A Communication Based Reflective Essay

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A Communication Based Reflective Essay This essay is a reflective account of a situation in practice where an aspect of communication played a crucial role in the care given. Reflection is essential for health professionals as it helps to prevent habitual practice and improves quality of care (Crawford, Brown & Bonham, 2006). For the purposes of this essay I am using Gibbs (1998) reflective cycle. I have chosen this model as it ensures that the experience is reflected in a logical order using six distinct stages. A woman self referred from home to delivery suite contracting, after examination the woman was found to be in the latent stages of labour. The woman was advised to go home and given advice on how to manage the pain. The woman became very anxious at the idea of going home and so was admitted to the antenatal ward. I was on placement on the antenatal ward and the woman’s care was handed over to my mentor and I. The woman was Spanish and spoke very little English. The woman’s partner was English and informed us that he spoke fairly good Spanish and that he would be able to translate. I asked the woman if she would like a bath for pain relief and she agreed. Whilst the woman was in the bath, her husband went to his car to get the woman’s bags and the woman and I were left alone. The woman must have thought I was going to leave her as she grabbed my arm and looked very worried. I reassured her that I was going to stay, however this was very difficult due to the language barrier, she appeared to calm down so I think she understood. I sat with her whilst she was in the bath trying to give her support and reassurance as she was clearly anxious and struggling with the pain. The woman seemed to appreciate my presence and visibly appeared to cope better with the pain she was experiencing. The woman’s husband came back and I explained that it was the end of my shift
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