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Is there a place for reflective practice in the nursing curriculum?
Margaret Carroll1, Liz Curtis, Agnes Higgins
1School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Nurse Education in Practice
|November 28, 2008
Summary
This paper reviews reflection and reflective practice in nursing curricula. Due to a lack of consensus and evidence, integrating these concepts poses challenges for educators, suggesting a focus on critical thinking skills instead.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Reflective Practice
Background:
- Lecturers face challenges integrating reflection and reflective practice into nursing curricula.
- National recommendations conflict with practical, legal, ethical, and moral concerns regarding teaching and assessing reflection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the literature on reflection and reflective practice in nursing education.
- To address the dilemma faced by nursing educators regarding the inclusion of reflection in curricula.
Main Methods:
- Literature review on reflection and reflective practice.
- Analysis of challenges in teaching and assessing reflection in nursing.
Main Results:
- Little consensus exists on the precise nature of reflection.
- Limited empirical evidence supports the educational or clinical benefits of teaching and assessing reflection.
- Practical difficulties hinder the incorporation of reflection into nursing curricula.
Conclusions:
- The challenges and lack of evidence may argue against incorporating reflection as a distinct topic.
- Suggests developing critical thinking, problem-solving, self-awareness, and analysis skills within the curriculum instead of isolating reflection.
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