The reflective practitioner. Part 4: Reflection, clinical judgement and staff development.

Abstract

R on practice is not a new concept. Many nurses feel this is something they have always done (Conway 1996). However, the extent to which nurses do reflect on their practice has been questioned (Conway 1996). Indeed, it has been identified that there are many different types of reflection and that simply looking back at our practice in a problem solving way will not necessarily in itself help us to develop our practice. The importance of reflecting in depth (Goodman 1984, Conway 1996) has been identified. Also in terms of professional practice the ability to deal with the difficult problems of practice and to reflect-in-action has been described (Schon 1983, 1987). Perhaps the greatest challenge to nursing is presented in the literature on perspective transformation (Habermas 1970, Freire 1973, Glaze 1998).