Case Study: Reflective practice is indispensable skill for nurses as there is a constant need for knowledge update as well as polishing of skills and behaviour towards patients to provide best care. It is not only concerned with personal development but also becomes essential on the way a nurse interact with their colleagues that would be mutually entrusting and supportive and to remain in regular update with the environment of their professional practice. Obtaining feedback from patients, their families and colleagues (Farrington & Townsend, 2014) can help a lot in understanding the self, which is a means of reflection. Some of the means of practicing reflection includes feedback, introspection, assessing strength of oneself and treasuring the strong points, looking back at experiences, empathy, making note in a journal etc.
Feedback is what is received from other people with whom one have physically worked with, it may be in a verbal form or non-verbal expression. It virtually draws an image of what we are and who we are and allows us to relate to our own thinking of oneself (Moon, 2013). However, feedback should be received from honest person or a supervisor, may be a superior who has more experience and can see your performance and shortcomings (Sims, Hewitt, & Harris, 2015). It should be given and received in a professional manner and not in a threatening way. One must remember, though, that feedback should not be taken as ultimate truth but as words that needs your consideration. Apart from feedback, introspection of the self is another aspect of reflection in which one asks oneself questions about things that are learnt. It is a positive way of obtaining information and should be constructive. Reflective practice should not overlook achievements that boosts our confidence. Introspection should also include acknowledging such accomplishments that have made things better for yourself or for the environment that one works in. Introspection also includes viewing situations from a different angle, so sometimes, step back and re-observe from a viewer’s eye what you have done earlier and see if it affects you (Siles-González & Solano-Ruiz, 2016). It is good to be emphatic in such situation and consider yourself in the shoe of somebody you are dealing with. This practice is one of the means of getting a better insight into situations that you review during self-reflection. The ways can be further enhanced by keeping a journal to oneself where you write down your views in an unbiased manner, to which you can go back and refer what happened during your practice and what is good or bad that happened (Chan, 2013). Whatever be the means, the practice of reflection should be interconnected and should serve as a means of improvising yourself and the environment (Walker, Cooke, Henderson, & Creedy, 2013) for best outcome during service to a patient