Gibbs Cycle of Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gibbs Cycle of Reflection - Essay Example In view thereof, this paper is thus divided into the following sections: (1) description, (2) feelings, (3) evaluation, (4) analysis, (5) conclusion and (6) action plan. Description A sixty year old woman was recently operated because of a heart disease. A colleague and I received the recently operated woman into the post-operative recovery care unit. Upon seeing the woman, my colleague and I were unsure as to how she coped with the surgery and whether or not she has fared well in this regard. She looked a little pale and was not really showing distinct signs of whether she is alive or not. However, we are sure that she was still alive since this has been guaranteed by the surgeon and his team. My first instinct was to determine the vital signs of the patient as obviously, these were greatly affected because of the surgery and the anesthesia applied to the patient. In analysing the vital signs of the patient, I focused on its frequency and duration, depending on the condition of the patient who has recently undergone surgery and the normalcy thereof. When I first conducted this, we noticed that whilst the female displayed good vital signs, we were not however s ure as regards the normalcy thereof. Because of this, we had to undergo other tests so as to ensure that the operation was indeed successful. Aside from merely checking the vital signs of the patient, my colleague and I also assessed the level of consciousness of the patient. In conducting this test, we were able to determine that the patient was relatively conscious and we must only wait for a longer time before her vital signs begin to normalize. Moreover, we also focused on the following were determined: (1) the patient’s heart rate, (2) the ECG levels, (3) the respiratory rate of the patient, (4) oxygen saturation, (5) non-invasive blood pressure and (6) the skin temperature. In conducting these tests, we were able to determine that there is nothing wrong with the patient and she is merely recovering from her surgery. We also followed a simple procedure by which we can determine the improvement of the vital signs on the patients. In fact, this procedure entails that the v ital signs be recorded every thirty minutes for at least two hours and hourly thereafter. This was continued on until the woman was awake and has begun eating and drinking. We also monitored the temperature of the patient. Remarkable improvement was seen from the patient during the first two hours. Her vital signs continue to rise significantly every thirty minutes. After the second hour, we monitored her hourly and it was shown that her vital signs continue to rise towards normalcy. Six hours after her operation, the woman woke up. However, she was not ready to start eating and drinking anything. It was only two hours after she woke up that she expressed thirst and was given a drink. She also started eating after consuming her first drink. Considering the gravity of the operations performed on the patient, my colleague and I also performed other tests. These tests also focused on the fluid loss experienced by the patient. Generally, we were not able to actually determine something abnormal as regards her fluid loss. In fact, our observation showed that she was not really losing too much liquid than what is considered as average. Moreover, we also looked into whether there is actually excessive bleeding but there was no sign in relation to this. Aside from the physical condition of the patient, my colleague and I also focused on her physiological and psychological conditions. Basically, upon close examination of the patient, we did not find anything wrong as regards her physiological