations and other contexts.

• What did you learn from reflecting on this situation/experience/incident?
• Could you have prevented the negative consequences?
• And how might you have done so?
• What would you have done differently if a similar situation arose in the future?
• What could you have done to better prepare for it?
• Where did things go wrong last time, and what would you focus on now?

5R Framework

The 5R Framework was developed in 2002 by a group of scientists as a universal system of reflection, later modified.

It focuses on five basic steps, each addressing one aspect of reflection. Thinking through the five stages, an individual will engage all of the major reflection components, allowing you to create a critically meaningful review based on your experience.

• Report. What do you see and hear? Write it all down.
• React. What do you think is happening? What works well and what doesn’t? How do you feel about the situation you are reflecting on? What is it about this situation that makes you feel this way?
• Relate. How do my perceptions of this situation relate to my personal and professional experiences? How do they relate to my knowledge and skills? Through what “lens” do you view this situation? From the perspective of classroom management or collaborative learning? Do you need professional development in terms of content knowledge?
• Reason. Do you relate your point of view to someone else’s and how it affects the situation? Does sound practice support your strategies, or do you use different approaches? How does your point of view affect how you understand the problem? Could another point of view be helpful?
• Reconstruct. What did you learn from this observation, and how will it affect your practice?

CARL framework

The CARL framework of reflection involves going through four stages: context, action, results, and learning. The vastness of this model gives a lot of information, and even at the first stage, you can already get a lot of valuable data. But this is also its main disadvantage because it makes the model more complex.

The framework has four steps:

• Context : Description of the context of the experience.
• Action : Explanation of the action taken.
• Results : Explanation of what your actions led to.
• Learning : Identification of the experience and knowledge gained.

Now that we’ve covered the basic concepts let’s write a reflective nursing essay.

Reflective Essay Outline

How to make a reflective essay? First, write an outline.

Any reflective essay is a statement of thoughts about something, and the outline acts as a sketch in which you write them down. Creating it is the first step to creating high quality and vivid essay.

What would make a good outline structure for a reflection essay? Structure all your knowledge. Write what you want to see in the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Here is the reflective essay outline template:

• Hook: Use a catchy statement to set the tone and introduce the article.
• Mention the main points.
• Thesis statement: Include all the important points and ideas in one statement.
• Topic sentence: Carefully explain the first idea in one sentence.
• Proof of topic or idea: Use authoritative sources to support the idea.
• Idea analysis: Apply logic and rational thought to the idea and information from the source.
• Topic sentence: Carefully explain the second idea in one sentence.
• Topic sentence: Carefully explain the third idea in one sentence.
• Repeat the statement of the thesis.
• Review the main ideas
• Final, concluding sentence

Reflective Essay Thesis

A thesis statement is a condensed version of the paper in which you must briefly explain your position. The point is for your audience to read it and understand your work.

To make a good thesis statement for a reflective essay, you need to formulate your thought on paper. To begin with, think well about the problem, and develop your attitude toward it. That’s why the thesis statement should be created after writing the outline. It is unnecessary to give everything out in advance to the reader because later, you will unfold this thought more broadly.

After successfully developing the thesis statement, you can proceed to the actual writing.

And so, below, you can see examples of the reflective essay introduction and conclusion. Learn what its body of it is.

How to Start a Reflective Essay? Examples

You need to start any paper in the right way. How to write a reflective essay introduction? Check these examples:

• Practice and theory do not always agree. Not all of the medical reference books that I have been able to study are fully applicable in practice. John Kimble’s case is a testament that it is often necessary to rely on them and consider the specific situation. He complained of dizziness, and the doctors advised him to get a blood iron test. The test showed that there was nothing wrong. But as it turned out later, this was an erroneous result because Kimble had eaten redfish rich in iron the day before, which temporarily raised the iron in his blood.
• I had always dreamed of becoming a nurse, but my fear of blood robbed me of all desire to study. But still, my passion and ambition made me pull my will into a fist. I had to change and forget what fear of blood was. I lived my dream, which helped me overcome one of my fears.
• A few years ago, I went through a severe emotional crisis. I had always dreamed of going to the University of California, as it is one of the most prestigious medical universities in the United States. But unfortunately, I failed my entrance exams, so I had to study at the university in my hometown. My failure seemed like a disaster, but now I realize it was a real blessing.

