treated uncritically as factual, when in fact it may be open to debate as it refers to perceptions and perspectives, different ways in which a subject or issue could be understood. Observations in extremis may be expressed forcibly, demonstrating prejudice, and suggest that the author has not paused to re examine whether their attitudes, beliefs and values have an adequate moral basis upon which to proceed. The writing lacks emotional intelligence, that is understanding of how others might think or feel. that perceptions may be influenced by a variety of factors, that which can start to shape the narrative that the individual uses to make sense of events unfolding. Knowledge is treated as complex, ideas and experiences as potentially powerful. The author understands that others may think differently to them, but there is a tendency to catalogue the differences and the similarities, without reaching deductions that in some way reveal the authors own conclusions, their perspective on matters in hand. reflective exercise undertaken. There is a clear appreciation of others’ perspectives and an ability to link these to those of the author, him or herself. The author is comfortable with the ‘differences of perspective’ that might exist and reviews the whole in the context of what the reflection has been designed to do (e.g. re evaluate the author’s listening skills, understand a problem that has arisen or a change underway). beliefs, attitudes and previous premises relating to the nature of healthcare and nursing within that. The author is able to adopt an overview, one that may be as critical as self as it is inquisitive of the perceived perspectives of others. The author demonstrates an understanding of how powerful the world of ideas, beliefs and values are and how these can be re evaluated in ways that might transform an issue or situation discussed. Because the format of reflective practice essays may differ, dependent on which reflective model is employed; our sample paragraphs are arranged with regard to the key writing tasks detailed within Chapter 10 of our textbook. You will be presented in each case (save the last) with three possible paragraphs, and, using Table 1, invited to determine which of these represent the least and the most sophisticated examples of reflective practice reasoning. We challenge you to spot mistakes in writing that you should avoid in your future writing. Our notes will follow, but you are encouraged to
health beset with more or less threatening illness. The ambiguity of that is likely to distress a patient, something that the student hasn’t directly expressed, but which seems a developing theme in her writing. The second paragraph shares a deduction, that the body has meaning through a sense of ownership. My body, this is where I live. This is what enables me to express myself. There is a good deal of literature on this and certainly references could be used here on embodiment, but nonetheless, the writing does suggest that the student is seeing the body afresh. The secondary point made is that an already damaged body might seem less threatened by recurring disease, but that we cannot know this for sure. It is necessary to understand how the patient interprets this new cancer assault. The third paragraph carries the weightiest learning change points however. Notice how the student repeats the word ‘forced’. She conveys surprise, an unwillingness to change her thinking, but finally a compelling need to think again. There is a need to recognise her relative ignorance and to consider the ‘what next’ implications of this. If the only person who can tell her about such illness experience, to the body owned, is the patient, then she must give much greater attention to the narratives shared. The points about why this is not done already (not being sure we can do much with the information) seemed hurried to us. They are not fully developed points, but the conclusion being drawn remains powerful. To care is not always to solve something. To care may be to companion the patient in some way. This passage represents a good audit trail of changing reasoning and at the end a quite powerful review of the nurse’s perspective. Few (we believe) would doubt that the nurse has taken something significant from this episode of care. The passage displays independent level reflective reasoning. The nurse is thinking outside her comfort zone