Date of Award

1-1-2001

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Education

Department

-

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to carry out a meta-analysis on research done in the area of reflective practice in nurse education. Reflective practice is seen as a key process in bringing together practice and knowledge in nursing. There has been a growing interest and acceptance in the use of reflective practice as a helpful strategy in the clinical teaching and learning of student nurses. The sample of this meta-analysis study consists of fifteen research articles on reflective practice published between the year 1994 and 1998. The study aims to find out : l) the themes within the objectives and purposes of the articles, 2) the research methodologies, and 3) the findings reported in the articles. Findings of the meta-analysis shows that there were three major and two minor themes within the objectives and purposes of the fifteen studies. The major themes are: l) effects of reflection, 2) learning tool, and 3) assessing reflection. While the minor themes are: l) strategies of reflection and 2) reflection models. The total number of research participants from the fifteen articles is three hundred and sixty nurses. 90.8% (N=327) of the nurses were student nurses and the remaining participants were 19 nurse educators and l 4 supervisors. On the methods of data collection, a total of seven techniques was reported in this study. The most frequently used method was interview, followed by reflective diaries. Other methods included questionnaires, observation notes, reflective group discussions, tutorial recording and teleconference recording. Content analysis was the same method of data analysis used in all the fifteen studies in this meta-analysis. Analysis of the findings shows that reflective practice was considered a useful tool for clinical teaching and learning. By reflecting on clinical experience, student nurses were able to gain insight into clinical situations, became active learners, achieved critical thinking and improved on their problem-solving skills. It was reported that the reflective activities of dairies keeping and clinical debriefing sessions were useful in promoting student's reflective skills. Findings also showed that experienced and knowledgeable nurse educator played an important role in facilitating student's reflective learning in a conducive environment. On the assessment of the level and extent of reflectivity from student's diaries, difficulties were encountered when attempting to assess the finer levels of reflectivity. However, findings from two studies showed that students generally were able to achieve the lower level of reflectivity. One study reported the reliability of using Mezirow's model to distinguish between non-retlectors, reflectors and critical reflectors. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that reflective practice should be taught formally to both teachers and students if the nursing profession is committed to use reflective practice as a learning tool. Future research should focus on the development of a reliable tool to assess reflection from reflective diaries. It is also necessary to involve more nurse educators and supervisors as research participants in future studies.

Initial

snms

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A) -- Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, 2001..

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