The essay’s body carries arguments, explanations of the topic, and the main body of information.

Each paragraph should begin with short introductory sentences, and the body of the sections should be divided into several parts. This will help you better structure what you have written and help the reader navigate through the text.

It is worth remembering about argumentation. There should be several things that you rely on in your position. Describe each of them in detail in a separate paragraph. Observe the semantic sequence. A mistake, in this case, will be to repeat twice the same argument in different words. It will give the reader the impression that there is nothing to say.

You should also remember about transitions in a reflective essay. Move smoothly from one aspect to another and take your time.

How to end a reflective essay? In conclusion, you should focus on pulling together all of the material, summarizing all of the points made and what you have learned. Try to include a few moments about why and how your attitudes and behaviors changed. Here are some examples:

• Was the practice of volunteer nursing helpful to me? Absolutely! I was grateful for these weeks because I learned a lot. But most of all, I have learned my Soft skills, which will help me get used to my professional activities.
• At that moment, I thought about who would be the priority in that situation, and I still believe it was the patient. If the same problem were to arise again, I think I would do nothing but speak up and justify my decisions. I recognize and know that time management and prioritization are essential skills in nursing, and I hope that my skills will improve with practice.
• I reflected on how personal values can affect professional practice from the incident. Still, it is crucial to consider that the organization has its own set of values to follow, regardless of personal values. Finally, in reflecting on the incident, I was able to discuss the importance of quality assurance monitoring and health care evaluation both in general and during the incident, which allowed me to consider what conclusions were drawn from the incident and how to prevent similar situations occurring again.

So, now you have examples and an idea for writing a reflective nursing essay. Writing your paper will become many times easier and faster.

If this article was helpful, share it with your friends and colleagues!

❓ What Is the Purpose of Writing a Reflective Essay?

A reflective essay aims to express one’s thoughts about a previous experience, including how one changed in the process and what one learned. It is often described in a diary entry; they are intended to demonstrate how the author’s thoughts have changed over time.

❓ What Makes a Good Reflective Essay?

A reflective essay is a combination of both objective and subjective elements. We mix scholarly analysis with personal experiences. This type of paper should explain to readers how our experience influences our behavior and what lessons we learned.

❓ What Are the 3 Basic Parts of Reflection Paper?

An essay should have a clear structure and must contain three parts. It should have a clear introduction reflecting the problem, then the central part with an analysis of the causes, and the conclusion with possible solutions to the problem or how it affected the author.

❓ What Is the Best Reflective Model to Use in Nursing?

One of the best options for nurses is the Gibbs model. The model is accessible and extremely simple. Therefore it can be operated without any problems in any situation.

• Reflection toolkit: The University of Edinburgh
• Essay Conclusions: University of Maryland
• Thesis Statements: UNC Writing Center
• A short guide to reflective writing: University of Birmingham
• Outlining: Harvard College Writing Center
• Reflective Practice in Nursing: ZU
• Critical self-reflection for nurse education: NCBI
• Essay Structure: Harvard College Writing Center
• Essay Structure: UAGC Writing Center
• General tips for academic reflections: The University Of Edinburgh
• Reflective essays – ANU
• Writing An Essay Title – Illinois Valley Community College
• Nursing Essay Help: Medical Essay Writing Service in UK
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Critical self-reflection for nurse educators: Now more than ever!

The dynamic healthcare world and increased demands on nurses call for a parallel shift in nursing education that is optimally geared toward effectiveness. Just as student nurses are taught to reflect on their practice to effectively meet clients’ needs, educators also need to be well versed in self-reflection to enhance their teaching methods. Self-reflection is the deliberate consideration of experiences, which when guided by the literature helps an individual gain insight and improve practice. Educators should not only opt for personal reflection but should also seek the views of their students and peers. Self-reflection becomes critical when it goes beyond mere reflection, questioning teaching assumptions, and addressing their social and political context. Given the remarked benefits of using self-reflection in education, and the current COVID-19 global repercussions which have urged faculties to try alternative methods of teaching, a concise guide to self-reflection is hereby provided for use by nurse educators.

