Reflective Report | EssayIvy.com

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Introduction

In the process of working as a team in the HARMS Community Healthcare Center, there

are various incidents that took place and which were of great importance by helping the group to

reflect on the success of the group as a whole. In this manner, there is a need to examine the

impacts of the same and how they influenced the group as a whole to ascertain success of the

project. It is apparent that there are various skills required to make a project successful and the

interdisciplinary team that were expected to use their interdisciplinary skills to deliver the goals

of the project. There were various memorable incidences that took place in the process of

working as a team, and one which stood out was where the management of healthcare center

gave us task of taking care of a whole ward that had a total of 66 elderly patients for a whole day.

For the whole day, we clean the whole ward where the patients were, took them outside to catch

sunlight, changed the beddings of the patients washed the beddings, bathed the patients, gave the

necessary medications they required and gave them their meals on time.

Overview of the Purpose of Reflection and Role

In the course of incident, the healthcare center did not give us any information on the

processes of taking care of the patients but expected us to use our academic skills and ingenuity

to deliver excellent services to the elderly. I reflected on the incident because I learnt a lot during

the process and I would like to disseminate the knowledge and information I gained during the

incident to enabled others boost their professional skills. Additionally, the other purpose of my

reflection is to encourage other people to appreciate the fact that people can perform excellently

in their daily duties even without having the academic qualifications; this is because we used out

ingenuity, personal and life skills to cater to the elderly people and we performed excellently

according to the quality standards of HARMS Community Adult Care Service Centre. The

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reflection serves to encourage the population make use of their environment and learn from

others to become better people in the society.

The other purpose of my reflection is to highlight the activities that we carried out to help

the hospital identify areas that needed to be improved to offer better services thereof. In this

manner, my reflection serves to encourage hospitals to appreciate the fact that a lot can be done

towards the improvement of patients to ensure that they get better services. Additionally, I am

also reflecting on the incident to appreciate the lessons I learnt from the same and to improve my

personal, professional and social skills to learn to work better with other people and improve the

lives of other people in the society. Finally, the reflection helps me to appreciate the role of

others towards the delivery of organizational goals and objectives and deliver exemplary

performance during tough times. The reflection aims at hailing teamwork and its role in ensuring

better living standards for the population.

Stages of Reflection

In the process of doing out study at the facility, the management of the healthcare center

approached out team and dedicated to us the duty of taking care of one ward that had a total

population of 66 patients. The hospital gave us no information on the activities to do an expected

us to use out academic skills to deliver out goals but only offered the necessary items needed to

carry out our duties effectively. In the morning of the said day, we started by bathing all the

patients and assisting those that could not do it on their own to take a shower, we cleaned them

up, gave then clean clothes, gave them food and directed outside in the field to get fresh air and

take sunbath. Some of the members of the team went with them to keep them company, play

with them and provide any assistance or services they needed.

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The rest of the team remained in the ward where we changed the beddings of the aged,

we cleaned the room, cleaned the dirty beddings we had removed and dusted the entire ward.

The next activity in which we engaged was to invite them back to the ward and those were still

interested in staying outside were left to do so, we gave them their necessary medication, fed

them and left them to do their extra-curriculum activities. The feeling I got during the entire

experience was awesome and I got rejuvenated to be part of the team that was making a

difference in other people’s lives. I was thinking of new activities that could be introduced to

improve quality of life of the elderly because I respect them for their role in building foundation

of the society. I was thinking about how to make their stay better and introduce more fun

activities to make them live longer.

In the evaluation of the whole experience, the good part of the experience was that I

learnt the basic skills of interacting with the aged and managed to take good care of them and

was fulfilled to have made a positive impact in another person’s life. I engaged in the different

games they liked and it was fun playing football, basketball and hockey with them as it helped

me to engage in physical activity. However, the bad experience was that I had to clean the mess

of some of the aged that could not control themselves; this is because there were some patients

that were bedwetting and I had to clean their pee. Additionally, there were some others who

could not clean themselves after visiting the washroom and their clothes were in a mess and this

also led to the smelling of the ward, a matter which forced us to work in a smelly room.

In my analysis, the sense that I made out of the situation was that I old people need better

diapers that can help keep them clean and they should be engaged the more and not be left as

abandoned people in the healthcare facilities. It is because I learnt that they were very happy to

have people concerned about their wellbeing as some other told us personal stories about how

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their family members abandoned them. They need more love from their family members and the

society as a whole. Finally, the situation helped me to acknowledge the importance of those

taking care of the aged in health facilities, and they should be compensated better; the work they

do requires a lot of commitment caring heart.

What else I could have done is to take them out on a field trip to make them experience

the beauty of nature, change their atmosphere and have a breath of fresh air. If the duty rose

again. I would take more time to engage the elderly and share more stories with them, this is

because I realized that through talking to them makes them feel more loved and valued. It would

help me develop better relationship with them and know their struggles and help improve their

conditions even better to enable them live longer and happier lives.

Reflective Model

For the analysis of the incident, I would use Gibb’s reflective cycle to critically discuss

the incident and understand what the experience of both the patients and their caregiver are.

First, I would like to appreciate the intention of the healthcare center of giving us the opportunity

to get a practical experience in caring for the elderly. It is a good gesture in that as much as it

helps the team to improve their professional skills, it also helps the hospital to learn new skills

and introduce new ideas into the running of the facility. It means that it is a two-way road where

both the management gets to acquire new ideas and also the research team gets to learn a lot

from in the process. Furthermore, such an experience helps the society to appreciate the role of

caregivers in the society and acknowledge how they help the aged to improve the quality of life

of the aged population.

