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Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

One of the most famous cyclical models of reflection leading you through six stages exploring an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences.  It offers a framework for examining experiences, and given its cyclic nature lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences, allowing you to learn and plan from things that either went well or didn’t go well. It covers 6 stages:

• Description of the experience
• Feelings and thoughts about the experience
• Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad
• Analysis to make sense of the situation
• Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently
• Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you might find appropriate.

Below is further information on:

• The model – each stage is given a fuller description, guiding questions to ask yourself and an example of how this might look in a reflection
• Different depths of reflection – an example of reflecting more briefly using this model

This is just one model of reflection. Test it out and see how it works for you. If you find that only a few of the questions are helpful for you, focus on those. However, by thinking about each stage you are more likely to engage critically with your learning experience.

This model is a good way to work through an experience. This can be either a stand-alone experience or a situation you go through frequently, for example meetings with a team you have to collaborate with. Gibbs originally advocated its use in repeated situations, but the stages and principles apply equally well for single experiences too. If done with a stand-alone experience, the action plan may become more general and look at how you can apply your conclusions in the future.

For each of the stages of the model a number of helpful questions are outlined below. You don’t have to answer all of them but they can guide you about what sort of things make sense to include in that stage. You might have other prompts that work better for you.

Description

Here you have a chance to describe the situation in detail. The main points to include here concern what happened. Your feelings and conclusions will come later.

Helpful questions:

• What happened?
• When and where did it happen?
• Who was present?
• What did you and the other people do?
• What was the outcome of the situation?
• Why were you there?
• What did you want to happen?

Example of 'Description'

Here you can explore any feelings or thoughts that you had during the experience and how they may have impacted the experience.

• What were you feeling during the situation?
• What were you feeling before and after the situation?
• What do you think other people were feeling about the situation?
• What do you think other people feel about the situation now?
• What were you thinking during the situation?
• What do you think about the situation now?

Example of 'Feelings'

Here you have a chance to evaluate what worked and what didn’t work in the situation. Try to be as objective and honest as possible. To get the most out of your reflection focus on both the positive and the negative aspects of the situation, even if it was primarily one or the other.

• What was good and bad about the experience?
• What went well?
• What didn’t go so well?
• What did you and other people contribute to the situation (positively or negatively)?

Example of 'Evaluation'

The analysis step is where you have a chance to make sense of what happened. Up until now you have focused on details around what happened in the situation. Now you have a chance to extract meaning from it. You want to target the different aspects that went well or poorly and ask yourself why. If you are looking to include academic literature, this is the natural place to include it.

• Why did things go well?
• Why didn’t it go well?
• What sense can I make of the situation?
• What knowledge – my own or others (for example academic literature) can help me understand the situation?

Example of 'Analysis'

Conclusions

In this section you can make conclusions about what happened. This is where you summarise your learning and highlight what changes to your actions could improve the outcome in the future. It should be a natural response to the previous sections.

• What did I learn from this situation?
• How could this have been a more positive situation for everyone involved?
• What skills do I need to develop for me to handle a situation like this better?
• What else could I have done?

Example of a 'Conclusion'

Action plan

At this step you plan for what you would do differently in a similar or related situation in the future. It can also be extremely helpful to think about how you will help yourself to act differently – such that you don’t only plan what you will do differently, but also how you will make sure it happens. Sometimes just the realisation is enough, but other times reminders might be helpful.

• If I had to do the same thing again, what would I do differently?
• How will I develop the required skills I need?
• How can I make sure that I can act differently next time?

Example of 'Action Plan'

Different depths of reflection

Depending on the context you are doing the reflection in, you might want use different levels of details. Here is the same scenario, which was used in the example above, however it is presented much more briefly.

Adapted from

Gibbs G (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford.

Reflective writing: Gibbs

• What is reflection? Why do it?
• What does reflection involve?
• Reflective questioning
• Reflective writing for academic assessment
• Types of reflective assignments
• Differences between discursive and reflective writing
• Sources of evidence for reflective writing assignments
• Linking theory to experience
• Reflective essays
• Portfolios and learning journals, logs and diaries
• Examples of reflective writing
• Video summary
• Bibliography

On this page: ​​

Gibbs' framework “emphasises the importance of being able to generalise, to transfer knowledge and insights gained from one situation to another ” Williams et al., Reflective Writing

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

Similar to Kolb's Learning Cycle , Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle also provides a structure for a reflective essay.

