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Abstract
Reflection is an approach to the generation of understanding about practice that has become a largely accepted part of nursing education at both undergraduate and post-qualifying levels. It is also increasingly common now for healthcare professionals to use reflection in their practice communities as a part of their daily professional work. The literature is replete with accounts of the possible benefits to practitioners and clients of using reflection in practice, yet this amounts to a rather scant evidence base. For community nurses there are several challenges in the practical application of reflective practice, but these are not insurmountable. Issues such as lone-working and geographical distance may be a challenge. There are some key skills that will help public health and community practitioners get started in reflection and some important issues that should be addressed before beginning. Reflective practice has, however, the potential to help practitioners in all fields unlock the tacit knowledge and understanding that they have of their practice and use this to generate knowledge for future practice.
Key words
Reflection, reflective practice, community and public health nursing, knowledge for practice.
Community Practitioner 2007; 80(9); 26-29
Introduction
Over the last three decades many professions have taken up the idea of reflection and reflective practice to account for the ways in which practitioners gain knowledge from and use knowledge in, practice.1 In nursing, reflection has become a legitimate approach to teaching and is seen as a desirable quality in qualified nurses.2 There is an increasing body of literature that explores reflection and reflective practice. Authors such as Johns,3 Bolton,4 Moon5 and Bulman and Schutz6 provide some of the most practical help in getting started in reflection and reflective practice, and in implementing such approaches in teams. Most of this literature deals with nursing in a range of fields: education, management and practice - in hospitals and in the community.
Definitions are always helpful in orientating us to the issues and in agreeing a common perspective. Reflection or reflective practice - the operation of being reflective in our daily practice - are no exception. Reid7 defines reflection as: 'a process of reviewing an experience of practice in order to describe, analyse, evaluate and so inform learning about practice', (p306) and Boyd and Fayles8 as:...