Introduction

Over the past years, there has been an increased interest in the understanding of teaching effectiveness in higher educational institutions ( Kirpalani, 2017 ). Another notion that has received importance in the literature is self-efficacy ( Hemmings, 2015 ), a key component of Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory which is “concerned with judgement of personal capabilities” ( Bandura, 1997 , p.11), described within higher education as the educator's personal belief and confidence in his/her's ability to carry out appropriate actions to attain specific performance goals ( Artino, 2012 ). These two concepts are interrelated; teachers’ self-efficacy is interlinked with teaching effectiveness, both with respect to the teacher's performance and also as it pertains to students’ achievements ( Klassen & Tze, 2014 ). Although all educators aim to be effective, societal and healthcare changes and increasing demands on nurses ( Handwerker, 2012 ; Nielsen, Noone, Voss, & Rae, 2013 ; World Health Organisation, 2020 ) expect nurse educators to continuously monitor their teaching practice to adequately prepare future nurses. Just as student nurses and practicing nurses reflect on their practice to improve their professional and personal skills and knowledge in line with today's challenges and requirements ( Jootun & McGarry, 2014 ), nursing faculties should also follow suit to ensure successful teaching. Given the current unprecedented global situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, where nursing faculties are adjusting their teaching and learning methods, ensuring success in the revised teaching methods is paramount, now more than ever.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of using personal reflection, or self-reflection to improve nursing education and to promote this practice among nurse educators working within nursing faculties worldwide, especially during these extraordinary times. An outline of the use of self-reflection amongst nurse educators is provided followed by a description of the concept of self-reflection. Reference is made to a deeper and more comprehensive concept of self-reflection, that is, critical self-reflection. Furthermore, based on the identified literature, the author provides a concise guide to self-reflection for nurse educators, referring to current times.

Use of self-reflection by nurse educators

Reflection is defined as the individual's deliberate consideration of a particular experience, guided by the literature to gain insight, ultimately developing and improving practice ( Graham & Johns, 2019 ). It can help route teaching practices towards effectiveness ( Gardner, 2014 ), resulting in the development of scholarship in the teaching of nursing ( Lubbe & Botha, 2020 ). Self-reflection, together with confidence building, is considered a distinctive requirement for the advancement of educators, particularly those who are new to the nursing faculty ( Jetha, Boschma & Clauson, 2016 ). As highlighted by Lubbe & Botha (2020 , p.9), “students can smell fear and poor knowledge.” If the educator is not knowledgeable or confident in his/her teaching practices, his/her credibility may be questioned. Self-refection can help identify gaps in knowledge and the need for professional development in a particular area ( Lubbe & Botha, 2020 ). Given the ongoing developments in healthcare, educators must remain in touch with the dynamic health care needs ( Lubbe & Botha, 2020 ), while embarking on a lifelong self-reflective journey to sustain their continuous professional development ( Graham & Johns, 2019 ; Jetha et al., 2016 ; Lubbe & Botha, 2020 ). Furthermore, if nurse educators are not trained and well versed in self-reflection, their role in promoting the use of reflective learning among their students will be limited ( Kemp & Baker, 2013 ; Naicker & van Rensburg, 2018 ).

Self-reflection is not only a means to ensure effectiveness in the teaching of nursing. According to Kirpalani (2017) , the process of self-reflecting on the educator's teaching methods may be an effective supplement to evaluative quantitative measures that are already available, such as students’ evaluations. These may not truly reflect the efficacy of the teacher's interventions ( Vanacore & Pellegrino, 2019 ), however, self-reflection activities that consider students’ informal feedback have proven to be beneficial ( Greer et al., 2010 ).

Engaging in self-reflection in the nursing faculty

Given the remarked benefits of engaging in self-reflection, the nurse educator, who is a reflective practitioner, should continuously explore the question, “Why do I teach the way I do?” Lubbe and Botha (2020 , p.7). Following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic where many nursing education institutions had to transition from traditional classroom-based education to online teaching and learning, keeping this question in mind helps nurse educators ensure that any revisions being made are still geared toward effectiveness.

According to Kirpalani (2017) , reflections may be carried out on:

• • The teaching content – reflecting on whether the content is adequately updated to current events and needs;
• • The teaching processes – the understanding of how students learn;
• • And the teaching premise – seeing one's contribution to the overall goals of the institution.

