Reflection Upon Questioning Skills Essay -- Nursing Reflective Practic

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 graduation; it must become second nature to all 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, (Clamp, Gough and Land 2004; Polit and Beck 2007), and to confidentiality, (Burns and Grove 2003; 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. I shall refer to the patient whom I worked with as Mr. C however, due to the aforementioned the gender of the client should not be deemed as either factual or an alteration. As I reflect on my conversation with Mr. C, I found that there were seven areas identified as blocks to communication. After I reviewed and critically evaluated the seven blocks, I noticed that I missed listening, identifying and clarifying clients’ concerns associated with utilizing open-ended questions during the interaction. In (1), the patient answered â€Å"I think I’m ok.† I should have further encouraged the patient to elaborate the meaning of his answer, so that I could figure out how he was doing from his perspective. As the patient asked me about his NG tube, I did not answer him properly in (2). I just promised hi... ...rom their nurses. American Journal of Nursing, 93 (8), 38-41. Munhall, P. (2007) Nursing research: A qualitative perspective. 4th Ed. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Sudbury. p523. Parse, R. R., Bournes, D. A., Barrett, E. A. M., Malinski, V. M., & Phillips, J. R. (1999). A better way: 10 things health professionals can do to move toward a more personal and meaningful system. On Call, 2 (8), 14-17. Polit, D., Beck, C. (2007) Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. 8th Ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Philadelphia. p180. Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (2006). Client centered care. Retrieved October 7.2011, from http://www.rnao.org/Storage/15/932_BPG_CCCare_Rev06.pdf Stickley, T., & Freshwater, D. (2006). The art of listening in the therapeutic relationship. Mental Health Practice, 9 (5), 12-18.