Assignment 3: Reflection on practice and learning (1500 words)
· In this assignment you will need to reflect on an ethical dilemma that you were involved in during your nursing experience. Use one of the models of reflection such as the Gibb’s (1998) model to guide the reflective process.
· This must be an event that you were involved in, it MUST NOT be a scenario from a journal or book that you adapt for this assessment; we want to read about your thoughts and experiences.
· You will need to critically describe the scenario, explaining and analysing the ethical dilemma(s) involved.
· Pseudonyms must be used; the names of the hospitals and individuals MUST be deidentified.
· The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses (2012) must be used to assist your reasoning and you need to identify which provisions are most relevant to your scenario.
· The NMBA decision making framework (2020), as well as the Ethical Decision Making Framework as outlined in Chapter 2 of the set Text are also to be used, and you need to describe how you worked through the ethical dilemma(s) to resolve it.
· The discussion needs to include the relevant Bioethical Principles and information within the topic content that you considered when resolving the dilemma.
· The NMBA Standards of Practice for Registered Nurses (2016) and the NMBA Code of Conduct for Registered Nurses (2018) may be useful to assist your discussion.
· As a reflective paper, it is appropriate for you to write in the FIRST person, that is you should OWN your experiences by writing I, me or my.
· Referencing is required for this paper (APA 7th edition). Use as many references as you need to adequately support your discussion.
· In preparation for writing this assignment, here are some things for you to consider helping you plan.
1. What happened, why, what events lead up to this situation?
2. Were there any precipitating causes or occurrences?
3. How did you deal with the situation?
4. What was going on in the environment, did this impact the event?
5. What bioethical principles were evident, if any?
6. What were/are the long-term effects of this incident?
7. Could you have considered the perspectives of others differently?
8. Were you acting to help the patient, or just because you had an order to do so?
Step 1: Describe the experience – What happened, who was there, where did the event occur, what did you do, what did other’s do? What impact might your values, beliefs, assumptions and biases have had on the situation? What were the possible consequences of your actions or inactions? Create a mental picture of the issue for the marker.
Step 2: Describe your emotional reactions to the event, what were you feeling both before and after the event, what emotions might others be feeling? Did these reactions trigger a change in your perspective of the event?
Step 3: Bringing the theory and the experience together. Analyse the experience of the dilemma using Bioethical theories or principles, the NMBA decision making framework (2020), the ICN code of conduct (2012), the ethical decision-making framework from Chapter 2 of the Text, and other relevant supporting literature. Use current information applicable to the Australian context.
Step 4: Where to from here? Lessons for future nursing practice
· What have you learnt? How will you use the insights gained from this experience?
· If the same thing happened again, what would you do differently. Be specific.
· What specific steps can you take to build on your knowledge and skills?
Please refer to the Rubric, Assignment 3, for more details about the criteria that will be used in the marking of your paper.
