How to Write a Reflective Essay Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

Reflective essays are set on most UK nursing, midwifery, social work, teaching and health-science programmes, and increasingly on business and law courses with placements. The task is not to tell a story about something that happened. It is to show that you can examine an experience, understand it with the help of evidence and professional standards, and change what you do next. Gibbs’ reflective cycle, published by Graham Gibbs in Learning by Doing (1988), is the model most often prescribed for this because its six stages walk you from description to action in a fixed order.

This guide explains what each stage is for, roughly how much to write in it, how to bring theory in without losing the personal voice, and the mistakes that markers see most often. It assumes an assignment of 1,500 to 3,000 words; adjust the proportions for shorter pieces.

When Gibbs is the right model

Gibbs suits a single, bounded event: a handover that went wrong, a difficult conversation with a relative, a lesson that lost the class, a client meeting you were unprepared for. If your brief asks you to reflect on development over a whole placement, a question-based model such as Driscoll’s “What? So what? Now what?” or the framework by Rolfe, Freshwater and Jasper may fit better, and Schön’s distinction between reflection in action and reflection on action is useful when discussing how you think while you work. Use the model your module names; if none is named, say which one you chose and why in your introduction.

The six stages and what to write in each

The percentages are a guide to balance, not a rule. The one point to hold onto is that analysis is the largest section, because that is where the marks are.

1. Description (about 10 to 15 per cent)

Set the scene briefly: where you were, who was involved (anonymised), what happened and in what order. Stick to facts. Do not explain, judge or justify yet. A common fault is a description that runs to half the essay; if yours does, move anything that explains why into the analysis.

Useful openers: “During my second week on an acute medical ward…”; “The event took place during…”; “My role was to…”.

2. Feelings (about 10 per cent)

Say what you were thinking and feeling before, during and after the event, and what you think others may have felt. Be honest; an essay that admits anxiety or frustration reads as more credible than one that does not. You do not have to analyse the feelings yet, but you should name them precisely: “I felt out of my depth and worried that I had missed something” is more useful than “I felt bad”.

3. Evaluation (about 15 per cent)

Weigh up what went well and what did not, for you and for everyone involved. Try to include both sides even when the event felt wholly negative; identifying what you did right is part of the skill. This is also the place to note what the outcome was for the patient, pupil or client.

Useful openers: “What worked well was…”; “The point at which things began to go wrong was…”; “From the patient’s perspective…”.

4. Analysis (about 30 to 35 per cent)

This is where you make sense of the event. Ask why things happened as they did and bring in evidence to answer. Evidence means published research, professional standards and policy, not just opinion. For a nursing event that might be the NMC Code, NICE guidance, local trust policy and two or three journal articles on, say, communication under time pressure. For a teaching event it might be the Teachers’ Standards, the school’s behaviour policy and the literature on classroom management. For a business placement it might be a theory of teamwork or leadership and the organisation’s own procedures.

Structure the analysis around two or three issues rather than retelling the event. For each issue: what the evidence says should happen, what actually happened, and what explains the gap. Where the literature disagrees, say so. Where your own assumptions played a part, say that too.

Useful openers: “One explanation is…”; “The NMC Code (2018) requires registrants to…, which suggests that…”; “Research on … indicates…”; “In hindsight, my decision to … was influenced by…”.

5. Conclusion (about 10 to 15 per cent)

State what you have learned and what else you could have done. Be specific: not “I learned the importance of communication” but “I learned that I avoid asking for clarification when a senior colleague seems busy, and that this delay, rather than the task itself, created the risk”. List two or three alternative actions that were open to you at the time and briefly weigh them.

6. Action plan (about 10 to 15 per cent)

Say what you will do differently next time and how you will get there. Make each action concrete and time-bound: a skill to practise, a conversation to have with your mentor or supervisor, a policy to read, a technique such as SBAR for handovers or a particular questioning strategy in class. Say how you will know it has worked. Vague promises to “be more confident” do not score.