The structure of a piece of reflective writing, whether it be an essay or learning log entry, might consist of six components or paragraphs that follow Gibb’s cycle:

Model of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

Criticism of this framework

Don't let it put you off using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, but do take into account that there has been some criticism about it's lack of depth. For example, the Open University suggest the following:

Despite the further breakdown, it can be argued that this model could still result in fairly superficial reflection as it doesn’t refer to critical thinking/analysis or reflection. It doesn’t take into consideration assumptions that you may hold about the experience, the need to look objectively at different perspectives, and there doesn’t seem to be an explicit suggestion that the learning will result in a change of assumptions, perspectives or practice. You could legitimately respond to the question ‘What would you do next time?’ by answering that you would do the same, but does that constitute deep level reflection?

Open University (2014) in  OpenLearn

The Reflective Cycle has six distinctive stages, leading from a description of the event/experience through to conclusions and consideration for future events.

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Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

What is the gibbs' reflective cycle.

The Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is a Tool that helps professionals Grow and Learn from their past Experiences .

To do this, it proposes to analyze the Situations in which someone wants to Improve.

• Drawing Conclusions that allow us to do things better in the future.

It consists of  6 Repetitive Steps (a cycle):

• Description .
• Evaluation .
• Conclusion .
• Action Plan .

This cycle must be repeated until Obtaining the Desired Results .

The Six Steps of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

1. Description : Describe in detail the Situation in which you want to improve .

• A Negotiation, A Decision you made, a Discussion with your employees, etc.

2. Feelings : Reflect on How you Felt in that Situation, How you Coped with it.

• Did you feel Insecure? Did you feel Determined? Did you Hesitate?

3. Evaluation : Evaluate the Experience and its Outcome , Objectively.

• What Consequences did it have, What worked, What did not, etc.

4. Analysis : Analyze the Reasons that explain the Result of this Situation.

• Why something worked or didn’t work. Why you Made that Decision, etc.

5. Conclusion : Get the Lessons from this Analysis; How to do things better.

• What could have been done better? What could be done in a different way?

6. Action Plan : Develop and Implement a Plan to do things better.

• Applying the Conclusions obtained in this Cycle.

Repeat the Cycle until Reaching the Desired Results .

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle Template

Now, before sharing some examples , we want to explain one important thing:

• How to use this Cycle .

We know that it can get a bit Confusing (Feelings, Action Plan, etc).

That is why we’ll offer you a Guideline that you can Follow .

• It can be used for your Personal Analysis or, in Coaching Situations.

How to use the Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Description : Details are important, as is the Context of any Situation.

• The Place and People Involved.
• What Interactions happened.

Feelings : They Can give us a Clue as to what we need to Improve .

• If we feel Insecure, it is usually because we do not know the Subject well enough.
• What made you feel Uncomfortable?
• What made you feel Determined?

Evaluation : Here, you should not try to find Reasons , only Facts .

• What worked, What didn’t work, and under What Circumstances.
• The Outcome: What happened After the Situation?

Analysis : Now it is the time to find the Whys .

• Why is the Reason something Worked? The Root Cause.
• Potential Root causes causing you a Problem.

Conclusions : Time to “Connect the Dots” and obtain Solid Conclusions .

• What Solid Conclusions have you Obtained?
• What Could have been done better?

Action Plan : Now, you have to put things into Practice .

• Set Specific, Measurable, Realistic and Time-Related Goals.
• Use Objective Metrics.

Let’s see some examples:

Gibbs Reflective Cycle examples

Now, let’s Imagine that you have recently been Promoted to Manager .

You are very happy about it, but you do not feel very Comfortable when you face your employees .

• Sometimes you have to impose yourself, so that what you say is done.

Also, it is something you would like to Improve on .

That is Why you decided to use Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle .

Let’s see How you use it:

Description - Gibbs Reflective Cycle example

The Situation in which you want to Improve :

• It is You and your Employees (no matter Who).
• You are In front of them alone or in a collective meeting.
• You Want things to be done in a New way.
• You Tell them how they have to do things from now on .

Feelings - Gibbs Reflective Cycle example

After thinking Carefully about it, you Discover that you Felt :

• Anxious about Compelling People to do Something.
• Insecure about you Authority.
• Determined about the Need of doing the Things in a New Way.

Evaluation - Gibbs Reflective Cycle example

You then Evaluate what happens in these Situations :

• You Compel your employees to do what you say.
• They obey you.
• Those who know you best Respond much better to your Commands .
• Those who don’t know you are more Reluctant to change .

Analysis - Gibbs Reflective Cycle example

Now, you start thinking about the Whys :

• This makes you Feel Insecure.
• They don’t make you Feel Anxious or Insecure .
• That and , the fact that you are New in the Position .

Conclusion - Gibbs Reflective Cycle example

You Obtain important Conclusions from this Analysis :

• Or People that don’t know your Skills when making decisions.

