Professional nurses as reflective clinical learning facilitators

With the rapid changes taking place in the country, including the education system in general and nursing education in particular, the role of professional nurses as reflective clinical learning facilitators need to be re-visited in order to meet the changing health needs of the community and to facilitate outcome-based nursing education and evidence-based quality nursing care. The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the perceptions of professional nurses as reflective clinical learning facilitators in the clinical learning units, within the context of a specific health-care service in Gauteng. A phenomenological method using descriptive naïve sketches was used to collect data from twenty professional nurses complying with certain inclusion criteria. A content analysis was performed and eight categories (main concepts) were identified in order of priority as follows: communication/collaboration; role-modelling; continuous assessment and evaluation; up-to-date knowledge; scientific approach; clinical teaching; management and professionalism. After a literature control was conducted, these main concepts were confirmed. It is recommended that a model to facilitate reflective thinking in clinical nursing education be developed, using these concepts as basis for the provisional conceptual framework.