Gibbs Reflective Cycle: A Complete Guide

Reflection as a process is a thoughtful and excellent way to have an acquaintance of the drivers, triggers, and standard responses to a particular situation or habit. Learning through reflection involves the learner stepping back from their present learning experiences and seeking to apply critical thinking skills to jump to a conclusion. Therefore, it becomes an intentional process where intentions process the learning, and it becomes effective. Reflection is a good and versatile way of learning things based on one's own sense of understanding and cognition. It allows us to apprehend things in a much clearer way, and hence it must be used while being in a situation of learning new things. This is the reason why reflective models are used. One such reflective model is the Gibbs reflective cycle. This cycle is considered one of the most useful that would help in self-awareness assessing a particular instance.

This cyclic model offers a framework for assessing and inquiring about experiences, and as the name suggests, this is cyclic in nature, particularly related to the repetition of experiences allowing people to learn and devise plans in both cases, that is, when the things go well or did not go well.

One of the major pros of this reflective model is it helps by reflecting on the experiences of learning. It means it allows for performing better considering the present aspect, thereby improving future steps.

It is based on a form of continuous cycle allowing improvements in the experiences, which might happen in repetition and which can even be used to reflect on a single experience as well. This model also allows the importance of feeling in reflection.

Through the model, evaluation is also gained where one can assess what went well and what did not.

A Brief History Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Going back to the history of the Gibbs Reflective Cycle was created and published by American sociologist and psychologist Professor Graham Gibbs in his book ‘Learning by Doing’ in 1988.

He was the head of the Centre for Staff and Learning Development and later the director of the Oxford Learning Experience at Oxford University and helped students achieve many more beyond academia.

The reflective cycle was developed to help in higher education by conjoining theoretical and experiential learning, but with time, it has been widely used in other fields as well due to the effective results it procured in terms of learning.

Gibbs's reflective cycle motivates people to feel and believe systematically about the experiences that they might have while being in a situation, event, or any form of activity.

The model is cyclic and is accompanied by various steps, which are used in assessing and gaining the results of learning from the experiences. The cycle is made so that the experiences gained can be structured in phases.

This allows people to think and assess in detail, making them aware of their actions, and they can make better adjustments in their behavior, gaining better results in the future.

It has become a seminal text at present for professionals from the healthcare genre, developers, and even higher education teachers to help in learning from the experiences. It has also gained importance in the business sector as well.

This model is useful in having both professional and personal growth, which makes it an effective tool to be used.

Advantages of Gibbs Reflective Model

Gibbs Reflective Model has many advantages and usefulness in its application. The model involves scenarios such as discussion and peer and self-assessment. Through this reflection, actions, and plans are also suggested, which guide and help to take steps to procure results that would work in a positive way.

The cycle covers the steps of experience, reflection, feeling, and planning; hence, it can be used in any learning experience. The major advantage of the Gibbs reflective model as compared to other models is the inclusion of more steps, such as the efforts of individuals while assessing experiences, which makes it better for use in larger groups as well.

It is easier to understand and use. This also gives space to learn with the passage of time based on background and ventures.

It also helped in developing proportional, unvarnished, and authentic judgment. Its nature of facilitating the process of reflection allows reinforcement to allow experiential learning through the cyclic sequences.

It provides a structured approach to self-learning and reflection where the answers gained can be utilised with more steps allowing better results in future prospects. This form of reflection is also helpful in the internship assignments.

This is because of its cyclic nature. The cycle of the reflective process can be helpful in making the intern aware of the actions that he or she would take. The time through which a specific situation is handled can be applied differently in the future, aiming the reflection based on own action.

I have also found that the frequent use of reflection helps and improves communication and confidence in a person at his workplace. Through the Gibbs reflective cycle, one can learn or experience and develop skills that would benefit him or her while working.

Using the Gibbs cycle allows learning from experience, and it is even helpful for leaders as they encourage the team members by demonstrating reflection on their own actions and even by accepting the mistake that might have occurred and their learning from it.

