Reflection is a vital tool in …

Reflection is a vital tool in nursing practice, that helps nurses recollect what they did and reflect on whether it went well or not and if not, and how they do it differently next time. Reflective account allows nurses to provide the best standard of care to their clients thereby empower them to measure their communication skills [Siviter, 2008]. Sully and Dallas [2010] argued that reflective account is vital to the development of nursing profession. They emphasised that reflective account is aimed to promote their efforts which will lead to their individual better practice. There are many barriers to reflection, they are; professional pride, lack of time and criticism, nevertheless, reflection can help us to avoid mistakes, it can also help to increase job opportunities as well as allowing people to make use of the best skill available [RNC,2013]. Majority of the people discover they learn from their experience and reflection is a good means to achieve that.

According to Professor Graham Gibbs, in 1988, he pinpointed six stages that can help reflective procedure thereby creating awareness to the people by learning from their past mistakes [Mind Tools, 2015]. Gibbs reflection stages includes, experience, feelings, evaluations, conclusion and action. Gibbs, 1988, emphasised that emotions and feelings have effect in a situation, he also recognises how individual feeling can have impact on situation and how person can reflect upon it [The Open Univrsity,2015]. On the first scenario, I think did not go well because I failed to take many factors into consideration, but still it was a great experienced because we learn by mistake, I believe next time I will not make such mistakes.At the end, I questioned myself whether the pace at which I communicated with Lona was appropriate? Did I really show enough empathy to Lona? Did Lona really receive the quality care he deserved? [Bagay, 2012]. I got myself answered with all these questions and reflect on it for future amendment. To achieve best healthcare delivery, successful communication of the messages that links the clients, nurses and the carers together must be comprehended through active listening [Mary Ann Boyd, 2008].

I think empathy shown to Lona was not great, because despite I am aware of Lona hearing impairment, which I failed to notice that she did not wear her hearing aid at the time we were talking could be a big barrier to her understanding. She was also trying to tell me something but I could not understand, and I was not bothered, this could affect Lona’s emotion because I failed to listen.To deliver an effective communication, we need to show empathy, which is about putting yourself in someone situation as well as knowing their need [Skill You Need, 2014]. To show an effective empathy, we must know the person we are working with and the type of communication that is the best for them, this will enable us to communicate effectively and thus make is easy for them to understand us better as well [Improve Your Social Skills.com, 2015]. In nursing, learning disability in particular, thorough understanding of understanding of our clients will give us ability to care and communicate with them genuinely and accordingly this will make them comfortable around us. As a result, person-cantered approach of communication will develop once we have understood their individual needs and able to deal with it accordingly [Improve Your Social Skills.

com, 2015]. With my inability to show good empathy towards Lona, next time I believe I will do things differently. I will ensure that before starting conversation with Lona of anyone of her nature I will make sure not to rush to any communication to ascertain that everything is in place to achieve an effective communication between both party.Furthermore, I needed to work on my pace whenever I am communicating with other people to ensure better understanding on the other party. The reason being that, apart from the fact that I was in hurry when dealing with Lona because of another commitment which I had, I realised my pace in general was too fast to meet with the need of the people I am working with.According to [Skill You Need, 2014], the rate at which we take to speak or talk to people is called pace. To achieve an effective communication, Speaking Freely, 2015, argues that we must not talk too fast to allow the receiver to process it otherwise, it will turn to jargon.

At the same time talk should not be too slow so as not to make it bore to the receiver. As a learning disability nurse, it is vital to maintain the same pace when dealing with our clients according to their individual need to keep the communication going smoothly. During reflection I realised Lona was not with me when I was talking to her probably because of my pace as well as some other factors, she was just sitting there staring at something without any sign of acknowledgment of what I was saying, showing she did not comprehend anything. Next time I will make sure that apart from putting everything in place, I will ensure my pace of speech is controlled to individual need and I will maintain it to the end. However, I will also ensure that, communication takes place in a perfect environment to avoid distraction, I should also make sure more time is allowed whenever I want to have conversation with any client to prevent rushing.