Reflective Reflection

This reflective essay will lay emphasis on one of the learning needs I have developed during my two week taster placement in hospital. Reflection helps an individual build upon their skills and makes room for self-criticism as he or she can contemplate upon actions and make relevant changes (Taylor, 2000). I will be applying the “What”, “So what” and “Now what” model of reflection by Driscoll (2000) in this piece of work because it is a more coherent and comprehensible approach to follow when writing a reflective account and is also an easier guide to writing reflections. The learning need I chose to reflect on from my learning plan is having a better understanding of diabetes and the 6 basic medications used in treating the condition since it is a common illness on the ward I am have been allocated on for my first placement. The timescale set for achieving this objective was by the end of my two week placement that is from 27th January to 9th February and I achieved it with the help of a host of factors. In this assignment, all the names of the patients and wards have been omitted and indicated with letters and numbers for confidentiality reasons as stated in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) code of conduct (2008). The paper will primarily touch on the type 2 diabetes and furthermore on the achievement on my learning need.

The aim of the 2 week placement was to aid us familiarize and expose us to the wards before we start our actual 8 weeks placement. During my 2 week introduction to practice, I worked in a hospital on a medical ward preferably known as ward 1 and most of the patients were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes also known as non-insulin dependent diabetes. Non-insulin dependent diabetes develops when there i...

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...ore on diabetes and its management, I will continue doing research on the condition and also spend time with the diabetes specialist nurses on the ward to find answers to questions I struggle with concerning the disease. This is to prevent the struggle I went through when I first started working on ward 1. I will be faced with the same situation as I will be going to different hospitals for placement before the end of my 3 year course. So to prevent the unsatisfactory experience I gained during my first experience, I will find out about the ward I have been allocated to and do my researches on the various conditions patients on the ward have by exploring health related websites and books. Furthermore, I will ensure that I am providing quality practice for my patients as noted in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE, 2013) quality standards.