This People are Reluctant to “obey” you, and make you Feel Insecure and Anxious.

• So they will Trust you more.
• And they will Trust your Authority more.

Action Plan - Gibbs Reflective Cycle example

Finally, you decide to Develop an Action Plan :

• Starting with those who know you least.
• Comparing the Previous Results with the Current ones.

You Estimate that you will need 2 months to have met with all your employees.

• And decide if you need to repeat this Cycle again.

The Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is a Tool that helps professionals Grow and Learn from their past Experiences.

Consists of 6 Repetitive Steps that must be repeated until getting the desired Results:

• Description : Describe in detail the Situation in which you want to improve.
• Feelings : Reflect on How you Felt in that Situation, How you Coped with it.
• Evaluation : Evaluate the Experience and its Outcome, Objectively.
• Analysis : Analyze the Reasons that explain the Result of this Situation.
• Conclusion : Get the Lessons from this Analysis; How to do things better.
• Action Plan : Develop and Implement a Plan to do things better.
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Health and Safety Advice in a Fast Changing World

Nurses and Midwives Reflection Process

Nurses and Midwives in the UK are formally required to record 5 pieces of reflection on either continuing professional development (CPD) or practice related feedback to improve their nursing practice.

Here I start with the theory of reflection (see Framework image) and then give an example from my own nursing history of an awful incident – one I will never forget.

If you don’t want the theory (and let’s face it who does?); scroll down to my real-life example and see how I have applied the Gibbs theory model to a terrible incident which almost made me give up nursing.

Let’s Get Started

To see if Gibbs reflective cycle can help you reflect on aspects of your practice, recall a nursing situation that didn’t turn out as you expected or go to plan.

Look at the Gibbs Model flow chart above –

Stage 1 – Description (Pure Facts)

The first step is to describe what you know. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What are the brief facts of the situation?
• What occurred? Who was involved?
• What did you do? What did others do?

Stage 2 – Description – (Feelings)

• How were you feeling at the time?
• Were there influences affecting others actions/behaviour?
• Were there any known or perceived difficulties with the activity, timing, location, information or resources etc.?

Stage 3 – Evaluation

• What was good and bad about the experience
• How might the facts and feelings (from stage 1 and 2 above) have affected your actions/behaviour
• What other circumstances may have affected your actions or thoughts?
• How issues might influence the activity or practice related feedback?

Stage 4 – Analysis

• Why you picked this incident to reflect on?
• What sense can you make of it? Does it make sense given the preceding 3 stages?
• What is the main area of concern or focus on the future?

Stage 5 – Conclusions

• What have you discovered?
• What have you learned from this incident and circumstances?
• What questions remain?

Stage 6 – Now What? (Action)

You have analysed the incident and want to make sure you improve your practice for next time, so need to move into the action planning stage:

• What will I do differently from now on or the next time this arises?
• What resources/help will you need?

Gibbs, (1988) Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

Example Reflection –  Sadly, a real story!

Night duty drug round.

I am a third-year student nurse ‘in charge’ on night duty, in a London hospital, with a junior nurse to deal with 23 pretty sick people in this medical ward.  A doctor asked me to give a patient (Mrs X,) 0.1 mg of Digoxin (a heart stimulant – steady, slows and strengthens the heartbeat) to relieve symptoms of severe congestive cardiac failure and difficulty breathing.  I had never given such a high dose of Digoxin before and measured 4 tabs from the 0.25 mg bottle.  I checked the script and the tablets with both the doctor, who nodded, and my junior nurse. We were all in agreement. I checked Mrs X’s pulse rate (standard practice for Digoxin), which was in the OK range, before giving the tablets. I kept Mrs X on hourly observations after.

At about 2 am I suddenly realised I had given 10 times the amount of Digoxin as stated on the Doctors script.  In horror, I called the night sister who agreed with me.  We filled in an incident form, informed the doctor and Mrs X’s relatives of what happened. Petrified, I was told to go see the hospital matron in the morning.

Mrs X did not seem to suffer any ill effects from the Digoxin during the night and went on to make a full recovery.

I had been on nights for a long stretch.  It was a very busy ward with only two-night staff and I was “in charge”.  Mrs X was very ill and needed constant monitoring.

I had only ever seen 0.25mgs of Digoxin tablets and did not know there was a paediatric blue table of 0.1 mg made.  I was very reluctant to give such a big dose which is why I checked the four tablets of .25 with the doctor who looked at the tablets and said OK.  I was nervous about the dosage being so high and took Mrs X’s pulse for much longer than the customary 15 seconds.

The doctor too was under tremendous strain, his beeper kept going off and he was rushing about all over the place.  I had never met him before.  He had recently come from a paediatric ward.

