Importance Of Reflection In Nursing

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What is reflection? Reflection is described as the process individuals use for self-development in their future career. The process of reflection has been used for many years in professional health fields such as midwifery and nursing (Lillyman. S & Merrix. P, 2012). Florence nightingale pioneered the practice known as reflection-on-practice, this is a tool that is needed in developing improvement and knowledge to enable an individual to grow in their nursing profession. Nightingale wrote “the very elements of nursing are all but unknown” through this statement she implied that nurses word be learning for the rest of their career (journals.lww, 2017). Reflection is when an activity or incident requires thought about the action, and is used to determine what points are positive and negative, and how it could be improved or changed if done again in the future. The reflection process begins with thinking about an incident and how the situation can be utilised in future situations. The process consists of being open, this would involve an individual looking at things from a different perspective. In addition, the process would involve being inquisitive, desiring knowledge. With reflection it is important that the individual is honest, which needs to be reflected in written record keeping, this enables others to easily understand what has occurred (Williams et al, 2012). Reflective practice is mainly used to assist nurses and healthcare professionals to gain an