Once an issue is identified, Kirpalani (2017) suggests deciding on the appropriate time to engage in reflection. Reflection is concerned with three critical time periods of practice: before; in; and on action. In the study by Lubbe & Botha (2020) , where they elucidated on their teaching reflective journey before action, reflection was done through self-assessment by looking at their personal teaching development and experience and relating this to the context in which they had to teach, while also identifying their own learning needs. Reflection in action was done during teaching; by getting students’ feedback, and acting on it right away ( Lubbe & Botha, 2020 ). Reflection on action involved getting an informal evaluation of the course content, style, and presentation, learning from feedback, and carrying out the necessary revisions ( Lubbe & Botha, 2020 ).

In reflection, apart from contemplating on personal experiences and looking at theory and research, Brookfield (2017) suggests that educators should ask for their students’ and colleagues’ views. In Kemp and Baker (2013) ’s study, where one of the authors, a nurse educator, reflected both in action and on action in revising a continuous professional development program, the educator amplified his reflection by collecting student evaluations for feedback and discussing his views with his peers. This enabled the author to identify several positive outcomes and opportunities for improvement ( Kemp & Baker, 2013 ).

Critical self-reflection

Despite the various methods outlined to embark in this lifelong developing process, this approach can remain superficial because of its technical dimension ( Brookfield, 2017 ). Critical self-reflection goes beyond that. Legare and Armstrong (2017) refer to critical self-reflection as a deeper state of personal reflection, one which was found to support the transition from clinical practice to the nursing faculty, however, a more appropriate definition that looks beyond deep reflection to ensure comprehensiveness, was provided by Brookfield (2017) . According to Brookfield (2017) , in education, self-reflection becomes critical when the identified teaching practices are seen within their social and political context. In being critical, self-reflecting educators must understand and question the power exerted by education and the wider society on the teaching processes and interactions being carried out, consequentially challenging the hegemonistic processes ( Brookfield, 2017 ). Hence, to be a critical self-reflective educator, one should look beyond his/her reflection, exploring the impact of outside forces (including the faculty itself) on teaching practices and not holding back from questioning assumptions and beliefs commonly accepted as normal and common sense. Moreover, he/she should uncover and reframe any processes whereby teaching practices benefit mostly those in power, those in control in structuring educational experiences ( Rothman, Kelly-Woessner & Woessner, 2011 ), such as the educator him/herself, even if this is viewed by the faculty members and administrators as naturalistic and orderly ( Brookfield, 2017 ; Rothman et al., 2011 ), as this will not be effective toward student education in the long term ( Brookfield, 2017 ).

The use of critical self-reflection is illustrated in Lubbe and Botha (2020) ’s study where they share their journal of reflective practice. Although their module's learning outcomes were already set within the framework, Lubbe & Botha (2020) challenged hegemonistic processes, asking for their students’ input on their learning needs. With further planning and evaluation, they succeeded in ensuring scholarship in their teaching.

The use of critical self-reflection is particularly warranted in these extraordinary circumstances. Educators should not hold themselves back from questioning changes in module curricula and delivery, where practical placements may be on hold or inadequately being covered, or where new online methods of teaching and learning are being used. Attention must also be given to equilibrate the power dynamics in the virtual classroom, particularly if student interactions are noticed to be minimal or completely absent. “Sharing power” with students may help them achieve a sense of identity within the online learning community, and avoid disconnectedness ( Koole, 2014 ). Given that students are less likely to perceive the faculty as able to identify their educational needs ( Rothman et al., 2011 ), it is important, now, more than ever, that nurse educators reflect on their new teaching practices with a critical perspective to ensure that students’ learning needs are still being met, in line with the evolving healthcare world.

A guide to self-reflection for nurse educators

Despite the recognition of value from reflective practice, it was determined that nurse educators do not necessarily endeavor to develop their reflective practices ( Naicker & van Rensburg, 2018 ).

Self-reflection on teaching practices may not be automatic for most educators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many nurse educators are being urged to take on new teaching methods. Rather than opting for a particular teaching method and style, or making assumptions, nurse educators should see this period as an opportunity to deeply engage in reflective practices. Various recommendations and strategies for engaging in self-reflection within the nursing faculty have been outlined in the literature and referred to in this article. A concise strategy to help educators to start is presented in Table 1 .

