Gibbs' reflective cycle questions for nursing students

Description and feelings: establish the reflective issue

Use description to establish only the facts needed for the reader to understand the experience. Then examine relevant thoughts and feelings as influences on your perception and response, not as a diary entry or a substitute for analysis.

• What happened, and what was my role?
• Which moment or decision is the real focus of this reflection?
• What did I notice, expect or feel at the time?
• How might that state have shaped what I saw or did?

Sources: University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit · University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit

Evaluation and analysis: make sense of the experience

Evaluation identifies what helped, what did not and what remains uncertain. Analysis then asks why. This is where you compare perspectives, question assumptions and use appropriate course or professional sources to test your interpretation.

Do not reduce evaluation to a list of positives and negatives. Explain how particular actions, communication, knowledge, conditions or viewpoints contributed to the outcome.

• What worked, and what evidence supports that judgement?
• What did not work or could have been handled differently?
• Which assumption or gap in knowledge affected the situation?
• What might another person involved have understood differently?
• Which concept, evidence or professional guidance changes my interpretation?

Sources: University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit · University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit

Conclusion and action plan: carry learning forward

The conclusion selects the learning that matters most rather than repeating the whole account. The action plan identifies a practical response for a similar situation and how you will prepare, seek support or judge progress.

• What do I now understand that I did not understand before?
• What could I reasonably have done differently with the information available?
• What specific behaviour, preparation or learning will I carry forward?
• When will I practise it, and what would show improvement?

Sources: University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit · Nursing and Midwifery Council

Adapt the cycle to the assessment

Gibbs is one structure, not a universal marking scheme. Your course may expect another framework or a conventional introduction, body and conclusion. It may also require particular literature, professional standards or a different balance between sections.

Use the cycle to generate questions, then shape the response around the assignment's learning outcomes. If the structure produces repetition, combine related points and prioritise the analysis and action that answer the task.

Sources: University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit · University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit

Sources and further reading

1. Gibbs' Reflective Cycle
   University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit — An overview of the six stages and example questions for using the cycle.
2. Structure of academic reflections
   University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit — Guidance on combining context, analysis and conclusions in assessed reflective writing.
3. Assessment criteria for reflection
   University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit — Examples of reflective criteria including analysis, selectivity, multiple perspectives and action.
4. Written reflective accounts
   Nursing and Midwifery Council — Professional revalidation guidance about learning from practice and relating reflection to the Code; it is not a university assignment rubric.

Sources were checked on 23 July 2026. Report an inaccurate or outdated statement through the content corrections process.

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