Nursing Assignment: Reflection Using Gibbs Cycle on Urinalysis
Question
Task: Write a well-researched nursing assignment critically reflecting on experience gained from engaging in the nursing activities using Gibbs cycle.
Answer
Urinalysis
Description
I would like to mention herein nursing assignment that I took part in analysing the urine sample of a patient on the very first week of the workshop. The reflection will highlight my feelings and analysis that I engaged in and the things I would do as future action in this area. The urine sample was initially collected and placed in a jar, which was then used for testing with a help of test strip. The coloured reference grid helped in obtaining result.
Feelings
The process was very new to me and I was excited about conducting the test to prove my skills and get an accurate result. However, due to excitement I ended up in making a mistake in the middle of my testing process and missed the vital instructions. As a nurse I am responsible to comprehensively conduct assessments, however, my instructor helped me to manage the mistake, which made me feel more confident (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). An experience nurse like my instructor is responsible in mentoring an inexperienced nurse like me and help me learn passing on principles, skills and experience in nursing process (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017).
Evaluation
From my experience in conducting urine analysis I would say that the things which went well was that I got a chance to learn many new things from my instructor that a registered nurse needs to do. I engaged in active listening to my instructor and received ample support from him. Another thing that went as I expected that is, I maintained hand hygiene throughout the assessment and practiced aseptic techniques (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017). However, the things that clearly didn’t work well was that I made significant errors in testing and failed to implement the urinalysis procedure successfully because of my excitement and careless attitude.
Analysis
I think I end up making mistakes initially in testing because I did not read the instructions well and was not much aware of the nurse standards of practice. However, slowly I realized the importance of maintaining nurse standards in practice (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). Further, I think the reason that my end result of the urine analysis was good because I followed my instructor’s guidance after making the mistake and came up with accurate result. The knowledge of my instructor about nursing practice and my own knowledge of importance of safety and quality in healthcare helped in understanding the urine testing process well (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017).
Conclusion
From the situation I learnt that one should be careful and conduct clinical assessments in a comprehensive manner. Moreover, it is important for a nurse to adhere to nursing standards and Australian quality and safety in healthcare. The urine testing and my performance would have been more successful if I had read the instructions before conducting the test.
Action plan
When I will conduct any such clinical test in future, I will carefully read all the instructions given for conducting the test and align with standards expected from a nurse such as thinking critically, conduct test comprehensively and maintains the capability for practice (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). Potentially I would learn about all the patient safety and quality systems by maintaining safe environment for the delivery of care. This will help me become more attentive while conducting any clinical test.
Vital Observation
Description
In my second workshop I engaged in vital observation of older adults to obtain vital signs of the health including O2 Sat, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature and pain assessment. This reflection states my feeling and analysis throughout my performance of observing these vital signs.
Feelings
During the observation process I felt tensed because I was unable to find the radial and brachial pulse of the patient. The pain of the patient made me more stressed and delayed the observation of blood pressure and heart rate. However, I was able to manage the vital observation process with the help of my instructor, as he maintained the nursing standard and provided me with effective education to enhance my control over patient’s health (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016).
Evaluation
The things that were good and worked well was that I was able to control my nervousness and effectively demonstrated nursing practice capability. Moreover, I was able to provide safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice with the help of guidelines given by my instructors (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017). However, the things that didn’t work well was that I failed to find the pulse of the patient due to my nervousness and it affected my performance. Moreover, I also delayed in asking for assistance from my instructor, which delayed my other vital observation process further (Banister, Bowen-Brady & Winfrey, 2014).
Analysis
The things did not go well initially because I was too nervous and worried to conduct the test keeping in mind the importance of the observation. Moreover, my delayed attitude and lack of knowledge about medication management process further overdue the observation (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). I also failed to study the protocol for vital sign parameters and document vital sign monitoring plans (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017). However, I was able to successfully complete the vital observation of the older adult patients because of the assistance I received from my instructor.
Conclusion
From the vital observation activity, I was able to learn that when conducting assessment of vital signs among patients, a nurse should be attentive and calm. Moreover, I learned that it is important to document vital signs plan to effectively conduct the assessment in a planned manner. I would have planned and communicated about the assessment in time with the instructor for better performance.
Action Plan
When I will work on vital signs assessment in future as a part of my nursing role, I will make sure to comply by required nursing standards such as maintaining effective capability of practice, develop plan for nursing practice and provide safe and responsive quality assessment (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). I would document individualized vital sign monitoring plans so that I can observe each vital sign effectively within time. Further, I plan to keep myself calm during the assessment and understand the pain of the patients so that the observation is completed effectively (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017). Analysing the deterioration state of the patients and the vital signs of deterioration is important to understand the causes of the acute state of the patient.
References
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2017). National safety and quality health service standards (2nd ed.). https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-04/National-Safety-and-Quality-Health-Service-Standards-second-edition.pdf
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2016). nursing assignmentRegistered nurses standards for practice.
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx
Banister, G., Bowen-Brady, H. M., & Winfrey, M. E. (2014). Using Career Nurse Mentors to Support Minority Nursing Students and Facilitate Their Transition to Practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 30(4), 317–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2013.11.001
