Is reflective practice a useful task for student nurses?

BACKGROUND Reflective practices have been advocated as a method to bridge the gap between nursing theory and practice, and as a tool to develop knowledge embedded in practice. AIM The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions of student nurses towards reflective practice in their clinical practice. METHODS A cross sectional descriptive survey was carried out to examine the perception of a cohort of 108 final year, pre-registration Diploma of Nursing students towards reflective practice. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data. The questionnaire consisted of two parts; part A: perception of students towards reflective practice; and part B: issues reflected by students. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. All (n = 98) students completed the questionnaire. RESULTS The mean score of perception to reflective practice was 4.07. Students found reflective practice useful to them with a mean score of 3.82, despite the perceived barrier to good reflective practice with a mean of 3.60. The perception on the appropriateness of reflective practice as a tool to assess was 3.47. The validity of reflective practice as an assessment tool for practical examinations was not conclusive, as the mean score was only 3.47. CONCLUSION The results indicated that even though some students were skeptical with reflective practice, they found it useful. The College of Nursing should review the content of reflective practice and prepare nurse educators for their role in teaching this subject more effectively. [Asian Nursing Research 2009; 3(3):111-120].