Introduction
Placement is the process where the university students are given the opportunity to gain experience by working in the company (Burns and Sinfield, 2022). Reflective practices and thinking are considered to be good that provide the knowledge about the situation and self-development. This is refection based report on my placement experience in old age care centre where I got opportunity to learn and provide the patients. There are different models based on different philosophies that can be used for reflection that are ERA cycle, Driscoll's What Model and Gibb's Reflective Cycle. This report will cover the reflection on the experience gained in the placement, conduct the SWOT analysis and finally set smart goals for the future.
Gibbs Model
Gibbs’s reflective model is a systematic framework that is useful for reflection on the individual’s experiences (Morley, 2018). This model follows stages that determine that helps determine the situation occurred, feeling about the same, analysis and finally create action plan.
Figure 1: Gibb's reflective analysis
Description- During my placement experience I was assigned to work in an organisation that provides care and services to the old age people. This gave me in-depth knowledge about the care given to the people whether it is medical assistance, home and food facility, learning for the people, etc.
Feelings- I was so excited when I got to work in this organisation which helped me to satisfy my curiosity about values to help others and learn something new for my career growth. However, this led me to the feeling of nervousness and self-doubt.
Evaluation- The overall experience was good to me which made me broaden my knowledge and gain adapt new skills for the better profession in the future. I came across the number of old age people seeking care where I got to provide medical treatment to them. It taught me empathy and stress handing techniques through which I was able to tackle the patient. The bad experience with lack of proper knowledge in determining the dosage of medicine that if I knew would have been better for completing my tasks on time.
Analysis- The opportunity has given me immense understanding on the skills possessed by me such as leadership, decision making, and teamwork. I found that I lacked many abilities that were crucial for carrying out the given tasks at that time such as problem solving, time management, and active listening.
Conclusion- This can be concluded form the above reflection that placement are beneficial for the accessing the individual qualities possessed in the area and gives information about the work in the field. This is helpful in improving the knowledge in the field through the real work experience.
SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis is the tool used for evaluating the capabilities that are present in the individual and helps in identifying the areas lacking (Mata et al, 2021). This also helps in assessing the opportunities and threats involved.
|
Strengths · Leadership · Decision making · Team work |
Weaknesses · Problem solving · Time management · Active listening |
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Opportunities · Development of new capabilities · Academic real world application · Expansion of the knowledge |
Threats · Hard managing the schedules · Missing important information · Difficulty in resolving issues |
Strengths- By doing self-assessment I have found that I possess good leadership skills while dealing with both service providers and users. This in turn also helps in co-ordinating with the team members and helps in carry out the task effectively. Burns and Sinfield (2022) stated that it is effective in managing the team at work as well as in the academics where the projects are given on group basis. During the placement, I have co-ordinated with the nurses and patients so that quality services can be provided. Further, while working with the old age people I took several decisions according to the situation which in turn also recognized s my strength.
Weaknesses- I found that lack of problem solving in me can lead to inability to resolve the various issues occur in the professional as well as academic life. The absence of this time management can lead to inefficiency (Morley, 2018). The inactive listening can be concerning and lead to miscommunication.
Opportunities- The enhanced skills are beneficial for the future personality as well as professional development in an individual. (Palgrave MacmillanSinclair et al, 2021). In the near future, I will be having opportunity to apply academic learning’s and knowledge in the real world context. The acquired information and capabilities will assist me in offering prominent care services to the people.
Threats- There can be threats associated with my inefficiency in managing the complex schedules and manage the time. The lack of active listening can lead to missing the important information that is communicated. Further, I might face difficulty in resolving issues promptly facing by the patients which in turn creates challenges for each day.
SMART Model
Smart model is the approach used in the process of target setting that ensure the attainability of the goals more effectively (Ayaz and Ismail, 2022). The goals for the next placement are developing the problem solving, critical thinking, time management and active listening in me. Through these skills I will be able to perform better in my next placement. Problem solving will lead me to resolve the concerns related to patient treatment, care, medicines, etc. Critical thinking will help me in taking decisions with more intelligence. Time management will assist in handling the tasks in my next placement and I will be able to work as per the expectation of the leaders. Active listening will help me with better communication and understanding the situations at work better.
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Skills |
Activities |
Resources |
Time |
|
Problem solving and Critical thinking |
I will develop this skill through solving real life problems. |
Case studies, books, paper, pen, laptop. |
3 months |
|
Time management |
For time management will tend to make focus on prioritizing activities as per their importance. |
Training programmes, webinars, laptop, internet. |
2 months |
|
Active listening |
It will be developed through working with the team and practicing online. I will also attend seminars and conferences which will contribute in developing my active listening ability. |
Laptop, internet, peers, paper, pen. |
3 months |
In order to evaluate and measure skill enhancement over the period of time benchmarking technique will be use. By doing comparison of actual outcome in against to the standards, after a specific period, current state of performance can be evaluated effectually (Mata et al, 2021)
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be stated that placement is crucial for giving the experience that helps in assessing to the capabilities present in the individual. Gibbs, SWOT and SMART models are helpful to identify the areas lacking in a person and gives ways to improve them in the future for better career and academic life.
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References
Books and Journals
Ayaz, O., & Ismail, F. W. (2022). Healthcare simulation: a key to the future of medical education–a review. Advances in medical education and practice, 301-308.
Burns, T., & Sinfield, S. (2022). Essential study skills : the complete guide to success at university (Fifth edition.). SAGE.
Mata, Á. N. D. S., de Azevedo, K. P. M., Braga, L. P., de Medeiros, G. C. B. S., de Oliveira Segundo, V. H., Bezerra, I. N. M., ... & Piuvezam, G. (2021). Training in communication skills for self-efficacy of health professionals: a systematic review. Human resources for health, 19, 1-9.
Morley, D. A. (2018). Enhancing employability in higher education through work-based learning.
Palgrave MacmillanSinclair, S., Kondejewski, J., Jaggi, P., Dennett, L., des Ordons, A. L. R., & Hack, T. F. (2021). What is the state of compassion education? A systematic review of compassion training in health care. Academic Medicine, 96(7), 1057-1070.
Online
Expert program management, (2025). Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. [Online]. Available through: <https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2019/05/gibbs-reflective-cycle/#google_vignette>. [Accessed on: 7 February 2025].
