Gibbs' Reflective Cycle: How I Decided to Become a Student Midwife

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In this reflective account I will reflective upon an incident that occurred while on practice placement. I will identify how I recognised the limitations of my knowledge and skill as a student midwife and made the transition from a registered nurse to that of a student midwife. I will employ Gibbs (1988) reflective cycle, as it comprises six stages that will enable me to holistically reflect upon the incident. The name of the woman has been changed to Jane; with my mentor’s name has been changed to Lucy due to the Nursing and midwifery council (2008) code of professional conduct clause 5.1 which maintains treat patient’s information as confidential and use it only for the purpose for which it is given. I will begin giving a brief account of my previous work and training experience before commencing the midwifery course. A definition will be given of a Pinard’s stethoscope as it played a vital role.

I am a registered staff nurse who prior to commencing my midwifery training was working on a surgical ward facilitating pre and postoperative care for critically and chronically ill patients. I was fortunate that during my nursing training I had an opportunity to be assigned practice placement with the community midwives and visit the labour ward. After this learning experience I was able to make a decision to undertake midwifery training after completing the required period of post registration experience. While with the community midwife I attended antenatal clinics where I practiced midwifery skills, namely palpation and auscultation with a Pinard’s stethoscope and enhanced my communication skills. Unfortunately I was unable to hear anything through a Pinard’s stethoscope and so when I made a decision to pursue midwifery tr...

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... ensure that I practiced my communication, palpation and auscultation skills. I would ensure that I showed confidence when dealing with the women as lack of confidence may make the women anxious as they rely on the midwifery service to provide them the best possible care. I will continue to build on the knowledge and skill provided by my mentor Lucy namely communication, palpations and auscultation, as they are the major skills required to be a competent practitioner. I believe that in future this incident will have a great impact on the care I provide, as should any of the things that came up reappear I will be able to act upon appropriately. As a result of this incident I went home and carried out research on antenatal care and the routine for abdominal examinations. This was aimed at ensuring that I enhanced my knowledge base to allow me to cope effectively.

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