Reflection Upon A Critical Incident Essay -- Reflective Practice Nursi

Reflection has its importance in clinical practice; we always seek to be successful and that can be achieved by learning every day of our life through experiences we encounter. In that way we can reconsider and rethink our previous knowledge and add new learning to our knowledge base so as to inform our practice. Learning new skills does not stop upon qualifying; this should become second nature to thinking professionals as they continue their professional development throughout their careers (Jasper, 2006). In keeping within current legislation on the protection and respect of an individuals’ right of anonymity, (Polit and Beck 2007), and to confidentiality, (Munhall 2007), any and all possible identifiable characteristics of the client have either been altered or omitted entirely where the potential for identification of the client was seen as possible or probable. The incident I will describe occurred when I was working in a regional hospital where we handled a large number of cases each year, with a range of specialties. The incident concerns ventilator-associated pneumonia and the use of CASS. John Baptiste Moliere stated "It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.(Von Wartburg, 1991)† Accountability is being able to give reason to something that was done and to take responsibility for any errors made. Professional nurses are accountable in several areas including accountability to the public, client, profession, employer and self (Hood, 2013, p. 307). The public is aware that they have the right to receive the best care possible by professionals in the medical field (Hood, 2013, p. 307). Nurses must be competent in their abilities to provide safe effective care to their pa... ...Clin Infectious Disease 2010 Aug 1;51 Suppl 1:S59-66. doi: 10.1086/653051. Cawley M. (2007) Mechanical ventilation: a tutorial for pharmacists. harmacotherapy. 2007 Feb;27(2):250-66. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17253915 Hood, L. (2013) Leddy & Pepper's Conceptual Bases of Professional Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2013 Von Wartburg, Walter. (1991) How to Lead with Genius: Words of Wisdom for the Common Sense Manager. Jasper, M. (2006) Professional Development, Reflection and Decision-making (Vital Notes for Nurses), Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition 15 Nov 2006 Munhall, P. (2007) Nursing research: A qualitative perspective. 4th Ed. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Sudbury. p523. Polit, D., Beck, C. (2007) Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. 8th Ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Philadelphia. p180.