Reflection, the way to professional development?

BACKGROUND: Many studies have focused on reflection and the advantages that can be gained from the practice of reflection among Registered Nurses (RNs) but, what are the implications of the nurses' reflections, what do they reflect about, and how do they deal with their reflections? AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the RNs' experiences of reflection in relation to nursing care situations, and to understand how RNs use reflection in their daily work. What are the implications of the nursing care situations that the RNs' reflect upon? What consequences did the practice of reflection have in nursing care situations in relation to the RNs professional development? DESIGN AND METHOD: The study was carried out with interviews and the phenomenographic method. Interviews were carried out with four RNs. The choice of informants was made with purposive sampling with the aim of finding informants who could bring the kind of knowledge that was necessary for the study. RESULTS: The qualitative differences regarding the RNs' experiences of reflection were categorized as follows: to reflect (to think back--consider, mirroring, to reflect before and reflect after, to use experiences), nursing care situations (ethical considerations, to have courage, to use one's imagination, empathy) and consequences (to meet the unique, empathy, development). Finally, the findings were implicated in the model of professional development. CONCLUSION: By using reflection as a tool, many advantages can be gained in the development of nursing care. Encouraging RNs to reflect upon nursing situations, in order to promote the nurse's professional development, will imply better nursing care for the patients. The model for professional development implies a simplified representation of the thoughts pertaining to professional nursing development. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The relevance for clinical practice will be to understand the contents of the RNs reflections, to recognize the advantages of reflective practice and how and when to use such measures. Furthermore, to show how the model for professional development can be used in order to create a framework for evaluating these observations and consequently, for expressing tacit knowledge.