The way of consciously watching and thinking about our experiences, actions, feelings, and responding to them, and then interpreting or analyzing them so as to learn from them is usually known as Reflection. Reflection helps us to understand our self which eventually makes us more successful. The benefits of reflection are: reflection transforms the experience into learning about own values and goals; it helps to develop high-level thinking and problem-solving skills; it helps to understand a particular event fully and analyze our role in that event; it helps in advocating for change; it critically analyze the influences on practice and promote person-centered care. Reflection helps to identify points for improvement and work on them and can be a useful learning opportunity for others (Koshy et al., 2017)
The reflection model I am using is Gibb’s reflection model. The picture of Gibbs Reflective Cycle is presented below:
Description of an incident:
When I was studying bachelor of nursing science first year at Maharajgunj Nursing Campus, Kathmandu, Nepal, we had three three-week placements at an emergency department. At that time my teacher asked me to study thoroughly about the case of Meningitis. As it was my case study, I had to look after each and every report of this case and the drugs used in this case. But when I started to know about the history of the case by looking at the report and talking with the visitor about the patient having meningitis, all of sudden another patient who had recently arrived had vomiting and his spo2 level was very low. So, the nurse looking at that patient asked me to help her in transferring the patient to the ICU department. so, I chose to help her to transfer the patient. After that, my teacher arrived and asked me about the case which she told me to study thoroughly. I told her that I had not yet looked about that case as I had gone to help the nurse and now I am going to study that case. My teacher told me that I was very poor in time management, as I had not studied about the case she told me. She carried on explaining that I had to know about each and every case when I became a registered nurse and if I did like this I could not be a good registered nurse in the future. This situation left me questioning which was the priority, the patient's need or my own learning.
Feelings
when the nurse asked me to help her, I automatically helped her because I thought that I could study the case of meningitis any time but transferring the patient to the ICU for further treatment was a most necessary priority at that time. I knew that I had made the right decision but I could not explain the issue to the teacher at that time and I felt very annoyed with myself. I was very concerned about the needs of the patient and felt I could not justify leaving the patient untreated because I had to study the case of meningitis. The decision made by the nurse should be justifiable (Nibbelink & Brewer, 2018)
After that event, the words told by the teacher about time management confused me. I decided to search for time management skills because I knew that my time management skills were good as I am very punctual during my shifts and made the checklist about the work needed to be done and priorities accordingly. This event created the question of how I was prioritizing my workload at the moment.
Evaluation
In this situation, I chose to help the nurse in ensuring the patient was getting better treatment and I felt that this was the priority at that time. Prioritizing the need for care is one of the themes included in the national competency standard for registered nurses [Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), 2019]
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I also understand what my teacher was explaining to me, that I had to know about each and every case when I become a registered nurse. As an accountable health practitioner, one must have knowledge and skills regarding the disease condition and the drugs used for safe practice. I must have up-to-date knowledge while working and I must be involved in each and every learning activity that develops my competencies. We must treat the patient as an individual and respect their dignity (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2015), which I did in this case. After this experience, I thought that it was a priority to help the nurse in transferring the patient to the ICU for further treatment or to learn about the case of meningitis. If I had studied the case of meningitis I would have been leaving the patient untreated which may have been dangerous for the patient's health.
Analysis
we learn about time from our childhood. time management skills are very important in my career. I will be overwhelmed with my work and I need to evaluate how to manage time properly. time management is very important in every sector, especially in the health sector. It is a dynamic process. Time management goes together with prioritization skills, which means deciding priorities and planning accordingly. Proper time management reduces stress in the workplace which contributes to increased productivity. Effective time management is related to academic performance and lower levels of tension in students (Adams & Blair, 2019). In the health care setting, during patient care priorities can change anytime and I will need to reassess the situation and decide accordingly. the nurse needs to decide the priorities first and plan accordingly. After prioritizing and planning, it should be followed by appropriate nursing action.
