Nurse teachers' constructions of reflection and reflective practice

This article concerns the meanings that a sample of nurse teachers ascribed to
the concepts of reflection and reflective practice as aspects of an undergraduate nursing
curriculum. It represents one of the major findings in a qualitative study that set out to
explore nurse teachers’ perceptions and experiences of using reflection with diploma nursing
students in the Republic of Ireland. Eleven nurse teachers were interviewed intensively, and
data were analysed using a strategy resembling grounded theory. Two major themes were
identified: reflection and reflective practice as a way of reviewing clinical experiences, and
reflection and reflective practice as a way of valuing, developing and professionalising
nursing practice knowledge. There was evidence that reflective practice was compartmentalised
on nursing curricula, and some participants reported having limited knowledge of
reflection. A number of participants alluded to the potential for reflective practice to uncover
the hidden wealth of knowledge in everyday nursing practice. There appeared, however, to
be a risk that this perceived wealth may be a conceptualisation of the teachers, rather than
the students. Reflective learning through the affective domain was perceived as central to caring.