To increase nurse educators’ self-efficacy and effectiveness in their teaching practices, and to meet the demands of students in an ever-changing healthcare environment, the development of self-reflective skills is encouraged within the nursing faculty. Self-reflection can be carried out on an individual level; however, it is more likely that the educator progresses to a higher level if students and peer feedback are factored in. Self-reflection is a starting point, not an endpoint. Educators should embark on a lifelong self-reflective journey to sustain their continuous professional development, and learn to be critical, looking at identified issues/problems within their social and political context for obtaining meaningful outcomes. The benefits of reflection extend beyond improving effectiveness in teaching. Only when educators are well versed in using self-reflection can they ask their students to incorporate this approach, which is a means of learning and practice development. In light of the benefits associated with the engagement in self-reflective practice, and especially given the current global situation that limits teaching delivery, this article provided a concise guide to self-reflection for nurse educators.

Declarations of interest: The author has nothing to report.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Anna’s Student Nursing Experience

On Wednesday 2nd September (8pm-9pm UK time) @EBNursingBMJ is co-hosting a twitter chat on student nursing and midwifery with @RCNStudents 

To celebrate the contributions our student nurses/midwives make – we are sharing blogs of their experiences in practice.  Today’s blog is from Anna Jones , a second year student nurse on the children’s branch, from the University of Leeds 

My name is Anna Jones and I am a second year student nurse. I am studying at the University of Leeds and my branch is children’s nursing. I am currently on my summer annual leave and I have to say, I’m enjoying every minute! As much as I enjoy my course, it’s a relief to have a break! To say that second year has been difficult would be an understatement. Continual deadlines whilst working on placement all year has been exhausting, but a challenge I am proud to say that I have overcome. Being a student nurse brings many challenges every day. Whether it’s completing an assignment, frantically trying to get a certain skill signed off or ironing your uniform after a twelve and a half hour shift ready for another the next day. What I would give for my own fairy god mother!

However, these challenges do not compare to the ones many patients encounter daily and I am forever putting my own life into perspective to realise how truly lucky myself and many others are to have good health. Working within the field of paediatrics is incredibly rewarding and a joy to meet and care for so many courageous children and families. The strength and resilience they have to face each day is remarkable and gives me the motivation to deliver the best care I can, because my patient’s deserve nothing less.

Like I mentioned, this year has been a tough one – I thought first year was difficult but nothing can prepare you for the jump to second year. I first worked on a day case surgical ward which I loved. Whilst the no nights and weekends were a bonus, meeting so many children and families every shift was a delight. I was able to accompany patients throughout their short stay in hospital, from their admission and the journey to the anaesthetic room to bringing them back to the ward and saying goodbye as they were discharged. Although this was a short experience for patients and their families, do not underestimate the fear and anxieties that are experienced and how valuable the role of nurses are to lend a comforting smile and words of encouragement as children prepare for their surgery.

Being a children’s nurse means delivering the upmost care to that patient, but also ensuring family centred care is encapsulated within practice because they are also on this journey, experiencing a vast range of emotions. Comforting a parent who was crying as their child had been anaesthetised and taken to surgery, having only known them for a few hours seems a bit of an awkward situation. But when you are in that role, that caring role of a nurse, you pat them on the back, lend them a shoulder to cry on or even give them a hug, all with no hesitation. Because if you cannot show that level of compassion and empathy, how can you truly fulfil your role as a nurse?

The rest of my placements this year have been based in the community, one of which was health visiting. Students often have mixed reactions about health visiting but for me it was very different to life on the ward! 9am starts was one of the best perks, an extra two hours in bed was bliss! Working 9-5 Monday to Friday was also a very different routine, and one which I actually found more tiring than 3 long days on a ward. Community placements were slightly more relaxed compared to the busy pace of a ward, but do not doubt the workload. One baby is born every forty seconds in the UK, and each one needs a health visitor. But I enjoyed the placement and an area of health care I would certainly consider further along in my career. Another placement within the community was based at a SILC school. These are Specialist Inclusive Learning Centres for children with special needs. This was a special placement for several reasons; meeting children with specialist and complex needs was so valuable as a student nurse. To see the small yet significant impact you were making on these children was endearing and a valuable learning experience for future practice. The school was also where my grandma had nursed for 20 years; I had quite literally stepped into her shoes! As you can see, nursing runs in the family…

