THE EFFECT OF REFLECTIVE JOURNALING ON NURSING STUDENTS CRITICAL THINKING IN CLINICAL ACTIVITIES

Clinical learning activities are the heart of nursing programs, and reflective journaling as a suitable educational strategy in context of nursing student's clinical experiences can help nursing mentors to understand and evaluate student's clinical thinking skills. This study aimed to assess the effect of reflective journal on nursing baccalaureate program students’ critical thinking skills. In this quasi- experimental study, 24 nursing students of the fifth semester are divided into experiment and control groups. Critical thinking in the two groups was assessed by California Critical Thinking Skills Form B (CCTS- Form B) in pre and post tests. The data were entered into the SPSS program, and they were analyzed by different statistical tests. The mean scores of experiment and control groups in post test were 10/75+_ 2/90, 9+_ 2/95 respectively. Significant difference was found in two groups by utilizing t test (df= 22, t= 2/08< P<0/05). The results of this study are congruent with other studies findings. The use of reflective journaling can increase student's critical thinking skills. Therefore, it is necessary that nursing educators use this educational strategy in theoretical courses especially in clinical settings.