Nobody ever blamed me for the incident, neither did they reassure me.  Mrs X went on to make a full recovery and the relatives were very understanding about the situation which was a relief.  Matron was kind to me and impressed I had owned up to the error – nobody would have ever known, she said.

I felt absolutely terrified about the error though and watched Mrs X all night for signs of overdose.  I didn’t sleep all the next day and returned to my next night shift to find Mrs X better.

This incident really frightened me because I had done everything right – I had checked the dosage with both the Doctor and the junior nurse.  I had not known that you could get a 0.1 mg of Digoxin or it was blue.  I have no idea what prompted me to think about the overdose later on that night except that I had been very reluctant to give it.  The Doctor agreed I had shown him 4 white tablets who said “I thought you knew what you were doing” Which isn’t any sort of answer really.  Yet he didn’t get in trouble (like me) at all for overseeing and agreeing my mistake.

I also realised how dependant patients are on the care and insights of the medical profession and the trust they put in us; I’d let Mrs X down.

I believe that this incident was down to a series of incidents linked to overwork, tiredness and misunderstandings. Plus if I’d known the Doctor better I might have had a conversation about the dose.

I was so relieved that Mrs X survived the overdose and the relatives were understanding but, if she had a serious reaction or even died, I’m not sure I could have carried on nursing.

I have learnt to be more careful with drugs and to really understand the dosage.  If necessary now I will look up the drug in the reference books before I give them because it is my responsibility if I do it wrong.

I will always be ultra-careful with new drug scripts in the future and if I am nervous, then to go with my gut feeling and check and check again. Although, as I said to Matron, at the time I’d felt as if I done as much as I could have.

Also, if nurses in my team are involved in incidents where they have made a clinical mistake, I am always on hand to offer support and give them an opportunity to talk to me.

I never want another nurse to go through what I went through alone and I definitely do not want to harm anyone in my care.

Linked to NMC Code of Practice 14 – “Preserving Safety”

Further information.

• British National Formulary (BNF)  the drugs’ bible in the UK, available online with a subscription

Other of my real stories here:

• For a second applied reflection example, see my blog about My Infographic Mistake
• For a third reflection see Dog Walking

I have also published a workbook for nurses where you can see the model and have space to add your own private stories. Available on Amazon With over 400 great reviews.

Thanks for reading and good luck in your career. J

Working Well Solutions

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My site may contain affiliate links. Meaning, I get a commission if you purchase through my links, at no cost to you. However, I do not recommend lightly – if I like it I want you to know about it. J

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is one of the most well known cyclical models used in professional reflective practice . 

It guides practitioners through an experience in six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. 

Gibbs Reflective Cycle was originally developed for use in higher education as a way for teachers and learners to link theoretical learning to experiential practice to reinforce the knowledge they have acquired through the use of real-world examples. It has numerous applications, but it is predominantly used in the fields of teaching and health and social care. As Gibbs’ argues:

It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten or its learning potential lost. It is from the feelings and thoughts emerging from this reflection that generalisations or concepts can be generated. And it is generalisations which enable new situations to be tackled effectively….It is not enough just to do, and neither is it enough just to think. Nor is it enough simply to do and think. Learning from experience must involve links between the doing and the thinking.

In this article, we will be discussing this cycle, its pros and cons, along with a worked example of its use in practice and some alternatives to the Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Table of Contents

About Graham Gibbs

The reputation for excellent teaching at Oxford Brookes University is in large part due to the work done by Professor Graham Gibbs. He was Head of the Center for Staff and Learning Development and later Director of the Oxford Learning Institute at Oxford University, where he helped many students develop strong fundamentals that would help them to succeed beyond academia.

Graham’s career has been dedicated to improving university teaching and student learning. He founded the International Consortium for Educational Development in Higher Education and the Improving Student Learning Symposium while also receiving Honorary Doctorates from Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Utrecht.

He retired in 2007 after a long and distinguished career.

Gibbs’ Model Of Reflection

The purpose of Gibbs’ Model of Reflection is to provide a structured approach to self-reflection or ‘structured debriefings’ as Gibbs himself describes them. He argues that problems relating to discussions following an experience include:

– they often lurch from superficial descriptions of what happened to premature conclusions about what to do next, without adequate reflection or analysis; – if the experience has been especially powerful then discussion may never get further than a description of what happened or of the feelings associated with the experience; – if description and feelings are not dealt with adequately, learners may return to these at a later stage when they should be considering implications and action plans.

