Reflective practice and clinical outcomes: practitioners’ views on how reflective practice has influenced their clinical practice

Abstract

· There has been a recent increasing interest in re¯ective practice in nursing. There is a wealth of literature about its apparent advantages and bene®ts, but very little empirical research into clinical outcomes consequent to re¯ective practice.· This study attempts an initial exploration into this area. A retrospective, threephase, multi-method study in a single department of nursing was conducted. The research sample comprised students and former students of the department who had previously participated in an assessed re¯ective practice course or module.· Years of experience, speciality or academic level did not have a signi®cant in¯uence, but the effectiveness of the facilitator was an important factor. · The results suggest that re¯ective practice is regarded highly and that most respondents could identify signi®cant, long-term changes to clinical practice resulting from it.

The Quality of Reflection in Student Journals: A Review of Limiting and Enabling Factors

“…Other research has supported these claims, revealing that students might choose to keep writing superficially if they have reason to believe that the reader does not create a safe space for their deep thoughts, ideas, and reflections (Epp 2008). In an interesting study involving 600 nurses, it was found that the facilitator was the pivotal factor in supporting deep reflection, more important than the nurses' experience or academic training (Paget 2001). This finding points to the real importance of lecturers developing trustworthy relationships with their students if they hope for high quality reflection in journals (English 2001).…”

Using reflective learning to improve the impact of continuing education in the context of work rehabilitation

“…It can improve understanding of evidence and personal practice theory and increase awareness of conditions under which professionals practice (Duggan 2005;Errington and Roberson 1998;Paget 2001;Peden-McAlpine et al 2005). It can also lead to the recognition of learning needs, practice inconsistencies and theory-practice gaps (Paget 2001;Peden-McAlpine et al 2005;Watkins et al 2004). It can enable practice improvements, enhance clinicians' confidence through the use of a more rigorous clinical decision-making process and generate new knowledge that is more comprehensive and adapted to the practice context (Errington and Roberson 1998;Greenwood 1998;Mann et al 2009;Peden-McAlpine et al 2005).…”

“…However, even if previous studies on the impact of CE programs have demonstrated that they can improve clinicians' knowledge and attitudes toward the use of research evidence, their impact on practice change is usually modest (Thomson O'Brien et al 2001;Robertson et al 2003). Reflective learning has been described as a promising approach for ameliorating the impact of CE programs for different health professional groups (McWilliam 2007;Moon 2004;Schell and Boyt Schell 2008b) and qualitative studies demonstrated how it can contribute to translating knowledge into practice (Duggan 2005;Errington and Roberson 1998;Mann et al 2009;Paget 2001;Peden-McAlpine et al 2005;Watkins et al 2004). Reflective learning is a contextualized form of learning that allows clinicians to reorganize what they have learned in the patterns of their experience and into their workplace in order to improve their practice (Moon 2004).…”

“…Reflective learning is a complex process that can result in different outcomes (Greenwood 1998). It can improve understanding of evidence and personal practice theory and increase awareness of conditions under which professionals practice (Duggan 2005;Errington and Roberson 1998;Paget 2001;Peden-McAlpine et al 2005). It can also lead to the recognition of learning needs, practice inconsistencies and theory-practice gaps (Paget 2001;Peden-McAlpine et al 2005;Watkins et al 2004).…”

Reflective practice among nurses working in a teaching hospital: An action research with promising benefits for professional development

“…The exploratory study by Page and Meerabeau underscored that, after completing reflective practice training, participants (n = 15) were able to identify clinical issues and areas of improvement regarding their practice while obtaining recognition of their professional expertise [23] . Similarly, the majority (78%) of the 70 nurses who took part in the retrospective survey of Paget, reported having made changes to their practice [24] . In these studies, however, very little detail was provided concerning the changes enacted and the aspects of practice that were modified.…”