Confidentiality and anonymity

Never name patients, pupils, clients, relatives, colleagues or placement sites. Use a pseudonym and state that you have done so, for example: “The patient will be referred to as Mrs A; her name and identifying details have been changed to maintain confidentiality in line with the NMC Code (2018).” Remove details that would identify a person indirectly, such as a rare diagnosis in a small unit or an exact date. Do not reproduce documents from the setting, and do not store identifiable notes on personal devices. Breaching confidentiality is a professional issue as well as an academic one, and some programmes treat it as an automatic fail.

Writing style

• Use the first person. Reflective writing is about your experience and your thinking; “I” is expected. Keep the academic register in the analysis: first person does not mean informal.
• Balance personal voice and evidence. Description and feelings are personal; analysis moves between your experience and the literature; the action plan returns to you.
• Reference properly. Use the referencing style your programme requires (Harvard and APA are the most common) and cite standards and guidance exactly as you would journal articles.
• Avoid blame. You can be critical of how a situation was handled, including by senior staff, but keep the focus on what the event teaches about practice and your own development.
• Use headings if permitted. Many markers like the six stages as headings because they can see each one is present; some prefer continuous prose. Check the brief.

A short worked example

The passage below shows the stages in miniature for a nursing placement event. It is illustrative only.

Description: During a morning medication round on a surgical ward, I was asked by my mentor to prepare a patient’s oral medication while she answered a call bell. I had not prepared medication unsupervised before. When my mentor returned she checked the tablets and found that I had selected the wrong strength of one of them.

Feelings: I felt anxious when I was left alone and embarrassed when the error was found. I was also relieved that the check had worked. I think my mentor felt under pressure from competing demands.

Evaluation: The check caught the error before it reached the patient, which is what the system is designed to do. What went less well was that I did not say I felt unprepared, and that the environment was noisy and interrupted.

Analysis: The NMC Code requires nurses to work within the limits of their competence and to raise concerns. Research on medication errors consistently identifies interruptions and inexperience as contributing factors and recommends protected time for drug rounds. My reluctance to speak up fits what the literature describes as a hierarchy effect among students. The error was therefore not only a knowledge gap but a communication problem that the ward environment made worse.

Conclusion: I could have told my mentor that I was not yet confident to prepare medication alone, or asked her to return before I selected the drugs. Either would have kept me within my competence.

Action plan: Before my next placement I will revise dose calculations and the rights of medication administration, and complete the e-learning module on medicines management. I will agree with my new mentor in the first week which tasks I may do unsupervised, and I will practise stating clearly when I am not confident. I will review this with my mentor at my midpoint interview.

Common mistakes

• Too much description and too little analysis.
• No evidence: analysis made up entirely of personal opinion.
• Theory dropped in without connection to the event, for example a paragraph summarising Gibbs’ model instead of using it.
• Feelings skipped or dismissed in one line.
• Conclusions that are vague and action plans that cannot be checked.
• Identifying a person or a placement site.
• Reflecting on an event with no real learning in it. Choose something that challenged you.

Checklist before submission

• All six stages are present and in order.
• Analysis is the longest section and cites research, standards or policy.
• The event is anonymised and you have said so.
• The action plan has specific, dated, checkable actions.
• The essay is in the first person and properly referenced.
• The word count is within the limit, including any tolerance stated in the brief.

Frequently asked questions

Does the whole essay have to follow the six stages in order?

Yes, if the brief names Gibbs. You may combine stages under headings, for example description and feelings together, but all six should be identifiable.

How many references should a reflective essay have?

There is no fixed number. A 2,000-word reflective essay typically cites eight to twelve sources, most of them in the analysis: the relevant professional code, one or two policy or guidance documents and several research articles.

Can I reflect on a positive event?

Yes. Reflecting on why something went well, and whether it would work in other circumstances, can be as valuable as analysing a mistake, as long as the analysis is just as searching.

Can I criticise a mentor or colleague?

You can analyse their actions as part of the event, but the focus should be on systems, standards and your own learning rather than on blame, and they must not be identifiable.

Further reading

• Driscoll, J. (2007) Practising Clinical Supervision: A Reflective Approach for Healthcare Professionals. 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Baillière Tindall.
• Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic.
• Nursing and Midwifery Council (2018) The Code: Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses, Midwives and Nursing Associates. London: NMC.
• Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection for Nursing and the Helping Professions: A User’s Guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
• Schön, D.A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.