These issues may be avoided if a structured approach is used because there is less likelihood of deviation that could inhibit the learning experience. Gibbs proposed the following cyclical process for reflective practice:

Stage 1: Description

The first stage involves making a factual account of what happened during the experience. This should be an objective description and we should try to avoid recording thoughts and feelings or performing analysis as this will come later. Some things to consider at this stage include:

• When and where did the experience happen?
• Is there any relevant background information that influenced the experience?
• Who was present?
• What happened?
• What did each person do?

Stage 2: Feelings

In stage 2, we should record the feelings and emotions of ourselves and others. Again, we should not try to carry out any analysis yet, simply make a truthful account of how we felt at each stage of the experience. Questions to consider include:

• How did I feel prior to the experience?
• How did I feel during the experience?
• How did I feel after the experience?
• What were the feelings of other people that were involved?

Stage 3: Evaluation

Here, we make value judgments about the positive and negative aspects of the experience. Our evaluations should be as objective as possible. Questions to ask include:

• What went well?
• What did not go well?
• What was positive/negative about the experience?
• Were my contributions positive/negative?
• Were the contributions of others positive/negative?

Stage 4: Analysis

In the fourth stage, we critically analyse the experience using the information that we collated in the previous section along with knowledge from other sources, such as theory, research, standards and the perspectives of others. By bringing all the information together, we can begin to make sense of the experience. Questions you may ask include:

• Why was the experience positive?
• Why was the experience negative?
• Did the perspectives of others align with your own? If not, why not?
• Which literature is relevant to the experience?
• How did the experience align with the theory?
• How did the experience align with standards?

Stage 5: Conclusions

Gibbs splits this stage into general conclusions and specific conclusions.

General conclusions are broad deductions that can be derived from the experience. Specific conclusions relate to our own personal experiences, practice and development. Examples of questions that may be asked at this stage include:

• What have I learned from this experience?
• How might I have performed better?
• What would I do differently if a similar situation occurred in the future?
• What learning and development opportunities may strengthen this area of my practice?

Stage 6: Action Plan

Finally, we develop an action plan for addressing areas of our practice that we may wish to develop, based on our findings from the reflective process. This could be undergoing further training, gaining additional knowledge, practising a procedure or another similar activity. The action plan should contain objectives and timescales (SMART targets are useful here). Pertinent questions include:

• What will I do differently next time?
• What training will I undergo?
• How will I gain further knowledge or experience?

Gibbs advocated for his reflective cycle to be used in situations practitioners find themselves in often. This is primarily because practitioners who reflect on the same set of experiences are more likely to build up a bank of knowledge and expertise pertaining to that situation. 

However, the stages of the Gibbs model can be used in single, isolated experiences. This means that elements of the reflective cycle, the action plan aspect, for example, will likely be more generalised and ultimately less practical when considering the applications of the reflective cycle process. 

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Gibbs Reflective Cycle

As with all reflective practices, there are advantages and disadvantages of using Gibbs’ reflective cycle. 

These advantages and disadvantages are somewhat subjective, as not every method of reflective practice works for all practitioners in every situation. 

• Gibbs’ reflective cycle underpins many other models of reflective practice
• It provides a structured approach to experiential learning
• It is a relatively simple model that is a good introduction for individuals that are new to self-reflection

Disadvantages

• It was developed as a generalised approach to reflective practice within a teaching setting and so does not focus on specialised practice, such as nursing or social care

Alternatives To Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Kolb’s (1984) model is a more simplified model based on a set of theories around how people learn – in fact, Gibbs’ model was based on Kolb’s research. It revolves around four key stages: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation.  

Schon’s model of reflection builds on the idea that reflection can be performed both after an experience (reflection-on-action) as well as during an experience (reflection-in-action).

There are also models of reflection that are designed to be used by specific vocations – for example, Johns model and Atkins & Murphy’s model were developed for the nursing profession.

A list of other models of reflective practice can be found here.

An Example Of Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Now that we have established the stages of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, we’ll now walk through an example. Following is a self-reflection from a care worker.

Description – Stage One

I was working with two individuals with learning disabilities in a supported living environment. Each of the individuals was supposed to be receiving one-on-one support but due to staff absences, I was supporting them both. We all had an enjoyable day but when I came to administer one of the individual’s medication (1mg Risperidone) at 6PM, I realised that I’d forgotten to give him his morning dose earlier in the day.

I called the pharmacy for advice. They advised that I should continue with the evening medication as usual and to call NHS 111 if the individual experienced any side effects or changes in behaviour. I informed the client of what had happened and apologised as well as wrote up the appropriate medication administration error form, made a record on the MAR sheet and informed my manager.

My manager thanked me for letting her know and said not to worry about it too much as it can happen from time to time. She also recommended that I reflect upon the experience when I had time.