I found that working in the community was a valuable experience to ascertain the care that is delivered outside of the hospital setting. It was also important to become aware of all the services available for children and families to ensure that you are working as part of a wider team to ensure that the care you deliver is holistic within the context of that patient. I realise I sound like I’m writing an essay but it is so important to deliver effective, person centred care. To put my job into perspective, I always try to imagine if it was my younger sister or brother being cared for which gives me the drive to deliver the care that my patients deserve. If my parents or grandparents had to go into hospital, I would want the best level of care delivered to them, as would everyone. This is why the notion of ‘person centred care’ should resonate throughout the nursing workforce and an aspect I will channel within my career. At the beginning of my nursing programme I discovered a quote by Maya Angelou that encapsulates this well within the context of nursing:

‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’

I have one more placement of my second year, 4 weeks on a respiratory ward which I begin in a few weeks time. It’s been nice to relax and have some time off but I am looking forward to being thrown back into the whirlwind that is nursing. I will then continue straight into third year. My final year. With so many assignments and placements, qualifying has always seemed like a lifetime away, but now it’s only 60 weeks away (to be precise!) Am I apprehensive? Yes. I can already feel the huge weight that is third year beginning to rest on my shoulders with the prospect of dissertation and applying for jobs. Am I ready? Sometimes I’m not so sure, but I’ve got this far so there is definitely no turning back now! Am I excited with what the next few years will bring? Absolutely.

Anna Jones @AnnaJones6

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Student Day in the Life – Paediatric Burns assessment unit and day-case trauma/plastics/burns surgery

Amy – 3 rd Year – Nursing (Child)

6.45: Arrive at hospital and park up, walk into the ward, get changed into uniform.

7.00: Meet for handover, check in with my supervisor, and plan for the day.

7.30: Elective day case patients arrive, I have a 14-year-old dental patient to admit. I take their height and weight as well as complete a set of baseline observations. With the patient and their parent, I complete the relevant paperwork, get them situated on the ward, and answer any questions they have. Once I have finished an anesthetist and surgeon arrive to complete their paperwork and I observe these interactions. I check in with the play lead about any support they can provide.

9.00: Trauma and burns patients arrive following a negative COVID-19 swab and I help to admit another patient.

11.00: I help take patients to theatres, providing a distraction to the child as they are cannulated as well as support to parents afterward and heading back to the ward. Once patients have been taken to recovery, I help take parents to them and then assist with bringing patients back to the ward when needed. Once patients have returned to the ward, I complete a set of observations, offer suitable food, and drink and complete any relevant paperwork. Once a patient has been discharged, I help to clear their bed space and prepare it for the next patient.

15.00: I am spending the afternoon in the pediatric assessment unit as there are a lot of appointments and no afternoon patients on the ward. I check in with the nurses working here and assist with the clinical holding of a burns patient who has returned for re-dressing.

16.00: Assist with a burn assessment in the pediatric assessment unit. A 3 rd old child has a hot tea burn to their shoulder and arm from pulling down a cup of tea in the kitchen. I help to remove the dressing applied at A&E, clean the wound, and apply suitable dressing. Give burns care advice and book in for a follow-up. Once patient and parent have left, help clean down the room, re-stock supplies and write up notes.

18.30: I check in with the ward staff and hand over anything that needs to be included for the night staff. I also check in with my supervisor to ensure that everything has been double signed off in my paperwork and discuss how my day has been.

Student Reflections – Adult Nursing – Cardiology Placement

Charlotte – 3 rd Year – Nursing (Adult)

I am based on a medical cardiology ward, treating patients with a variety of cardiac conditions from heart failure exacerbation to ACS. A day starts at 07:30 with a comprehensive handover from the night team, highlighting any patients that have high NEWS, are awaiting procedures, or are going home. Then, the day can take any number of turns from there!

The team is incredible, supporting me through learning an absolute multitude of abbreviations and medical jargon – Tavis, and STEMIs, and AS, and BAVs – and carefully explaining procedures and conditions to me. The first couple of weeks involved shadowing my practice supervisor, getting used to the medications and what they were used for, and trying to figure out what the squiggles on the cardiac monitor meant. My practice supervisor had just done a master’s module in ECG interpretation, and at the beginning of every shift we reviewed one of our patient’s ECGs to understand if there had been any changes, and so I could begin to get an insight into how you decipher them! Then, when I felt comfortable, I was given my ‘own’ patients to look after – starting with one, and working up to a whole bay, with my practice supervisor acting as HCA, and generally making sure I was doing the right things. It gave me incredible confidence in my own abilities, and I often left for the day knowing that I had made a difference to patient care, and also massively advanced my learning.

