Using A Model of Reflection
Using A Model of Reflection
Using A Model of Reflection
When writing your portfolio of practice you will be expected to include a piece of reflection after each placement. This reflection must relate to situations in your clinical work where you feel you have learnt something that is of value to your practice and future career. It maybe a positive experience where something went well or a negative one where you need to think about what has happened. From each piece of reflection you must identify what you have learned from the experience and how this relates to the theory that you have been taught or researched. To help you with this reflection there are several models that might be useful to help guide your reflection. You can choose any that you feel will help you. You only need to use one model. The ones that we recommend are the following, however there are many more in the literature that you might want to use and references are included for some of these.
Conclusion What else could you have done? Analysis What sense can you make of the situation? (Gibbs 1988)
Description
Write a description of the experience What are the key issues within this description that I need to pay attention to?
Reflection
What was I trying to achieve? Why did I act as I did? What are the consequences of my actions? For the patient and family For myself For people I work with How did I feel about this experience when it was happening? How did the patient feel about it? How do I know how the patient felt about it?
Influencing factors
What internal factors influenced my decision-making and actions? What external factors influenced my decision-making and actions? What sources of knowledge did or should have influenced my decision making and actions?
Alternative strategies
Could I have dealt better with the situation? What other choices did I have? What would be the consequences of these other choices?
Learning
How can I make sense of this experience in light of past experience and future practice? How do I NOW feel about this experience? Have I taken effective action to support myself and others as a result of this experience? How has this experience changed my way of knowing in practice? (Johns, C. 1994)
Awareness of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts Action / new experience Identify any learning which has occurred Describe the situation including thoughts and feelings Salient events Key features
Evaluate the relevance of knowledge Does it help to explain / solve problems? How complete was your use of knowledge?
Analyse feelings and knowledge relevant to the situation Identify knowledge Challenge assumptions Imagine and explore alternatives
If you wish to review other models or find out more about reflection the following references may help: