The word reflective or reflection is derived from the word reflect. The Oxford dictionary meaning of reflect is “to think carefully and deeply about something”. The word “reflective” is an adjective used to describe the kind of report or writing you are required to submit for your NVQ. Therefore a reflective account can be understood as a real or true story of how you have carried out an activity at work or an action you took in the past and why you took the action.

If you were at a celebration on the new year’s eve for 2009 and you were asked you to write a reflective account on what it was like, you will try to remember the night and may start by saying it happened that I was at a party on this occasion, it was a glorious night with all sorts of lovely lightings and so on, the style of writing is in the past and it is specific to the question. That’s the same way your NVQ reflections should be.

It can be difficult to know what to write if you are not given a question or a topic; for example some candidates say I need to write a reflective account for HSC22, but this unit has 3 elements and in most cases what their assessor might have told them to do is to reflect on how they have handled an accident or emergency situation which is HSC22c. This suggests that a reflective account can be written for any unit within the NVQ or any element within a unit to prove that you understand what to do in a particular situation and why you are doing it in a certain way which should be in line with your organisational policies and procedures.

If you are asked to write a reflective account and you are not given a question or a topic you should boldly ask your assessor this question politely – “Please could you tell me what my reflective account should be about?” with this question your assessor will be able to give you areas of concentration on the specific topic you are to write about. Also when you are seeking for help or support this approach is better as you would rather say can I get support on “how you promote, monitor and maintain health and safety at work” than asking how can I write a reflective account on HSC32 when you actually meant to say how can I write a reflective account on ‘how I have handled an emergency situation’.

In one of our previous article titled “How to write a good reflective account for your NVQ” I described what your pattern of writing should look like but today I would like to be more specific on what will be expected of you in relation to some specific topics which you will commonly come across in your NVQ depending on the level you are undertaking.

The mandatory units at level 2, level 3 and level 4 are very much similar with regards to the topic only that the scope is wider as the level increases i.e. HSC21, HSC31 & HSC41 are Communication units, HSC22, HSC32 & HSC42 are Health and Safety units, HSC23, HSC33 & HSC43 are Personal and Professional Development units and HSC24, HSC35 & HSC45 are units on choice, wellbeing and protection of individuals at different levels.  

At level 2, you may be asked to write a reflective account on “how you have taken action to deal with an emergency at work”, at level 3 your question could be to write a reflective account on “how you have minimised risks arising from emergencies”. Your assessor might be more specific and ask you to write on a particular kind of emergency such as falls, serious burns, fire, serious cuts, severe bleeding, cardiac arrest, shock, loss of consciousness, epileptic seizures, choking or difficulty with breathing, poisoning, electrocution and more. There is a smart way to get around writing these accounts you need to locate which units or elements you are working on to provide evidence in this case it will be HSC22 and HSC32 respectively.

The performance criteria 22a, 22b, 22c or 32a, 32b, 32c as the case might be should be read through first. Remember according to the first article you need a guideline or step by step guide to how you should write this account. At level 2 use the performance criteria HSC22a.4, HSC22b.4,5,6 & HSC22c.1,2,3,4,5,6 as a guide and at level 3 use the element HSC32abc as a guide. Often your assessor may not be able to observe you at work on how you would handle an emergency case that’s why a simulation would be required but by using a reflective account you can provide additional evidence that you are competent at handling accidents or emergency incidents.

You will find a guide on how to write a reflective account on how to handle emergency situations and an example of a fully referenced reflective account at your required level in our new packages – Reflective Accounts for your NVQ Level 2 & Level 3.

Coming soon in the month of October, there will be new packages on different kinds of reflective accounts. These will be guides and detailed samples that are fully referenced. Look out for reflective accounts on both the mandatory units and optional units within Level 2 and Level 3. These are some of the topics that will be made available and more:   

• Reflective account on how you have communicated effectively with service users and others. HSC21 & HSC31)

• Reflective account on how you have maintained health and safety at work; and how you have taken action to deal with an emergency situation at work. (HSC22,HSC32)

• Reflective account on how you develop your practice as a healthcare worker. (HSC23, HSC33)

• Reflective account on how you have handled incidents of abuse or protected an individual from abuse (HSC24, HSC35).

• Reflective account on how you help individuals eat and drink.(HSC214)

• Reflective account on administration of medication.(HSC221 & HSC375)

• Reflective account on care planning and review (HSC328).

• Reflective account on personal care needs and hygiene.(HSC218)

And many more…

If you are interested in other topics please put your requests in the comment section and we will respond to let you know if there will be provision for your requests.

Different kinds of Reflective Account or Reflective Writings for NVQ is a post from: Health and Social Care NVQ Made Simple | Assessors Resources.