Feelings – Stage Two

When I first came onto shift I was feeling a little nervous about working on my own with two clients and a bit overwhelmed by all the information that I was being given during the handover. As I’d only worked with the clients a few times, when the previous shift worker left I felt my priority was to get to know them and make them feel at ease with me. It was during this time that I should have administered the medication but completely forgot.

When I realised my mistake in the evening I felt instant dread and was worried about my error causing harm to the individual as well as getting into trouble with my manager and organisation. I also felt guilty and disappointed in myself. After a few moments, I regained my composure and followed company protocols by calling for advice from a medical professional.

When the pharmacy told me that the missed medication shouldn’t affect the individual’s health very much, I felt relieved but still felt a little scared that my employer would be angry or disappointed. However, I did feel better about it once I had spoken to my manager.

Evaluation – Stage Three

The thing that did not go well in this experience was that I forgot to administer an individual’s medication. However, there were also positive elements such as knowing what to do when a medication error occurs and owning up to the mistake. I fulfilled my duty of care by seeking immediate support from a medical professional and my duty of candour by apologising to the individual and being transparent in my explanation of what had happened.

Analysis – Stage Four 

Although the missed medication was not a major issue on this occasion, I work with individuals that could have much more serious consequences if they miss a dose of their medication – for example, individuals that have epilepsy and heart conditions.

In addition, being overloaded with information about two different clients, it was perhaps inevitable that something would be forgotten.

Conclusions – Stage Five 

Through this experience, I have learned that I can keep a level head in unexpected situations and that I have a thorough understanding of my responsibilities as a care worker and the standards that I must meet as well as my employer’s policies and procedures.

However, I think that I need to have a system in place to remember medication administration because it is so important to my role – although other aspects of my job role are important, medication administration can quite literally be life-or-death.

Action Plan – Stage Six

Going forward, I want to ensure that I do not forget to administer medication to my clients. I will do this by ensuring that I check the medication schedules for all the individuals that I am responsible for as soon as I come on to shift and setting a reminder on my phone.

• Gibbs: Learning by Doing (1988)

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Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

Introduction.

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences. It offers a framework for examining experiences, and given its cyclic nature lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences, allowing you to learn and plan from things that either went well or didn’t go well.

Gibbs' reflective cycle, was originally devised for nursing, but - like Rolfe's model of reflection - has become popular across many disciplines, and is widely applied as a prominent model of reflective practice.

More resources can be found on Gibb's Reflective Cycle here .

The Six Stages of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

This model is cyclic and has six principal elements:

1. Description

In this element of the cycle, you recount what you are reflecting upon, giving a descriptive account with contextual information as appropriate. If reflecting to others (as a piece of academic or report writing, for example) make sure that they have all the relevant information. If using Gibbs to reflect to oneself, they though you might have all of that knowledge to hand, it can be useful to make notes of such details for clarity and for comprehensiveness of the reflection.

2. Feelings

In this section, you look back on your emotional state and your rational thoughts about the situation or occurrence being reflected upon. How were you feeling at the time? Was this normal for you? How did your emotions and thoughts alter (if at all) after the situation arose? Be accurate and insightful in your reflection.

3. Evaluation

In the evaluative element of the cycle, consider how well the situation was handled. Look for positives as well as negatives; be fair to yourself and to the contexts of the event being reflected upon. How did you react? How did others around you respond? Was the event being considered a good or a bad one? Was a resolution arrived at? If not, why not? If a conclusion was made, then how was that done, and was it effective?

4. Analysis

Here, think about the individual aspects of the event which might have been crucial, and whether they are positive or negative towards the event unfolding. It may be appropriate to integrate pedagogic theory with practice here; were actions informed by a particular paradigm or insight when perhaps there were alternatives which might have been more appropriate, for example?

5. Conclusion

As you conclude your investigation of what has occurred, it may be relevant for you to consider possible alternatives to the course of action that you took, whether other options could have been applied instead, and what might have happened differently if those alternatives had been executed. If the way you acted ended in a positive outcome, then recognise this, so that you can begin to draw plans to consider taking the same direction if the same situation arises in the future. If the situation was negative in some way, this is the part of the cycle where you consider how to ensure that there is no recurrence.

6. Action Plan

The action plan is your guide for future action. This section is crucial, as it is here that you identify what you will do (and thus, what you will not do) to ensure an improvement in your handling of similar situations in the future. Action plans are useful spurs for discussions with peers and other colleagues; do they agree with your proposals for action, and do they have any insight or experience which might inform your action planning?

Moving through the six stages of the cycle effectively should mean that you will be better equipped for the future is events like the ones being reflected upon here occur again. Your action plan should feed into your approach, and so may form a part of the descriptive element of the next round of reflection.

