The aims and objectives of this essay are to analyse a critical incident from a practice based situation.

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The aims and objectives of this essay are to analyse a critical incident from a practice based situation.

I will provide an overview of the incident, and the discussion it provoked during a group presentation. I will then go on to analyse the situation and the effects that it had on the persons involved.

In order to help me with my reflection I have chosen Gibbs (1988), as a model to help guide my reflective process.

This is an ‘Iterative’ model, with six stopping points, using these six stopping points I will be able to reflect fully on the incident.

So, what is reflection? According to Boyd and Fale (1983) ‘It is the process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern triggered by an experience which creates and clarifies meanings in terms of self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective.’

Paul (1992) describes critical thinking as ‘It is the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better, more clear, more accurate and more defensible.

Alfaro-Le Fevre (1995) believes that reflection is a critical thinking process and that critical thinking is reasoning.

Critical thinking is a requirement for nurses to be safe, competent and skilful practitioners (Girot, 2000). It can also enhance personal and professional learning (Atkins and Murphy 1993, Jarvis 1992, Palmer et al 1994), and also empowers practitioners and assists in the development of nursing knowledge.

I will refer to the clients as Bill and Ted in order to protect them from being identified and to maintain confidentiality in line with NMC code of conduct clause 5 (2002a).

The critical incident discussed took place on a mental health placement and dicusses my encounter with prejudice and breach of confidentiality towards two clients.

Although I am aware that we were supposed to chose a branch specific incident, my branch being adult, I feel quite strongly that my experience of prejudice occurs not only in mental health nursing but also in adult nursing.

Description  

Whilst on my mental health placement I enjoyed talking to the clients. I would spend my breaks with them, drinking coffee and chatting about life in general.

It was during one of my coffee breaks that I met Bill and Ted we sat in the clients’ coffee room drinking coffee and talking about things in general. After spending a pleasant morning with Bill and Ted I returned to the nurses’ office to join the other nurses whom helped to run the establishment. They were curious as to what I had been doing. So, I began to tell them that I had been talking to some of the clients and helping them in their work. I also mentioned to them that I had enjoyed one particular conversation between two of the clients Bill and Ted.

The senior nurse gave me a strange look; I enquired as to what was wrong.

To which she replied “Do you know anything about these men?”

“No” I replied “What do you mean?” she began to tell me that Bill had been detained in a secure unit for killing his landlady and Ted had also been detained in a secure unit for killing his wife.

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I must admit that when I heard this I was horrified and can remember thinking to myself why didn’t the staff warn me and how stupid of me to sit there and put myself in such a position. At the time I can honestly say that had I known they’re backgrounds I would have probably not spent time with them.

Feelings

On reflection of the incident I felt angry and upset with the senior nurse and myself, the clients in question had committed their crimes some years ago and they were both elderly gentleman now. I felt that the ...

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