This model also helps in reflecting on leadership styles and recognising the skills which would help in growing personally and parallelly contributing to the business and its success.

Gibbs Reflective Cycle in Nursing

The nurses and the midwives in many organisations are formally required to record the reflection in the form of the mentioned cycle for the continuation of professional development and repeated feedback in order to improve their nursing practice.

In nursing, it is considered and created for structured debriefing, which would help support experiential learning, that means learning by doing things and experiencing the outcome. It is designed in such a form that in the nursing field, improvement is gained at every step and can even be useful in understanding the experiences of a single event.

It is known that nursing is a profession where feelings about the incident or the patient may arise. There can be situations when the feelings overpower. Gibbs's reflection on this concern can be helpful in expressing the feelings and even allowing it to acknowledge them by going through the experiences.

It also separated the part of evaluation where one can weigh out what went wrong and what went right. These extra steps in the cyclic model allow health care practitioners to find perspectives and deal with them in the right way in future perspectives.

There is a way that can be applied in order to ensure that the writing of the reflection is just and up to the mark. It should be well-balanced writing, and following a guide can be helpful in this concern, which would completely depend on the division of the subsections equally.

On an overall basis, the word count, which is taken into consideration, should be around 1000 words to 1500, depending on the requirements of the scenario. There is a table given below that would elaborate on the work count percentage and help students in case of writing the reflection.

Steps	%	Based on Thousand Words	Based on Fifteen Hundred Words
Description	20	200	300
Feelings	15	150 - 200	225 - 250
Evaluation	20	200	300
Analysis	30	300	400 - 450
Conclusion	5	50	400 - 450
Action Plan	5	50	100 - 110 approximately

 

This can be the overall background of the reflection writing using the word count. This would help students manage their world count and help them prevent the issues of overwriting, which can often carry negative markings in their reflection.

The application of Gibbs's reflective model can be done in many ways. It can be used to systematise feelings as well. The different stages of the reactive model create a structure that helps in slowing the process of thought that would help in researching a conclusion that is considered better.

The model helps in allowing a continuous cycle, and the improvement is gained in a repeated experience.

It gives great importance to feelings of reflection and puts a greater emphasis on the art of evaluation, which would help in getting the answers in an experience on what went right and what went wrong on an overall basis. Therefore, the application is apt enough to get into the reflection and allow the learning.

Gibbs Reflective Cycle Examples

The Gibbs reflective cycle can be used in many forms of examples and can be utilised in many cases. This reflective cycle can be utilised in a well-versed form by medical and healthcare professionals.

This is because they come across many cases of patients while they are at their internship level. The reflective cycle can be used in a proper way allowing first by understanding the overall case and then analysing and judging the situation.

By judging, the students can easily make conclusions based on the case study of the patient.

While doing evaluations, they can devise a solution and then learn and apply it in significant situations. This learning is essential and helps gain a lot of information and knowledge. It helps in focusing on the solutions, which can be applied to other situations as well.

This helps in understanding the instance, and with the understanding, the solution gained is even based on the realisation of intelligence. This application is learning, which is continuous, as these would guide you and the others who go through the case study. This framework helps people to learn through experiences and incidents.

In a non-professional’s words, this cycle is so effective and flexible that it can be applied in any form of experience and description, such as someone cooking for the first time or visiting a new place.

All the phases and steps used in the cycle are so relevant that the starting from description to analysis, followed by the conclusion and action plan, can be framed very well.

The cycle has many applications and can be applied in various modes, which would help people learn and experience, and through the learning, the information gained can be applied in the situations that might occur in the future.

Stages of Gibbs Reflective Cycle

There are six stages of the Gibbs Reflective Cycle used while explaining the reflection. The six stages are description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. The following steps are explained below:

Description

This is the first step of the reflective cycle, where the description of the factual situation, activity, or detail can be made. The description must be objective without drawing any conclusions instantly.