Advantages of Gibbs' cycle include the focus which is placed on a systematic consideration of separate phases of a learning experience. Though it is more developed than the core three questions of Rolfe's model, Gibbs' headline elements are nevertheless straightforward and accessible, and so they can encourage clear reflection which can be made meaningful to others.

The potential disadvantages of Gibbs' model are that it tends to the descriptive, and may not provide the analytical rigour required to fully appreciate the implications of certain courses of actions of others, or of the thought processes underpinning those actions being taken. The model is one-sided, so it takes into consideration the practitioner's perspective only; there is no room in Gibbs' cycle to take into consideration those on the other side of the event or situation being addressed, and there may be useful insight here to be considered (Jasper, 2013).

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Applying Gibbs’ Model to Real-Life Experiences Essay

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Action Plan

This event was an unpleasant experience for the patient who expected to get relief from the pain he felt. First, the buddy nurse’s approach to the patient was unreasonable because the patient was in pain, and it was only natural to be agitated. However, I listened to the patient and also avoided confrontation by dragging my buddy nurse away with me. This saved the situation from getting worse although the confrontation that happened was harmful to the patient (Webb, 2011).

My buddy nurse should have stayed calm and listened to the patient’s concerns even if they were offensive. It would have been better if my buddy nurse exercised self-control and stopped the urge to snap back at the patient. While leaving, it was not right for him to make tide remarks to the patient. He should have excused himself to the patient with a promise that he would be back with a solution. The reaction that I gave to the patient was encouraging because I gave him an option of a stronger treatment, which was subject to discussion. Listening to the customer also gave hope that I empathized with his situation (Roussel, Swansburg & Swansburg, 2006). It is also necessary that I should have made a personalized and confidential service to the patient by showing up alone and not with a colleague. This way the patient would feel that he had been assisted because he would be dealing with the nurse who had earlier assisted him. Finishing up with the other patient first may have caused the delay which agitated the patient. It is advisable for a person to make a faster response to avoid cases in which patients get impatient and yell (Williams& Davis, 2005; Koutoukidis, Lawrencem & Tabbner, 2008).

Healthcare forms part of a patient’s healing process, and healthcare professionals should communicate effectively to build therapeutic relationships with the patients (Van, 1997). For instance, talking to the customer nicely and showing empathy would not only work as the pain killer but would give the patient hope. Making the patient angry makes the pain unbearable and may even worsen the situation. Using persuasive language and listening to the patient as well as offering a faster response develops a strong nurse-patient relationship. This improves the healing process. Active communication with the patient also involves the patient in health care and gives them control over their condition and the treatment that they get. In the above scenario, engaging the patient to enlighten him that he had been taking an overdose would make him responsible and prevent any similar future occurrence. He would feel that he had been saved from consuming more drugs than necessary, and this would encourage him to consult in the future. The situation would have been turned around to a powerful healing process by building a healthy relationship that would make the patient realize that holding back the medication was meant to help him and not punish him (Bach & Grant, 2008; White, L., & Rittenhouse Books, 2005).

If a similar event occurs in the future, there are changes that should be made to ensure that the patient is not treated unfairly like it happened. First, I would address the patient with the therapeutic service in mind. I would respond to the call with the aim of improving the patient’s situation, by the way, I talk and respond to his questions and concerns. My buddy friend added to the patient’s misery by snapping back and not giving the patient an opportunity to express his concerns (Rosdahl & Kowalski, 2008). This would be avoided by requesting my colleague to allow me to handle the situation. This could also be improved by establishing a uniform approach in which colleagues would allow others to handle their cases. Intervention should only be allowed when a request is made. This way the probability of harassment by a third party would be minimal. The notion that communicating with the customer is part of the therapeutic process and should be built to ensure that any intervention made is positive (Webb, 2011).

Health care has changed in nature from the treatment of acute illnesses to helping patients to manage chronic conditions. In this case, the patient may not have been healed, considering that it was a situation he was managing even while at home. The patient can be encouraged to adopt an attitude of self-care by informing him that he had been taking an overdose. This would make the patient more responsible for his health care and also establish a good relationship with his nurse (Mitchell & Haroun, 2012). This would promote the quality of his life even if his medical condition is chronic. The patient’s expectation, which is to be free of pain, would be achieved by providing an option that gives him a long-term solution. Overdosing to kill the pain would only be done for a short period while changing the form of medication would correct the past mistake and offer a longer-term solution. Educating the customer on the dangers of taking more dosage than required is involving and makes the process simpler and effective. When patients are aware of the treatment that they receive they learn and assist the health care providers in managing their situation (Dickson, Hargie & Morrow, 2003).

