Encouraging reflective practice

Summary

As busy practitioners it becomes commonplace to look back over the day's professional activities. All too often, and despite a preponderance of positive interactions, the reflective eye reviews the negative aspects of daily activity and interrupts the intended social relaxation. Hence reflection in medical care is often seen as a negative act, without purpose and rarely connected to any true educational outcome. In this article, the authors' present a positive picture of reflective practice and open the discussion of how it can become standard professional practice, leading to high quality care and encourage future learning.

“For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves” Eric Hoffer¹

Keywords:

• Reflection in practice
• reflective learning
• quality assurance