At this stage, only the details of the incident must be given so that the overall situation can be understood. Some of the questions, which can be used to produce a description, which can be incident, are as follows:

• What happened?
• Where did it happen
• When and how did it happen?
• Who was involved, and what was done?
• Did it have any connection with the background?
• What result was gained by the action?
• What form of influence did it have on the experiences gained?

With all of these questions mentioned, one thing has to be kept in mind: all the relevant and important details must be noted so that the situation can be understood properly.

Feelings

The second stage is the phase of feelings, which is the thought that comes into the mind while an activity or a situation is going on as mentioned in stage one.

In this step, the major goal must not be to discuss the feelings or details of the mindset in a direct way. Here the important part is to be aware of the situation and the reaction, which is perceived.

Some questions, which can be used for determining the feeling, can be as follows:

• What was the feeling while the event was going on?
• How did you feel after the event?
• What do you think people would have felt during the event?
• How would people have felt after the incident?
• What can you learn looking back at the incident?

Often people face issues while talking about their feelings, and therefore these questions can be helpful in encouraging someone to be outspoken on the issues of feelings.

With the last two questions based on people, this also signifies that the cycle allows reflection even in group-based issues.

Evaluation

This is the third step in the model to evaluate the incidents, where one can ask themselves about the good or bad part of the incident in step one. In this step, the evaluation is done, which allows the understanding of the situation.

To be more precise the judgment on the good and the bad parts of the incident are discussed and perceived. It also allows the understanding of the approaches that worked or did not work well.

In this stage, often people find it difficult to be objective therefore, some questions can be helpful in getting the right judgment. They are as follows:

• What was good throughout the activity?
• What was the reason for it being good?
• What did not go well?
• Why did you feel so?
• What was your contribution to the overall incident?
• How do people present their contributions?

The question also has a negative tone, which would help people learn to form things that did not go as per mindset.

Analysis

This is the fourth step of the cycle where, after learning and analysing the situation that has been faced, it would be known what else would be done in the future in case of similar situations.

That would mean there would be both positive and negative factors that have been experienced. The pointers must be written down so that these can be analysed well and would help in understanding what steps should be taken in a particular way.

This form of evaluation must be done after the analysis. This is also helpful for future reference. Some questions can be helpful in clearing it. They are as follows:

• Why was the experience positive or negative?
• Did it align with yours in any way or perspective?
• How does the experience align with the theory and the standards of the situation?

These can be used as a way to have an analysis of the scenario and the experiences in a practical way.

Conclusion

This is the fifth step in the cycle, where one can step back and look at the situation, which would be helpful in understanding the situation in a better way, as well.

The information gathered in the step of analysis is valuable and helps in encouraging a good and useful conclusion. In this concern, the questions, which can be framed as well, are as follows:

• Where did the positive experience of the situation and activity lead to?
• Where did the negative experience of the situation and activity lead to?
• What would be done in the future if a similar form of situation, event, or activity happens again?
• What skills can be applied and developed in case a situation occurs in the future?
• Which skills do you need to develop yourself in a similar event, situation, or activity?

These would help in the reflection in terms of making proper decision-making as well.

These are the steps and the overall process, which would help in getting through the reflective cycle in a synchronised way and would guide the students and professionals in the right direction.

Action Plan

The last and final stage is the conclusion, which is the sixth step in the phase. In this phase, actions are designed based on conclusions. In the fifth step, people would make concrete facts and apply them.

The action plans would help in initialising the process and step in a way that would help in learning in an experiential way. This would help in making sure that no mistakes are repeated again in other similar situations.

The approach would be effective or not can be judged, leading to actual improvement, making sure that the learning is done. The action plan would allow help in initialising the steps in every possible way and help in knowing the situation.

Some questions can be framed in this case, which is as follows:

• What would be the next step in the process?
• What training would be needed in the future?

These questions, when answered by the one who is experiencing the overall process, would help in making sure to take steps in the future on the situation faced. This would also allow the vision to understand the mistakes and work on them accordingly.

