Critical companionship: our learning journey

In the current climate of increasing work pressures, nurses have been exploring a variety of approaches that will provide a supportive environment while addressing their own development needs. The nursing profession has become increasingly interested in the concept of facilitated reflective practice (Department of Health, 1993) to provide this supportive environment. The more widely recognized strategies that have been adopted include clinical supervision, critical mentorship and action learning. A relatively new approach has been developed called critical companionship, which is described by Angie Titchen (2001) as a metaphor for a helping relationship in which a critical companion accompanies a less experienced practitioner on their personal experiential learning journey. This paper outlines how two colleagues, Bernadette and Clare, developed their working relationship and facilitation skills in an environment of support and challenge using this framework. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.