A descriptive account of the identification and utilisation of a learning opportunity from practice - Essay Example

This paper would roughly follow Gibb’s model of reflective cycle since this was supposedly more useful to the less experienced practitioner. Lynn Basford and Oliver Slevin described the five stages of the Gibbs model in reappraising the care given and in analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of a particular care in their book called Theory and Practice of Nursing. (2003, p. 55) I will, therefore, be discussing my personal learning experience in the context of these stages. My responsibilities in the four-week nursing placement program include the assistance in conducting activities, exercises as well as therapies that would improve the patients’ mental health conditions.

The placement care team which I belong to is assigned a roster of clients. With the supervision of our tutors, we divided and allocated tasks regarding activities and exercises. I would like to cite my experience with a particular patient, whom for purposes of confidentiality; I would refer to as Barbara. She is one of the wards assigned to our team and hers became one of my interesting learning interactions. I believe we had a bad start due to her mental condition. Firstly, she is 31 years old, almost ten years my senior.

Her dossier revealed a Prader-Willi syndrome and a challenging behavior. This posed a considerable problem for us because she is capable both of verbal and physical aggression. Naturally, most in my group are reluctant to have anything to do with her – administering in exercises and therapy sessions, preferring older but docile patients. With this in mind, I sat down and thought: If I volunteer to assist in her case, there is a remarkable risk, possibly even of violence (unlike those with extreme mental condition, she is unpredictable but not totally restrained.). But there is also a tremendous learning opportunity, so the idea that maybe I would be involving myself with