Enhancing Care for Older People - Health Service Executive

Figure 3.2: Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Action Plan
If it arose
again what would
you do?
Conclusion
The following is an example of a reflection using Gibbs reflective model.
Stage 1: Description of the event
Description
What happened?
Description
What sense can
you make of the
situation?
Feelings
What were
you thinking &
feeling?
Evaluation
What was good
& bad about the
experience?
(Gibbs, 1988)
Describe in detail the event you are reflecting on.
Include for example: where you were; who else was there; why were you there; what you were
doing; what other people were doing; what was the context of the event; what happened;
what was your part in this; what parts did the other people play; what was the result.
Reflective event
A woman, aged 60 with multiple sclerosis, is a long-term patient on our ward. One evening,
she said to me “Would you mind texting my son for me? He hasn’t been in contact for a while
and I wonder if he is OK”. This lady has no use of her hands or legs. I said “no problem” and
typed the text message for her and at the end she said “love mom”.
Stage 2: Feelings
At this stage in the process, recall and explore the things that were going on inside your
head i.e. why does this event stick in your mind? Include how you were feeling when the
event started; what you were thinking about at the time; how it made you feel; how other
people made you feel; how you felt about the outcome of the event; what you think about
it now.
Response
“I was thinking at the time how vulnerable and perhaps embarrassed she must feel in asking a
staff member to text a private message. I felt that my heart went out to her being so powerless
and some of the things that we all take for granted which she does not have the ability to do. I
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