REFLECTIVE NURSING PRACTICE
Nursing is an evolving experiential existence in the lives of both the practitioner and the clients for whom they care. As a result of these encounters, nurses consciously or unconsciously examine their nursing practice through the process of reflection.
Questioning practice situations results in enhanced knowledge for the practitioner. This enhanced knowledge is then applied in future patient care situations.
The process of reflection is the process in which the clinician explores past practice and present situations with a goal towards improving patient outcome through changes in practice.
Long gone are the days in which a nurse could rationalize nursing actions by saying:
� This Is The Way We Have Always Done .....�
Innovative technological advancements require practitioners to question and evaluate the �Why� we do things a certain way. Critical analysis of standards, guidelines, and practice issues, individually and in collaboration with other colleagues, will facilitate nurses shifting to higher practice standards.
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