Some days involved discharges and admissions, while some days involved supporting patients arriving back from procedures called Angiograms. Agios can be diagnostic, or what’s known as a +/- – where stents can be placed in occluded coronary arteries – and involves a catheter being threaded through the radial artery to the heart, with a contrast dye injected to look for blockages. One of the spokes for this placement area is the Cath labs, where these procedures are carried out, and you’re able to see the procedure, have it fully explained to you, and follow the patient journey. You then follow your patient back to the ward for recovery care.

We also had days of unpredictability, with patients deteriorating, high NEWS scores, and MET calls. It is an acute area, with patients that can be unstable, or need transferring to higher dependency areas, or even having unrelated conditions develop. One shift, one of our patients developed sepsis and deteriorated very quickly. As this patient was elderly, they didn’t display the classic high temperature, and if the respiration rate had not been counted correctly, and escalated, it could have been easily missed, or mistaken for something else. For me, this highlighted how well nursing teams know their patients, and know something is wrong. We realised they were not themselves, and escalated to the appropriate teams, creating a chain reaction that got our patients the treatment they needed very quickly.

It is impossible to put into words how much I learned on this placement, and how much is transferrable to other clinical areas. I have become more confident in escalating my concerns, in applying pathophysiology, in meds management, and in myself as a nearly third-year student nurse. My advice to you, if you get any cardiac placement, or with any placement at all, is to get involved as much as you can, soak it in, and make it known that you want to learn everything and anything – don’t be afraid to ask things, you deserve to be there. Oh, and maybe take a notebook.

Student Reflections – Mental Health Nursing – CAMHS Placement

Steph – 3 rd Year – Nursing (Mental Health)

I’m writing this as a year 3 mental health nursing student two months from qualifying, reflecting on first placement of my second year.

Before I came to CAMHS I had many preconceptions, mainly from news articles and social media posts on their lacking compassion and care. I was nervous to start because I had (and still have) so much passion for child mental health services (CAMHS) and I didn’t want to become one of these “uncaring CAMHS professionals” (which there are none of, and I explain this later on in the blog).

Everything I had learned so far in the 2 years of my mental health nursing degree revolved around adult nursing. From blood pressure and other vital normal ranges to symptoms of mental health conditions, were only relevant when concerning adults. After a lengthy induction and getting to know the team, I assisted with the ADHD clinic. I was asked to use the automatic blood pressure machine in the clinic room and seeing the measurement of 95/55 felt alarming, but I was reassured that this was healthy for a child of this age. From the first clinic, I realised how lacking I was in knowledge of this age group and how it isn’t always discussed on the course.

As a student the biggest part of our role (especially in the first and start of second year) is to observe, and in this placement, I manage to observe so many positive aspects from this team, I was privileged to watch children recover from some mental conditions, witnessing families become more functional and even became a part of others recovery.

Reflecting back, the reason I’m deciding to pursue a career with children is the constant technique changes to keep a child engaging. It’s looking after families holistically rather than one person as a patient. I found that there was a lot of anger in the media and from the public towards CAMHS as a service due to the increase of children’s poor mental health and lack of resources. Working from the inside I watched specialised nurses burn out from putting their all into their work, I witnessed their dedication and passion to helping every child overcome their mental health issues, but there was no reward in the media for this, no excitement for every child they managed to keep safe, no acknowledgment for the times they stayed past 5 to talk with a family, or even a round of applause for the workload that toppled over into their personal time and family lives.

I did wonder for a while why nurses went into the service when most of the feedback in the public eye was and still mostly is negative until I met a young girl, she had suffered massively with her mental health without going into details, after months of visits and treatment alongside family therapy this girl who never smiled, began to do just that. She would laugh in sessions and talk about future plans; she became full of life again. That feeling you get when you’ve put time into a person and you see the glimpse of hope and recovery, nothing compares to it. That’s why these nurses continue on through the negativity because seeing a child and their family go from helpless to enjoying life is worth everything else that comes along with the job title.

This is not to say the frustration and anger from the public are not just, but I believe the energy is being poured into the wrong place, these nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and carers all care deeply for children’s mental health, but when there is lacking of resources, lacking teams and lacking capacity it all stems down to the funding, and that is where the energy should be placed, to gain more funding to make the services fitter for practice without every nurse burning out.