Patient-centered care gives the patient an opportunity to receive services that revolve around him/her rather than fitting into the services availed in the hospital. When they are viewed as active participants in the care offered to them, they feel acknowledged. This can be enhanced by listening to patients and offering services that fit their requirements. For instance, my patient could have been assisted better by proposing a further review by the Acute Pain Service rather than administering the usual PRN medication. The process should have begun by getting feedback on how the patient had been reacting from the PRN he used. Probably, the issue of overdose would have been raised and an alternative offered. This would avoid the confrontation because the patient would be aware that he had been overdosing. Therefore, the patient should be initiating the process by explaining his/her concerns. Recommendations should be based on the patients’ interests rather than what is available in the facility (Chapman, 2009).

Multidisciplinary teams help health care providers to coordinate their roles and expertise to offer patients quality services. The members of the team should understand their role. For instance, my buddy nurse may have treated the patient nastily because he was not his patient. This should not have been the case because teamwork requires them to respect the role of others. He should have achieved this by staying out of the discussion or contributing positively. In the future, such a scenario can be avoided by working at providing integrated health care in which nurses work collaboratively. This way there would be no difference in the way nurses treat a patient who may have been attended by a different nurse (Nurs, 2001).

To ensure that patients get quality services, nurses should be friendly and accept the needs of their patients. The patients should also be allowed to feel that the health care providers are willing to spent time with them. Allowing the patient to participate in the discussion of their health by asking for opinions and offering advice makes the patients feel part of the healing process (Nurs, 2001; O’Toole, 2012). The treatment service should also be tailored to them by addressing them by their names and remembering their situation. Sharing information about similar experiences and giving them hope builds a close relationship. Disagreements with the patients should be treated as a form of discussions without a formal objection which may make them objective. The services provided should offer continuity such that each patient has a health care provider (Martin, 2010; Antai-Otong, 2007). This way, progress can be monitored while a relationship builds between the nurse and the patient. It is also part of the therapeutic process. Serving an individual patient will help build a solid relationship in the future. This will also include basing the approach from the patient’s point of view to ensure that the patients needs come first before the services available can be offered. This will eliminate disagreements between healthcare providers and patients (Mackenzie & O’Toole, 2011; Jasper, 2003; Seago, nd).

Antai-Otong, D. (2007). Nurse-client communication: A life span approach . Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Bach, S. & Grant, A. (2008). Communication and interpersonal skills for nurses . Exeter: Learning Matters.

Chapman, K. B. (2009). Improving Communication among Nurses, Patients, and Physicians. American Journal of Nursing . 109(11), 21-25.

Dickson, D., Hargie, O., & Morrow, N. C. (2003). Communication skills training for health professionals . Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes

Jasper, M. (2003). Beginning Reflective Practice – Foundations in Nursing and Health Care. Cheltenham. Nelson Thornes.

Koutoukidis, G., Lawrence, K., & Tabbner, A. R. (2008). Tabbner’s nursing care: Theory and practice . Chatswood, N.S.W: Elsevier Australia.

Mackenzie, L., & O’Toole, G. (2011). Occupation analysis in practice . Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

Martin, A. (2010). Non-verbal communication between nurses and people with an intellectual disability: a review of the literature. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities . 14(4), 303-314.

Mitchell, D., & Haroun, L. (2012). Introduction to health care . Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning.

Nurs, E. J. O. (2001).Communication between nurses and simulated patients with cancer: evaluation of a communication training programme. Discussion . 5(3), 140-150.

O’Toole, G. (2012). Communication. Core interpersonal skills for health professionals . Sydney: Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier.

Rosdahl, C. B., & Kowalski, M. T. (2008). Textbook of basic nursing . Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Roussel, L., Swansburg, R. J., & Swansburg, R. C. (2006). Management and leadership for nurse administrators . Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.

Seago, J. A. (n.d.). Professional Communication . Web.

Van, S. G. M. (1997). Communication skills for the health care professional: Concepts and techniques . Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers.

Webb, L. (2011). Nursing: Communication skills in practice . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

White, L., & Rittenhouse Books, Inc. (2005). Foundations of nursing . Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Williams, C. L., & Davis, C. M. (2005). Therapeutic interaction in nursing . Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

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• Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle and Borton’s Model of Reflection
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• Chicago (A-D)
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IvyPanda. (2022, May 3). Applying Gibbs’ Model to Real-Life Experiences. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gibbs-reflective-cycle-essay/

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IvyPanda . 2022. "Applying Gibbs’ Model to Real-Life Experiences." May 3, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gibbs-reflective-cycle-essay/.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Applying Gibbs’ Model to Real-Life Experiences." May 3, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gibbs-reflective-cycle-essay/.