Reflexive tendencies of nursing students during clinical practice

Abstract

Introduction: Reflection is a lifelong learning process that represents thinking about one's own experiences. It gives professionals the opportunity to examine their actions in practice and by changing them create conditions for personal and continuous professional development. Many studies report that nurses guided by reflective competencies and reflection are more likely to use a strategic approach to problem solving, achieve a holistic approach to health care, and accept continuing education as an integral part of their profession. Purpose: The objectives of this study were to determine how many nursing students have reflective competencies during clinical training and whether there is an impact of employment factors and years of study on reflection on clinical practice. Methods: A descriptive and exploratory non-experimental empirical research method was used for the study. For the study, we used a questionnaire with 36 statements. Second-, third-, and fourth-grade students and nursing students participated in the study (n = 86). For data analysis, we used descriptive statistics and the nonparametric chi-square test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Values of significance level p < 0.05 were considered significant. Results: The results of the research showed that all respondents highly assessed their ability to reflect in relation to the experience of their work on clinical practice. Conclusion: The results of the study prove that students have reflectivity in relation to clinical practice. The topic also needs to be extended to all links of the curriculum in graduate, professional, and nurse practitioner education to provide a more valid insight into reflection on clinical practice.