Effectiveness of Reflection in Clinical Education: Nursing Student's Perspective

Reflection has been emphasized as an effective educational strategy in clinical settings. Although this educational tool lead to promotion of skills and knowledge in nursing students but is rarely used. The aim of the present study was to determine the viewpoints of nursing students toward reflection in clinical education. It was a quasi-experimental study with one group, post- test design. The sample consisted of 35 senior nursing students recruited by census. The students were asked to reflect on their performance in clinical settings for four consecutive weeks. A guide for reflective thinking was given to students and they were asked to write their reflections about clinical care in personal journals. Data was collected by a self-constructed questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS-PC (v. 11.5). personal domain of reflection was the most prominent subscale from the students’ perspective (13.9 ± 2.2). Most of students (84.3%) believed that reflection has influenced their sense of empowerment and self-esteem. There was significant relationships between the students’ perspective in all domains and their age (p<0.05). There were also significant relationships between academic achievement, the score of personal domain and interest in nursing (p<0.05). Reflection empowers nursing students and improves their self-esteem from their perspective. Employing this method in nursing clinical education is recommended.