Nurses are expected to be able to reflect on their practice in order to develop their skills and knowledge. This assessment is designed for you to reflect on your thoughts and feelings regarding mental health and addictions and identify what actions you need to take to enhance your knowledge and skills to effectively work with people experiencing mental illness.

As it is reflective writing you may choose to write in the first person. You will also need to support your discussion with current literature to help clarify your understanding and future actions as a nurse.

Using the steps below reflect on your response to the following scenario

Bill is a homeless man who is sleeping out in the cold. He has a long history of mental health crises and has recently been discharged from an acute inpatient mental health ward. You can hear him yelling at people before you see him. You see him waving a half-drunk bottle of wine and staggering on his feet. He looks dishevelled and cold. As you walk past him, he yells at you to “watch your back or they will get you”.

Event(what happened and what would I do)

– what has taken place and what is your immediate reaction to this?

Emotions

– How does this make you feel? What are your feelings, emotions and responses?

Thoughts (How did I become like this, what does it say about me? (analysis))

– What do you think about the event? Why do you think these thoughts came to you?

Learnings

– What have I learnt from this? What potential biases have I got? What assumptions have you made? Are these logical? What influence has my previous personal / life experience have on my assumptions?

Application (how could this be seen differently, what have I learnt from this?)

– How can I grow from this experience personally and professionally? What would I do differently if I came across this event again? What development do I need?