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Critical Incident Techniques and Reflection in Nursing and Health Professions Education: Systematic Narrative Review
Alison Steven1, Gemma Wilson, Hannele Turunen
1Author Affiliations: Professor of Research in Nursing and Health Professions Education (Dr Steven) and Vice Chancellors Fellow (Dr Wilson), Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Northumbria University, United Kingdom; Professor of Nursing (Dr Turunen) and PhD Student (Ms Azimirad), Department of Nursing Science, University of Eastern Finland, Finland; Associate Professors (Drs Vizcaya-Moreno and Pérez-Cañaveras), Nursing Department, University of Alicante, Spain; Postdoctoral Researcher (Dr Kakurel), Copenhagen Centre for Health Technology, Denmark; Professor of Innovation & Software (Dr Porras), Department of Innovation & Software, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland; Senior Lecturer (Dr Tella) and Lecturer (Ms Sara-Aho), Faculty of Health Care and Social Services, Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Finland; Professor of Nursing (Ms Sasso) and Lecturer, (Dr Aleo), Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy; Associate Professors (Drs Myhre and Ringstad), Østfold University College, Norway; and Senior Lecturer (Ms Scott) and Professor of Nursing (Dr Pearson), Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Northumbria University, United Kingdom.
Background:
The terms critical incident technique and reflection are widely used but often not fully explained, resulting in ambiguity.
Purpose:
The aims of this review were to map and describe existing approaches to recording or using critical incidents and reflection in nursing and health professions literature over the last decade; identify challenges, facilitating factors, strengths, and weaknesses; and discuss relevance for nursing education.
Methods:
A systematic narrative review was undertaken. MEDLINE and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were searched using MeSH terms, returning 223 articles (2006-2017). After exclusions, 41 were reviewed.
Results:
Articles were categorized into 3 areas: descriptions of the development of an original tool or model, critical incidents or reflection on events used as a learning tool, and personal reflections on critical incidents.
Conclusions:
Benefits have been identified in all areas. More attention is needed to the pedagogy of reflection and the role of educators in reflection.
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