Best Practice Reflection

Reflective practice allows us to reflect on our actions and experiences so that we can learn from them and adapt our behaviour accordingly. Reflective practice can be uncomfortable as it challenges our own assumptions about ourselves however it is vital for improving the quality of the service we provide.

Reflection is an important tool for all health care practitioners. It can improve our skills and help us understand the choices we make while in practice. Williams (2001) states that “Reflective learning involves assessment and re-assessment of assumptions and critical reflection occurs whenever

Reflection is described as a way of reviewing experiences from practice so that it can be described and analysed and used to change future practice (Bulman and Schutz, 2004).

Circumstances, children and environments change all the time because of this we have to ensure we reflective on our working practice. Reflecting on practice helps when it comes to planning any future activities by evaluating and reflecting we can ensure that we are performing to the best of our ability.

Effective reflection helps the practitioner to see the situation from an outsider's perspective, so that they can develop a better way to respond to a similar scenario in the future. Reflection is meant to achieve a change in practice, rather than simply repeating the same mistakes (Schon, 1983). Many different models exist for structuring the reflective process. Regardless of the framework used, the reflection models are meant to accomplish three things. They are supposed to promote reflecting on events, self-evaluation and analysis, and a plan to change actions in the future. This Reflective essay will utilize Driscoll's 'The What?' model as its structure (Driscoll, 1994). This model has three components"

Reflection on practice has different meanings, in my view it means constructive criticism: being honest with myself, becoming aware of and understanding my own strengths, and being able to review activities and constantly test assumptions related to our work. These have been my approach to critical reflection throughout the year. This is supported by Brookfield, he says that "Critically reflective teaching happens when we identify and scrutinise the assumptions that undergird how we work” (Brookfield, 1995, pg. 11-13). This is further supported by Ghaye, T & Ghaye, k (Ghaye, 1998); he argued that many teachers have benefited from learning through reflection. Their teaching and understanding of what is possible and less possible, impacts of activities on children’s learning and its boundaries have risen as a result of reflection.

I believe that reflective practice is essential to carrying out clinical skills effectively. It allows the nurse to reflect on their actions and perhaps, think what they will do if a similar scenario were to occur at a future stage. I reviewed Kolb's model of reflection. This

The term “reflection” directly refers to one’s own ability for serious thought or consideration regarding events, which have occurred in the past. Professional bodies and organisations utilise reflective practice within continuous professional development as an effective tool to evoke critical thoughts regarding their own actions. This analysis of one’s own

Reflective practice is a self-analysis tool, by which practitioners can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and development (Kottkamp & Osterman, 1993). Reflective practice allows professionals to assess their performance, make sense of what happened and learn from mistakes and experiences in order to develop, improve and adapt. (Cropley, et al., 2012).

In this essay I am going to reflect on my experience working as part of a team and the preparation on an oral presentation I had to do in class with people from different courses, as part of the Foundations for Practice in Health and Social Care module. Reflection is educational and is used as a means of self-knowledge and to develop using a process of feeling and learning by thinking about what happened and what could have been done differently. (Rolfe, 2011, p.8-12) I will be using the Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle to do this. In this model there are 6 different stages to look at to help structure reflection, the description of the event, your feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan. There is more than one model

Using Gibbs’ (1998) model of reflection, updated by Bulman (2012), reflect on a challenging experience from your practice and analyse the strategies used to manage it.

Redmond, Bairbre. (2004) Reflection in Action Developing Reflective Practice in Health and Social Services. Aldershot, England: Ashgate

Reflection is used by nurses and health care professionals to incorporate theoretical and practical knowledge (Cowen et al 2009). On the other hand, Rolfe et al (2011) noted that reflecting on the event and thinking about any action that could have been taken differently. For effective changes to occur when reflecting, the reflector should pay attention to what they are thinking, how they are feeling and what they recall (Taylor 2010 cited in Howatson-jones 2013)

Reflective practice has become very popular over the last few decades throughout a variety of professions. In some professions it has become one of the defining features of competence. The wide spread utilization of reflective practice is due to the fact that it ‘rings true’ (Loughran, 2000).

There are several types of reflection. As mentioned by Taylor, All types of reflection are important and a combination of these may be used to make sense of practise and to bring changes. Technical Reflection is generally used to look at clinical practices and procedures along with the scientific knowledge. However, values play no part in this. Practical Reflection on the other hand judges human experiences and assumptions. It also develops common values in-line with organizational values. Emancipatory (Critical) Reflection involves critiques of the assumptions on which our social, political and cultural beliefs are based with the prospect of changing them.