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Despite the feelings during one-day exercise was all good as it was a new experience, a

routine practice on the same can lead to boredom both for the caregivers and for the patients too.

In this regard, it is advisable for management of hospitals to change transfer their clients to new

locations to have a change of environment, make new friends learn new things. Besides, the

elderly people in the health facilities should be taken for hikes and field trips to enable them have

experience the beauty of nature and not just be locked in the health facilities for a better part of

their lives. It would help them have a better mental and spiritual healing and have better welfare

in the society thereby lead to holistic development.

There is also a need to improve quality of facilities and equipment used in the healthcare

center, and this is because I leant that most of equipment used in the facility were outdated which

made it more challenging for the employees. The old wheel chairs, washing machines, old beds

among others, made it more difficult for the employees at the center to give the aged people

proper care and deliver their goals effectively. Additionally, the use of outdated facilities and

equipment made the elderly have uncomfortable stay and have a stressful life. There is a need to

acknowledge the fact that with better facilities and equipment, there will be realized better

services that leads to better quality of services. The government needs to increase their budget

for the aged and ensure that they get proper services but donating more and better facilities to

such institutions. Medical cover for the elderly should also be revised to cater to all the needs of

the elderly to prevent any financial challenges when the aged plan to get proper healthcare

services.

Family members play a critical role in the welfare of the aged even in the health facilities;

this supports the need to encourage family members to visit their loved ones at the facilities and

not abandon them. In this regard, there is a need for the management of the health center to

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revise its policies and impose fines or legal consequences on the occasions when family

members of the aged abandon them or fail to visit them occasionally. In this manner, there will

be better services and the patients in the facility will have improved mental care by having their

family members caring for them.

Possible Alternatives

In the examination of the experience during the incident I had when taking care of the

elderly at HARMS, used the Gibb’s model for reflect on the incident. The Gibb’s model helped

in the description of what happened during the entire process, the feelings that I got in the

process and the thoughts I harbored, a reflection of both the bad and good experiences I had

during the one-day activity and an analysis of the experiences I got. Furthermore, the model that

I used helped me to think of the alternatives on the actions I could have done to carry out my

duties effectively and perform better. Finally, there was the opportunity to ponder on the

different things I could do should I have the same opportunity, and this created the avenue to

think of new ways of improving the lives of the elderly in the facility.

In addition to the Gibb’s model, there is also the Kolb model which creates a different

avenue for the examination of the situation. In this manner, the model first provides the

opportunity to reflect on the experiences I had during my stay at the facilities and the activities in

which I engaged. It creates an avenue to ponder on the lessons I can learn from the same and the

opportunities that can activate the learning process. Kolb’s model also provides the opportunity

to reflect on the experiences I had and thinking about the activities in which I have engaged and

be more deliberate when reviewing the experiences, I had and record them properly. Third, there

is the part of conceptualizing the experiences I had and which deals with interpreting them and

entering the realm of conceptualization process according to Kolb. It involves the generation of

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hypothesis about the meaning of the experiences I had at the health center. Finally, the Kolb

model requires planning to test the hypothesis that have been adopted with the view of either

supporting or challenging the hypotheses developed.

Personal Action Plan

In the process of developing an action plan, there are various topics that I would need to

considers and investigate and ensure that the elderly get the best form of treatment they wish for.

The topics are listed below:

Living choices – This would deal will the examination of where patients would like to

live as they become older, whether they would prefer staying at home or in a care facility and the

people they would call first should they require emergency situation. The concerns would ensure

that the family of the aged are in tandem with living preferences that the aged want.

Finances – The old need to consider costs involved in meeting their preferences and how

such cost would affect financial situation of their family members; the need for a financial

advisor to determine the need for a long-term health cover for the expenses they would incur and

check whether they are updated on medical checks and health screenings. Addressing such

concerns early can be of value and be a preventive tool to ensure successful aging.

Health – This would require the examination of goals that the elderly have for a healthy

lifestyle, the effects of their current diet and necessary changes required to improve the quality of

their lives and improve their welfare. Such would lead to a better peace of mind and during the

process.

End of Life Care Wishes – It requires family members to know what their parents

would want to accomplish before they die or where they wish to end their lives. An examination

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of such would ascertain that the family has a unified plan and that there are advanced directions

in moving forward.

Driving – It is factual that most of the aged people dread the idea of losing capacity and

independence to drive. It requires the intervention of their family members to address their fears

concerning their driving abilities to ensure that the aged are safe and the safety of those on the

road. Although the topic about driving has always been contentious and emotional, it provides an

opportunity for the family members to critically and holistically examine it to discuss options

available without getting emotional but help the aged.

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Bibliography

Payne, M., 2015. A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social

Care, 2nd edn.

Barnard, A. ed., 2017. Developing professional practice in health and social care. Taylor &

Francis.

Bassot, B., 2015. The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical

reflection. Routledge.

Grant, A., McKimm, J. and Murphy, F., 2017. Developing Reflective Practice: A Guide for

Medical Students, Doctors and Teachers. John Wiley & Sons.

Bassot, B., 2016. The reflective journal. Palgrave Macmillan.

Sewell, C.E., 2017. Reflective Practice Workbook.

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