There are a few other important things that can be identified in the Gibbs reflective model. The framework has element R, allowing people to make sense of experience. They are:

Reporting: It is the recalling of the event that happened and the involvement of the situation.

Responding: It is about the factors that are significant and are underlying the situation, such as the relation of the events that happened and the number of odd situations that were involved in it.

Relating: Explanation of the connection of the situation including the experience, skills, knowledge, and understanding.

Reconstructing: This part is the description of the deeper understanding of the situation using the thought process of the individual.

This format in the reflection toolkit would help in thinking about the questions, which would be helpful in doing the reflections. One thing that is incorporated is part of self-questioning, where one can understand things better and allow motivation. The reflection part can be helpful in:

• Improving the practice to gain better results in the future
• Improving the awareness of the abilities and attributes
• Evaluating the success of the action plan
• Application of the knowledge, which is theoretical in the case of behavior, a soft skill such as listening to real-time experiences and expanding the understanding
• Development and expansion of the employability

Application to Case Studies

The Gibbs reflective cycle can be applied in the nursing field the case studies and the incidents that have occurred while practically working there.

One thing that must be understood is that through the reflection cycle, specifically in the nursing profession, many situations that are intertwined in dilemmas can be solved. This is because situations that have ethical and humanitarian issues are somehow related to the experiences. The experiences and the learning must be jotted down by the professional following the described steps in the above part of the writing. This noting of the points and going through them whenever needed can help extract the right step and apply it at the right time to procure the right outcomes.

There are a few disadvantages of the cycle when applied to the situations.

• The reflective cycle can often be boring. The steps mentioned have less space for room or interpretation or any form of expansion.
• Most of the reflection based on the Gibbs model forces students to have little information to be written.
• It does not allow space for freedom in terms of different elements of feelings as compared to other models.
• The cycle of reflection often leads to reflections that are superficial in nature, and there are not many assumptions associated with the actions and experiences.
• The cycle is often related to failing to draw connections with the experiences in-depth
• This reflection highly focuses on the descriptions, which are away from the analysis of self rather than analysing the situation
• There is not much scope for critical thinking in terms of evaluation and analysis.
• It often fails to have a distinct section for feelings and descriptions, and it becomes difficult to link it with the overall process.
• It can often be confusing as students struggle to differentiate between evaluation and analysis.
• These disadvantages can be taken up in the case of the Gibbs reflective cycle.

Despite the disadvantages, it has been still widely used in professions starting from nursing and teaching and at present in many business and workplace organisations.

Case Study 1

The patient had a case of cystic fibrosis when she was only 12 years old. She had been living with it until 40 years of age with few complications. With the advent of time, she developed the issue of asthma, which the hospital and the professionals here treated. Suddenly her visit to the hospital increased, and finally, after a few days of struggle, she died peacefully with family members surrounding her.

Description

What exactly happened in the case?

A patient who has been in my ward and I was looking after her for many years in their elder age died of cystic fibrosis. It was sudden as the symptoms were not serious but due to complications, but it rose and made things critical and vulnerable. The patient has been suffering from it for quite a long time and was able to manage her state as well. However, with the passage of time, the situation was worsening as she was visiting the hospitals more often.

Feelings

What were the thinking and feeling as per the case?

Precisely, it was thought that she had lived longer than one could have thought, as the diagnosis was done in early childhood. Emotionally, it was shocking that even though it has been seen that many patients have been dying over the years.

Nevertheless, in this case, I was not ready for her death as I was not expected to be dead with this issue, and it was sepsis that caused the death. Though it was unacceptable, somehow, I will have to manage and overcome the situation in a graceful manner without hampering my efficiency at a professional level.

Evaluation

What was good and bad about the situation?

The patient had lived her life peacefully and enjoyed even her last moment, and it was seen that she had no regrets. She had not suffered much in her last hours as well, and she was happy.

