How to write a nursing reflection (with a Gibbs example)

A nursing reflection is a short, structured account of an experience from practice and what you learned from it. The most widely used structure in UK nurse education is the Gibbs reflective cycle, which walks you through six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. Write one stage at a time, keep every detail that could identify a patient out, and always finish with a concrete action for next time. Here’s how to do it well, with a worked example.

Why reflection matters (beyond “because it’s assessed”)

It’s tempting to treat reflections as an academic chore. But reflection is one of the few study skills that follows you your whole career: registered nurses use reflective accounts for NMC revalidation every three years, and the habit of honestly examining your own practice is a large part of what “learning from experience” actually means. On placement, a good reflection also does double duty as evidence: a well-written account of a meaningful episode can support the proficiencies you’re asking an assessor to sign.

The skill is worth building properly in first year. It gets faster every time.

The Gibbs reflective cycle, stage by stage

Gibbs’ cycle (1988) endures because each stage asks one clear question. Answer them in order and the reflection writes itself.

1. Description: what happened?

Just the facts, briefly: the situation, who was involved (by role, never by name), what happened, and what your part was. Two to four sentences. Resist analysing yet.

2. Feelings: what were you thinking and feeling?

What went through your mind at the time, before, during and after. Be honest; “I felt out of my depth” is more useful (and more credible) than pretending composure. Nobody assesses you on having felt the right thing.

3. Evaluation: what was good and bad about it?

Weigh the experience both ways. What went well, even in a difficult moment? What didn’t? Where a patient or colleague was affected, say how.

4. Analysis: what sense can you make of it?

The stage that separates a strong reflection from a diary entry. Why did things unfold as they did? Connect the experience to what you know: teaching, guidelines, the evidence base, the NMC Code. If communication broke down, what got in the way? If something went smoothly, what made it work?

5. Conclusion: what else could you have done?

Given the analysis, what would have been better? What skills or knowledge would have changed the outcome? What did this episode reveal that you didn’t know you were missing?

6. Action plan: what will you do next time?

Finish with something concrete and doable: “I will ask my supervisor to observe my handovers and give feedback”, not “I will communicate better.” A specific action turns the reflection into changed practice, and gives your next reflection somewhere to start.

A worked example

Here’s a compact, fully anonymised example of the cycle in action:

Description. During a morning medication round in week two of my placement, my practice supervisor asked me to prepare an oral dose I hadn’t given before. I checked the prescription but felt unsure about the calculation, and asked her to talk me through it before we proceeded.

Feelings. I felt embarrassed asking, because I’d done similar calculations in the skills lab. At the same time I was anxious about getting it wrong, and relieved once I’d asked.

Evaluation. What went well: I didn’t guess. I escalated my uncertainty before the medicine reached the patient. What went less well: a calculation I’d practised still felt shaky under real pressure, which told me my revision wasn’t transferring to practice.

Analysis. Checking and asking is exactly what safe medicines practice requires, and the pressure of a real round is known to affect calculation confidence, and practising in a quiet lab isn’t the same as calculating with a busy bay behind you. My hesitation wasn’t a knowledge gap so much as a fluency gap: I knew the method but hadn’t over-practised it enough to trust it under stress.

Conclusion. I could have prepared better by doing short, regular calculation practice rather than one long session before the placement. Asking was right, but I want the asking to be verification, not rescue.

Action plan. I’ll do ten minutes of timed calculation practice three times a week for the rest of this placement, and ask my supervisor to let me lead the calculation (with her checking) on future rounds.

Notice what makes it work: no names, no ward, no drug or dose that could identify anyone; honest feelings; analysis that reaches for why; and an action you could check up on a fortnight later.

Keeping patient information out

This is non-negotiable, and it’s the thing most likely to get a reflection (or a student) into trouble. A reflection must contain no patient-identifiable information: that means:

• No names or initials: refer to “the patient” or “a person in our care”.
• No identifying details: age, ward, dates, rare conditions or distinctive circumstances can identify someone in combination, even without a name.
• Focus on you, not them: the subject of a reflection is your learning; clinical detail beyond what the learning needs is risk without value.
• Same rules everywhere: notebooks, study apps and cloud drives are all disclosure risks if they hold identifiable detail. Write it clean at the source.

If a reflection genuinely can’t make its point without identifying detail, it’s the wrong episode to write about, or the writing needs another pass.

A template you can reuse

Copy this structure for any episode. One or two honest paragraphs per stage is plenty. Most placement reflections land between 300 and 600 words.

• Description: What happened? (Facts only, roles not names.)
• Feelings: What was I thinking and feeling at the time?
• Evaluation: What was good and bad about the experience?
• Analysis: Why did it unfold that way? What does the evidence/guidance say?
• Conclusion: What else could I have done? What did this reveal?
• Action plan: What, specifically, will I do differently next time?

If you’d rather not carry the structure in your head, PlaceMate’s guided reflections give you a prompt for each Gibbs stage, a standing reminder to keep patient-identifiable information out, and the option to link the finished reflection to a shift or proficiency as evidence.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a nursing reflection be? For placement purposes, usually 300–600 words, long enough to complete all six stages honestly and short enough to stay sharp. Academic reflective essays have their own word counts; follow the brief.

Do I have to use Gibbs? No. Gibbs is the most common in UK programmes, but Driscoll’s What? So what? Now what? is a leaner alternative some students prefer, and your university may specify another model. Structure matters more than which structure.

Can reflections count as evidence for proficiencies? Often, yes. A reflection that shows your reasoning and learning in a relevant episode is strong supporting evidence. Link each reflection to the proficiency statements it demonstrates and let your assessor judge.

Should I write about things that went wrong? Yes, carefully. Reflections on difficult episodes are usually the richest, provided you write honestly, keep everyone anonymous, and follow your programme’s guidance (and raise anything serious through the proper channels first, not via a reflection).

Will I still write reflections after I qualify? Yes: registered nurses complete written reflective accounts as part of NMC revalidation every three years. The habit you build now is the same skill, ready.

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Write structured Gibbs reflections with a prompt for every stage, free in PlaceMate and linkable to your shifts and proficiencies as evidence.