If I had not helped the nurse to transfer the patient to the ICU, the patient would have had to wait until I finished studying the case of meningitis and left there in the emergency ward. This could have a serious effect on the patient's health as he vomited many times and his saturation level is low. this is a life-threatening condition as there is a need for oxygen administration due to low levels of SPO2. Life-threatening problems should be placed as high priority. According to NMC (2015) registered nurse should always be able to justify their decisions.
Conclusion
Time management skills are a dynamic process and should go together with prioritizing skills. If we fail to do time management, it causes stress to ourselves and other people in a team. The nursing process can help to manage time effectively. after analyzing the situation and researching time management skills, I came to the conclusion that my teacher was wrong in that she told me that I was very poor in time management skills as I had prioritized well and in this situation, the patient transferring to ICU was more necessary than my professional learning. And I still believe that I was not wrong. The patient would have been in trouble if I had not helped the nurse. In the future as a registered nurse, I will be accountable for every action. So, if the same situation arose repeatedly, I think that I would not act differently rather than speak and justify the decision I made. taking care of the patient will always be my first priority in the future.
Action Plan
Time management is very important in today's world. It is also recognized as an important factor in work performance in the field of health and medicine. To be a qualified registered nurse, I should have excellent time management and prioritizing skills. To achieve this I will adopt the following strategies: evaluate how long it takes to complete the task; make the checklist and mark the task that are completed and evaluate at last; delegate tasks to others in the team if necessary.
Talented people do not solely involve chasing specific experiences and getting feedback additionally creating an attempt to receive the teachings of experience through reflection (Dane & Sonenshein, 2015). Through this reflection of experience, I am currently aware that I want additional development to challenge and make questions that I feel don’t seem to be in the best interests of the patient. So, to obtain this I will always speak and justify my actions and also build my confidence skill.
Reference List
- Academic Skill Learning Zone, (2018).Reflective Practice & Gibbs Reflective Cycle. retrieved from:http://academicskills.marjon.ac.uk/as2.php?pageID=36&subID=102
- Adams, R. V., & Blair, E. (2019). Impact of Time Management Behaviors on Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Performance. SAGE Open, 9(1). Retrieved from:https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1210843&site=eds-live
- Bain, J. D., Mills, C., Ballantyne, R., & Packer, J. (2012).Developing reflection on practice through journal writing: Impacts of variations in the focus and level of feedback. Teachers and Teaching, 8(2), 171-196. doi: 10.1080/13540600220127368
- Back, M. D., Schmukle, S. C., &Egloff, B. (2016). Who is late and who is early? Big Five personality factors and punctuality in attending psychological experiments. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(5), 841-848. Retrieved from: https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Who+is+late+and+who+is+early%3F+Big+Five+personality+factors+and+punctuality+in+attending+psychological+experiments&btnG
- Dane, E., &Sonenshein, S. (2015). On the role of experience in ethical decision making at work: An ethical expertise perspective. Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 74-96. Retrieved from:https://sonenshein.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Publications/Dane%20and%20Sonenshein%20Ethical%20Expertise.pdf
- Koshy, K., Limb, C., Gundogan, B., Whitehurst, K., & Jafree, D. J. (2017). Reflective practice in health care and how to reflect effectively. International journal of surgery. Oncology, 2(6), e20. doi:10.1097/IJ9.0000000000000020
- Nibbelink, C. W., & Brewer, B. B. (2018). Decision-making in nursing practice: An integrative literature review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5-6), 917–928. doi:10.1111/jocn.14151
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (2015). Professional standards of practice and behavior for nurses and midwives. Retrieved from http://www.nmc-uk.org/code
- Poorchangizi, B., Farokhzadian, J., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M., &Borhani, F. (2017).The importance of professional values from clinical nurses' perspective in hospitals of a medical university in Iran. BMC Medical Ethics, 181-7.doi:10.1186/s12910-017-0178-9
- The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2019). Retrieved from: https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards.aspx
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