Writing reflectively is thought of as an important factor in nursing education and practice. It allows the nurses to think critically about the experiences they have and to identify aspects that need to be improved for enhancement in their clinical skills.
A nursing reflection essay enables you, constructively, to put those experiences into words for continuous learning and professional growth. In this blog, steps are provided on how to go about writing an effective nursing reflective essay.
Comprehension of the Purpose of a Nursing Reflection Essay
First and foremost, one needs to know the rationale behind writing the reflection essay for nursing before choosing this career path. A nursing essay is purposed for various major reasons that include, but are not limited to:
- Self-Reflection: Reflect upon experiences in the clinical setting. Evaluate your strengths and where there is room for improvement.
- Critical Thinking: Develop skills to engage in critical thinking regarding what you have done, how and why decisions were made, and how they may affect patients.
- Professional Development: Use reflection to enhance learning by considering how your experiences identify lessons to be learned, contributing to professional development or growth.
Selecting An Appropriate Experience to Reflect Upon
First, choosing the experience on which one will reflect is very important when writing a nursing reflection essay. This could be a particular patient contact, a challenging situation, or a clinical decision that really influenced either your life or your patient’s. In going about choosing your experience, consider the following:
- Relevance: The experience that you will choose must be relevant to nursing practice, providing formidable opportunities for learning.
- Impact: Reflect on an event that affected you positively or negatively.
- Learning Opportunity: Select an experience wherein you may identify new insight or question your previous understanding.
How to Structure Your Nursing Reflection Essay
A good essay has better readability and ensures that your reflections are organized and coherent. Following is a generic structure for a nursing reflection essay.
Introduction
- Description of Experience: Briefly summarize the clinical experience that you will be reflecting upon.
- Reflection’s Purpose: Relay why you decided to reflect upon this experience and how it relates to nursing practice.
- Thesis Statement: Clearly state what you feel the main insight gained from the experience was.
Description of Experience
- Contextual Background – The setting of the situation includes describing where this event took place, the involvement of the patient, and what your role was at that time.
- Detailed Account: What happened, which includes stating the main events within the experience, the actions done, and decisions made.
- Emotional Response: My immediate feelings about the situation are important to include, as most of the time they will play a huge role in reflection.
Analysis and Reflection
Critical Analysis
Use a reflective model that you like; for example, Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle or Driscoll’s Model of Reflection. Divide the experience into stages: What Happened? – describe the event with information of specifics. What Were You Thinking and Feeling? – discuss thoughts and feelings about what took place in that situation.
Conclusion
Summary of Key Insights: Summarize key insights and learning that have arisen from the reflection process.
Future Application: Reflect on how such insights might be used to enhance your nursing practice in the future.
Final Thoughts: Conclude with any additional reflections or thoughts developed as a result of completing this piece of writing.
Using Reflective Models
The use of a structured reflective model in nursing reflection essays will help organize your thoughts and give you a systematic way of analyzing your experiences. The two most common models are:
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle
The used model for writing nursing reflection essays is Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. This model presents itself in six stages.
- Description: What happened?
- Feelings: What was I thinking? And what was I feeling?
- Evaluation: Evaluate the good and effects.
- Analyzed: What can you make of the situation?
- Conclusion: What else could you have done?
- Action Plan: if it happens again, what would you do?
This model encourages thorough exploitation of the experience via emotional, cognitive, and practical viewpoints.
Driscoll’s Model of Reflection
Probably the most common model of reflection in use is Driscoll’s Model, based on three questions:
- What? – Describe the setting.
- So What? – The importance of the experience.
- What Next? – Reflect on how you can improve your practice in the future.
This model is excellent in instances where you wish to focus on actionable insights and improvements in the future.
Embedding Evidence-Based Practice
In your nursing reflective essay, embedding evidence-based practice is incorporated in reflection upon those experiences. This takes in: –
- Referencing Guidelines: You should take in good clinical guidelines, protocols, or best practices relevant to your experience.
- Support Your Analysis: Support analysis and reflection with scholarly articles, textbooks, or research studies.
- Link Theory with Practice: Describe how theoretical input led to action and decision-making in the experience.
Tips for Writing a Great Reflection Essay
Common Errors to Avoid
While writing this reflective essay in nursing, it is good to know that some common mistakes must be avoided.
- Superficiality: Avoid shallow reflections. Instead, go deep by reflecting on “why” and “how” something has been performed.
- Too Descriptive: Do not focus on describing what happened but, rather, analyze and reflect on the experience.
- Lack of Evidence-Based Practice: State reflections based on relevant theory and evidence.
Conclusion
This is an excellent exercise in promoting self-awareness, critical thinking, and professional growth in the individual. But, with the selection of an appropriate experience, choosing a reflective model, evidence-based practice, and a clear structure, one can construct a well-informed, effective essay. Reflection, therefore, needs to be not just for looking at the past but also learning to improve your future nursing practice.
Final Words About Writing a Nursing Reflection Essay
Reflective writing is developed through practice; therefore, enjoy the process and incorporate this into your nursing career as a means of continued learning. This guide comprehensively outlines the way one should approach writing a nursing reflection essay. And to fully capture an experience and translate that experience into meaningful learning opportunities.
An essay on nursing reflection tends to be a strong means for personal and professional growth. It makes a person reflect deeply on experiences, challenges connecting theory with practice, and makes a person plan future improvements in nursing care.
