HS2255 Clinical Placement Reflection Assignment: Non-Halal Food Event on Cultural Sensitivity and Ethical Care, Singapore

Assignment requirement

Students are required to:

A. Select any prescribed/debated scenario during tutorial lessons, or other ethical encounters related to healthcare which you have experienced during clinical placement, or personal encounter, that you feel most ethically resonated with and when ethical dilemma was felt.

B. Use one of the two reflective models shown below as a guide (for more detailed explanation of the models, refer to module ‘Resources’ section)

• Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

• Rolfe’s Reflective Model

C. Use ” I “, the first person voice in the reflection.

D. Before finalising your reflection, check for SGPS:

• Sentence structure
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Spelling

1. This individual assignment carries a weighting of 45%.
2. The due date of this individual assignment is on 9 June 2025, 2359 hours (Monday, Week 8) via Brightspace (BS).
3. The word limit of this individual assignment is 1000 words, including in-text citation. It is acceptable to be 10% above or below this word limit.

Information on Assignment submission

1. Students are required to submit the individual assignment in a Microsoft Words document.
2. Assignment must be presented in accordance with SHSS guide to Presentation of Assignment, which is available in 101 SHSS Student Resources in Brightspace.For example,
   • Font: Times New Roman / Calibri / Arial, size 12
   • Spacing: double spacing
   • Referencing: APA style, must have in-text and end-text references
   • End-text referencing: at least 6 (e.g., books, credible web sites and journal articles). References must be contemporary (year 2012-2022)
     
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3. Students are required to complete the online student declaration as part of the requirement for assignment submission.
4. Students are reminded that use of artificial intelligence (AI) or any automated writing assistance tools is prohibited in the completion of this assignment. Plagiarism (i.e. copying another person’s work without proper referencing) and abetment to plagiarism (i.e. sharing of your work with others) are strictly prohibited and subject to disciplinary action, if/when committed.
5. Late Submission Penalty GuidelinesSubmission of an assignment will be considered late if the submission is received after the stipulated due date and time. If the submission is received within 5 calendar days of the due date, the following penalty applies:
   • If the learner passes, the score will be capped at 50% of the base score.
   • If the learner fails, the prevailing scores will be computed as the final score.

   An assignment submitted after 5 calendar days of the due date will be reviewed for feedback but will be awarded a zero mark.

6. Students are required to submit their assignment to Turnitin in BS and to ensure that the similarity index (SI) is kept ≤20%.
   • Take note that the latest submission will override the previous submissions.
   • SI report will be generated after 24 hours for the fourth and subsequent submissions.
   • No alternative attempt will be given if
     • students do not resubmit assignment despite SI >20%, or
     • no SI report is generated in Turnitin (If the SI report takes more than 1 hour to generate, it is the student’s responsibility to inform respective module tutor for assistance before the due date).
   • Students are required to keep a copy of the assignment submitted and the acknowledgement email of assignment submission as proof of work upon request.

Reflection on Clinical Placement Incident

1. Description (What happened?)

During a clinical placement, a post-operative patient who had recently converted to Islam was accidentally served non-halal food. The nurses were unaware of her religious status due to incomplete documentation or lack of verbal communication, as the patient was drowsy after surgery. The mistake was realized only after the meal had been partially consumed or questioned by the patient or her family.

2. Feelings (What were you thinking and feeling?)

• Initial surprise and concern about the implications of the mistake.
• Empathy towards the patient, recognizing that her beliefs were unintentionally disrespected.
• Internal conflict: understanding the nurses didn’t act out of malice, but still feeling the mistake could have been avoided.
• Anxiety about trust and patient satisfaction being compromised.

3. Evaluation (What was good and bad about the experience?)

Good:

• Raised awareness about cultural and religious sensitivity.
• Prompt realization and sincere apology from the staff (if that happened).
• Opportunity to learn and improve system processes.

Bad:

• Breach of religious dietary restrictions.
• Patient’s potential loss of trust in care providers.
• Emotional distress for the patient and possible tension with the care team.

4. Analysis (What sense can you make of the situation?)

The incident highlights the importance of:

• Accurate and complete documentation, especially regarding dietary needs.
• Culturally competent care in a diverse patient population.
• Communication among multidisciplinary teams (kitchen, nurses, dietitians).

Ethical principles involved:

• Autonomy – respecting patient’s religious and cultural beliefs.
• Non-maleficence – avoiding harm, including psychological and spiritual distress.
• Justice – ensuring equitable and respectful care for all.

5. Conclusion (What else could you have done?)

• Ensured pre-operative documentation clearly stated religious preferences.
• Advocated for proper handover protocols between shifts, including dietary restrictions.
• Suggested visible dietary indicators or labels for special meals.
• Reflected on the importance of cultural competence training.

6. Action Plan (If it happened again, what would you do?)

• Double-check patient records for special needs or restrictions.
• Communicate dietary needs to kitchen staff and team during handovers.
• Recommend audits or checks for dietary orders in sensitive cases.
• Participate in or initiate in-service training on cultural sensitivity in healthcare.