Week 13 (Individual Work)

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Find the answers of the following questions: (a) What is reflective writing? (b) What are the characteristics of a good reflective writing? The materials for this activity should be included in your ISL folio.

Note: You may refer to your lecturer for assistance.

(a) What is reflective writing? According to Language and Learning Online (2007), reflective writing is writing which involves ' consideration of the larger context, the meaning, and the implications of an experience or action' (Branch & Paranjape, 2002, p. 1185). In medical and health science courses you are required to produce reflective writing in order to learn from educational and practical experiences, and to develop the habit of critical reflection as a future health professional. Reflective writing may be based on:

description and analysis of a learning experience within the course:

o o o

a community placement a clinical placement a rural placement

description and analysis of a past experience review of your learning or course to that point

description and analysis of a critical incident.

In addition, according to English Wikipedia (2011), it stated that reflective writing is a practice in which the writer describes a real or imaginable scene, event, interaction, passing thought, memory, form, adding a personal reflection on the meaning of the item or incident, thought, feeling, emotion, or situation in his or her life. Many reflective writers keep in mind guiding questions, such as "What did I notice?" "How has this changed me?" or "What might I have done differently?" Thus, the focus is on writing that is not merely descriptive. Th e writer doesnt just hit the replay button; rather, he or she revisits the scene to note details and emotions, reflect on meaning, examine what went well or revealed a need for additional learning, and relate what transpired to the rest of life. Furthermore, for the uses of reflective writing is for personal development, the practice is often incorporated into professionalism training for physicians, nurses, teachers, social workers, and others needing to offer more humane and compassionate service to their patients or clients. The underlying assumption is that through the experience of telling and listening to stories, the student becomes more attuned to noticing, listening to, recording, and responding to the stories of patients and colleagues in years to come. Through the longitudinal practice of reflective writing comes recognition that people's perspectives grow and change. A vector develops: the stories are going somewhere, or they are stuck. Viewed this way, even bad days are not so awful; the writer becomes curious about what comes next. The mindful, reflective stance that develops in clinical training can subsequently be helpful and healing when modelled for patients or clients. Reflective writing also asks the practitioner not only to pull back the lens and observe events, human interactions, and perspectives in the field of study, but also to become more conscious of his/her emotional responses to situations encountered in training and practice, to find metaphors for experiences, and to contextualize observations. When reflective writing is shared in classes and groups, careful listening and provision of responsible, sensitive feedback to fellow students and practitioners is encouraged.

(b) What are the characteristics of a good reflective writing?

This section covers the language features of reflective writing:

tenses speculative and hypothetical writing the language of self-reflection vs criticism.

Tenses

Reflective writing often requires movement between past and present tenses, depending on whether you are recounting the actual events or making a more general comment (for example, on the doctor-patient relationship, or on an aspect of your current course).

Generally, when recounting a particular experience or incident, past tense is used. Example 1 As part of my placement at the Echuca Base Hospital I worked closely with the nursing staff. I was impressed by the rapport they had with their patients while performing their duties professionally they often joked with the patients, and in that way maintained a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere on the ward. I noticed that the nurses had more regular contact with patients than the doctors, and consequently seemed to develop a closer relationship. Example 2 When two of the patients became agitated I did not know what to do. I asked them to return to their beds, but they simply ignored me. I did not know what the correct procedure was in this situation. When making a general comment, or relating an incident to current practice or to a particular theoretical perspective, present tense is normally used.

Example 3 It seems that the roles of nurses and doctors are quite different, and that doctors need to acknowledge the importance of the nurse-patient Example 4 Clearly making new staff aware of the procedures and rules is important when they join a new workplace or institution.

Speculative And Hypothetical Writing

In reflective writing you may be asked to speculate about the future, or about a hypothetical situation. For example, you may be asked to comment on whether you would like to practice in a rural area in your future career. Notice in the example below the movement between past and present tenses, and the use of 'would' when speculating about the future. Example 5 Although my rural placement was a very positive experience, I would not like to work in the country when I first graduate. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, being a country doctor is more challenging you do not have the support networks available in the city, so you have to cope with many different situations. Also, you have less privacy. In the country I would have to behave as the local doctor all the time, 24 hours a day. There would not be an opportunity to just be myself and not worry about what people think. Living in the country I would be far away from my family, and might feel lonely for that reason. Finally, I would have to focus on general practice, whereas my interest lies in more specialized areas of medicine. Example 6 As soon as I started there, I could see that having a good working relationship with the nurses would make my job much easier, and would possibly result in better health care for patients.

Self-Reflection Vs Criticism.
Some writers become confused between self-reflection and self-criticism. You need to go beyond simply admitting a weakness or mistake or failure what is important is not only what you did, but how you felt, what you have learnt from that experience, and how it will inform your behaviour in the future. Addressing course issues and topics Try not to confine your writing to the event and your feelings. If possible, use it to raise new questions or to speculate about possible causes and solutions. Remember where possible to link your reflections to theoretical aspects of your course. For example:

Addressing course issues and topics comparison

Original text

Alternative text When the doctor raised his voice to the patient I felt embarrassed and the patient appeared to feel humiliated. Clearly this behaviour by the doctor was not appropriate, even though the doctor was obviously frustrated at the patient's apparent inability to understand the instructions. While it is the responsibility of every doctor to behave respectfully with patients, on this occasion an excessive workload and the lack of availability of an interpreter no doubt contributed to the doctor's behaviour. It reminded me that structural factors within the health care system, such as staffing and budgets, can impact on the quality of attention delivered to patients.

When the doctor raised his voice to the patient I felt embarrassed. It reminded me to maintain an appropriate communication style with patients when I am a doctor.