Her family was there with her when she died as the room and the space was available for the relatives. As far as the medical reasons are confirmed, I believe she should not have died due to sepsis in a direct way. It must have been caused by the infected insect bite or any scratch in the garden.

The initial symptoms were not specifically related to the sepsis symptoms. It would have been a form of chest infection. It was also seen that she wanted to have her last days at home, but somehow due to the infection, it was not possible.

Analysis

What could be understood by the situation of the patient?

The things and parts that were understood, in this case, are that if a patient has been suffering for a long time cystic fibrosis, carrying out transplants can be vulnerable. The immune system is always at risk. It could also cause death and other forms of organ failure.

I could feel that the patient had very little time left to live because, with time, there was an increase in the admissions to hospitals becoming more frequent with passing time.

For further reflection, it was not meant and felt to be unexpected in relation to the incident of a death. But one thing that was ensured was she had all her family members around her when she peacefully left for the abode, and this must be made sure in the case of every patient possible based on humanitarian grounds.

Conclusion

What could have been done in this case apart from the things already applied?

In this case, there is no security on what could have been applied to gain a new outcome or would have affected the overall result. I must not have felt staggered as the clinical results portrayed the same end for the patient as well.

The learning that I could take forward from here is trying to avoid not being in such an emotional state as a medical professional. I should be satisfied and happy that she had a peaceful end with her family surrounding her.

Being a professional, being emotionally attached, or being affected could also affect my efficiency in the workplace.

Action Plan

If the same situation occurred again, what steps can be taken?

It is very sure and common that the situation will arise and occur again in the healthcare sector. It has been happening in the past as well, where many times patients die, and due to being a professional, it is not advised to overthink this.

Through this case, which occurred, I can learn to manage and be more considerate in handling such a situation and help myself realize that it is a completely normal human trait to grieve in such a situation and must give myself time to go through it. However, it should not overpower me at the end of the day.

Case Study 2

This is the case study of Naomi Williams. The incident started on New Year’s Day in the year 2016; a Wiradjuri woman named Naomi Williams died at the age of 27 years in the Tumut hospital. The main reason for the death was determined to be septicemia, followed by meningitis.

She was 22 weeks pregnant, and the investigation further pointed to the case of negligence by the people who died from racism. It was also noted that she was not checked properly as far as her symptoms were concerned and was discharged even though she had problems.

Description

What exactly happened in the case?

A woman named Naomi William, aged 27, died in the year 2016 while she was around 22 weeks pregnant. An investigation and autopsy were done, which explained the reason for her death, which was septicemia.

This is linked to Neisseria meningitides, a form of extreme infection that can be only treated with the help of antibiotics. It was also revealed through the investigation that the death was not due to vomiting or any form of nausea, which was connected before the investigation.

The fact that a pregnant woman and her needs were avoided who was around 22 weeks into her pregnancy is a case of utter disgrace and shame on the modus operandi of the state and the medical organisation.

Feelings

What were the thinking and feeling as per the case?

The case of Napomi Williams imparts anger, sadness, and disgrace all at the same time. When it comes to the health system in Australia, I believe there are still instances of discrimination in providing treatment and care.

The woman was from the First Nation community, and this can be the reason why she was not given so much importance in-hospital treatment and medication. The incident horrified me as a citizen as well because it cannot be called an act of negligence that happened by mistake, but this case is about taking patients lightly and not diagnosing their issues seriously, depending on their background.

I condemned the action, and while reading about it, I was petrified that the professionals involved in the field who are supposed to take care of the needy people are unaware and unconcerned in this case.

They must be aware of their duties and responsibilities, which make no difference based on the color and background of the people. The incident puts a question mark on the reliability of the overall governance of the medical and healthcare professionals.

Evaluation

What was the overall gist of the situation?

The autopsy report revealed the information where the fact remains intact that Australia is still a sector where discrimination has been surfacing despite inclusion and implementation of policies of equality.