I’ve now in my final placement, worked with every age group, from children to the elderly, and although in every placement I put my all and every team has been welcoming and just as caring as the last. Nurses in all domains are doing amazing jobs, and the passion that shines through I’m always in awe of, but I’ve never felt more at home and more thriving than when I was working in CAMHS.

Student Reflections – Adult Nursing – Surgery Placement

Rebecca – 2 nd Year – Nursing (Adult)

Walking into a hospital for the first time is one of the most overwhelming yet amazing experiences of being a nursing student. That feeling doesn’t change even on my second placement of the second year. As a student, you will have gained so much knowledge during your first 2 years that you know how to approach each new placement with confidence. It always takes some time to adjust but once you do, everything is familiar, and you feel as though you are a part of the team.

I am currently on a placement at a private surgery placement. The shifts are 12 hours and the day starts off with handover, which is one of the most important parts of the day. Handover provides all the relevant information for patients who have stayed overnight and information about the patients having surgeries that day. Throughout the day you are assigned with a nurse, and about 4 patients.

The day consists of medication management specifically towards post-operative care: pain, nausea management, washing, and any relevant personal care, taking observations, and other monitoring. For example, if a patient has an epidural, they have regular checks, as well as wound care/dressing changes and documentation.

Each day is different and you are faced with a wide variety of patients, personalities, and problems. Having the same patients gives a lot of time to get to know them, something they don’t tell you is by the end of the second year you will have mastered small talk.

As a student on a surgical placement, you have the opportunity to not only spend time with patients and the nurse, but to watch surgeries, small procedures, and scans. This has been fascinating and a completely new experience, seeing someone having a knee replacement is something you will never forget.

The most rewarding part is going home knowing you made a difference to a patient’s day, even if it’s only small, those days are the best.

Finally, your placements will be part of the nursing course that will prepare you the most for working while also being the biggest step forward in building your confidence, expanding your knowledge, and giving you the experience you need for practice.

Student Reflections – Mental Health Nursing – CAMHS Placement

Elisa – 3 rd Year – Nursing (Mental Health)

My current management placement is at a CAMHS (Child and adolescent mental health) in-patient unit. The struggles and diagnoses our patients currently present with are psychosis, self-harm, anxiety, neurodivergence, eating disorders, and depression.

It’s hard to describe a day as it varies so much as we journey through the highs and lows with our patients. However, from a nursing point of view, the day starts with allocating the shift, dispensing medication, and discussing with the wider MDT patient needs. Working in CAMHS you are in close contact with social workers, education, parents, and carers. The range of patient struggles alongside normal teenage hormonal changes can be an intricate process to discern and decide what needs treatment and more importantly how the young person can be supported through normal teenage concerns.

I’ve learned so much here- around emotional boundaries and resilience, however compassionate care has remained in the front of my mind. When I reflected with a nurse around compassion fatigue, they reminded me that when you are with a patient who is struggling and it feels like they aren’t responding to your support, it can feel disheartening, however, every kind of act each person gives builds upon each other so that the young person can feel able to respond to the care. For example, if I’m with a young person who is self-harming and I try to de-escalate them out of it, but they don’t respond to me, yet when another staff comes along they are able to de-escalate, it can quickly feel overwhelming, and that I am not a good enough nurse. In such an instance I must remember that all compassion is remembered and received, it can just take people time to accept it and bring them out of the sadness they are in. This reflection has encouraged me in remembering that recovery and healing take time, and it takes a whole team; no individual staff can be the answer for everyone and that is ok!

Teamwork, time, hard work, and patience are what paves the road towards healing and hope.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Job — My Reflection Experience of Nursing Incident

My Reflection Experience of Nursing Incident

• Categories: Job Personal Experience Workplace

About this sample

Words: 1445 |

Published: Apr 11, 2019

Words: 1445 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Works Cited:

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• Nathan, D. (1955). The New World of Arthur Miller. Criterion, 34, 1-11.
• Schrecker, E. (1994). McCarthyism: The Great American Red Scare: A Documentary History. Oxford University Press.
• Trask, R. B. (1996). The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History. University Press of Kansas.
• Ward, G. C. (1963). The Crucible Reconsidered: An Essay. New England Quarterly, 36(2), 161-168.
• Zinn, H. (2003). A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. HarperCollins Publishers.

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