REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Reflective Practice

Reflective Practice

Introduction

I have noticed nowadays that reflective practice does play a major role in the nursing field. It is not just a personal opinion as,(Teekman 2000,pg 1125-1135) states that reflective practice is becoming an essential element of nurse education as professional nursing bodies world wide are being impressed by literature on learning by reflection. It is nearly the same conclusion that is brought by Boud, Keogh and Walker(1987,pg 11) and this is proof as well that reflective practice isn't a new concept. It is so, as they traced similar ideas back to Aristoles writings on practical judgement and moral actions. Reflective practice is a system that clarifies everything. It is a simple task of noting past experience and improving on past errors

'Reflection also provides data for self-examination and increases learning from experiences' (Saylor 1990). The following essay is based upon the concept of reflection. I decided to go straight through the description of the incident and offered a list of the books I based my concept on. I thought it would be more relevant in this way.

Description Of Incident

I was on a surgical ward for my placement. It was a new experience as it was my first time on a ward. There was a patient I was looking after. I'll call him Stephen Jordan. He had a colostomy, a surgical operation in which a part of the colon is brought through the abdominal wall and opened in order to drain or decompress the intestine. He also had a sternotomy, which is a division of the sternum, performed to allow access to the heart and its major vessel. Two days after surgery, he was brought to the ward I worked. He was very weak and could feel the most minor pain to a high level. So, once it happened that he was shouting for help and nobody came to him. He even buzzed with no response. Unfortunately I was on my break and I only made my way to him ten minutes later. He wanted to be moved up the bed but seeing that there was nobody, he tried to do it himself. That was a big mistake from his part as, by trying to move, the lower part of his wound opened up. Three of the clips snapped and hence the wound oozed badly. It was painful and he couldn't move any more as if stunned. Fortunately I came back and saw the buzzer's light near his bed. I ran to him and did my best to assess the situation. I had a good idea then as I put on some sterile gloves and put some gauzes on top of the wound. This stopped the oozing and I then managed to go get help.

Aesthetics

What i was trying to do?

When I saw the open wound, the first thing that passed through my mind, was to stop it from oozing.

Why did i respond the way i did?

I thought there would be a lower risk of infection and that it would be ...