The inquest also portrayed that there has been inequality in taking care of the people from the Aboriginal community. She was a victim of inequality and lack of medical attention. She attended the hospital around eighteen times, and when she was discharged, she was given two paracetamol to help reduce the pain.

This is not enough leading to the death of the patient. At this time, no physical examination was done, no formal reporting was done, and no history was taken, which is a big fault in medical protocol.

The nurses at the medical center did not hold the standard of the RN, which implements the protocol of conducting a thorough assessment of the patients.

At the same time, the doctor's duty was not called, which is supposed to be done as per the rule. The staff of the hospital also testified that women, in general, are at risk of septicemia, and in this case, the nurses must take care of the fact that the vital signs of the patient must be taken.

The nurse filed to do so in the case of Naomi. She had been into a high-risk pregnancy, which was also ignored, which led to her death.

Analysis

What could be understood by the situation of the patient?

The doctors of the hospital were not able to do their part, which was the medical examination, and did not provide quality care. The woman was given painkillers by the woman who was pregnant and complained of many other things.

This is one of the embarrassments to the medical field and fraternity and not just a scene of negligence. As per information, the women visited the hospital around 18 times in the seven months.

She complained of pain, nausea, and vomiting before she died. The reports after death revealed that this was due to improper medical attention. The problem she faced was easily treatable by antibiotics, but still, the step was not taken, which is a clear case of negligence.

Conclusion

What could have been done in this case apart from the things already applied?

In the end, it can be concluded that proper care and concern must be taken care of in the case of the Aboriginal community as well. It must be understood by all that Black lives matter too, and therefore the instances of racism and discrimination at a level must not be given importance, and it must be given and needs equality, and this must be taken care of.

People with the policymakers must be aware that they, too, are part of society, and no mistreatment would be tolerated. In this case, it must be understood that no negligence must be done, which would cost people's lives.

The case creates an urgency, which relates strongly to the mistreatment done to the people of the community regardless of the issues of race, color, caste, or creed.

Action Plan

If the same situation occurred again, what steps can be taken?

There are some stern actions that can be taken while considering the situation. The first one is strengthening the health policy and requirements of the Aboriginals through availability throughout the day.

This can be done through the liaison officials, who would be notified whenever there would be an aboriginal patient presented but not taken care of and diagnosed.

This would help in determining the negligence that might occur by others in the hospital. This vigilance would also allow us to see the effectiveness of the staff and the hospital. Whether the rules are followed or not can be determined as well.

Training to the nurses and the medical practitioners on ethics and the community can be given, allowing them to follow the protocols. For more understanding of the need for hiring, more people from the indigenous population are needed.

The people from the same community would understand the state and the issues of those coming to the hospitals. The health care providers can allow the representation of the local health bodies with the community.

This would help in embracing the community and allow cultural acceptance. The issues of marginalism and inequality can be reduced to a major extent as well.

Medical check-ups and other probabilities can also be given to the people visiting hospitals rather than avoiding them. This would help them feel confident and positive.

They must be given attention and proper care so that they can receive the best care and survive in a better way. They are often considered groups who are unable to bear expenses and then to be neglected. These must be removed by giving them an allowance and help in the financial form.

Some Final Words

In the end, a conclusion on the Gibbs model of reflective analysis can be illustrated, and the framework of the analysis is helpful in offering students and professionals a proper structure, helping in giving people a way to evaluate whatever they experienced.

In addition, the cyclic nature of the model helps in lending specifically an outline of the experiences. It also helps the learners learn and plan things accordingly based on the positives and negatives obtained from the experiences.

As per the discussion, Gibbs, through his model, tried to advocate the usage of the reflection model in repeated situations, and the solution obtained can be equally applied to specific experiences as well.

The learners get a chance to learn throughout the process, adding the skills that would be helpful in getting effective results in the action plan by addressing the weaknesses.

Therefore, it is one of the popular and renowned cycle processes interrelated to reflective learning, helping and guiding the learners through six different phases, helping them explore their experiences in varied ways, and letting them learn through it.