Through the looking glass: the rabbit hole of reflective practice

Abstract

Reflective practice is a common feature of nurse education. Indeed, the development of nursing practice is associated with being a ‘reflective practitioner’. However, how we see ourselves or interpret past events is often influenced by our own unconscious biases. While it is reasonable to hold favourable views of one's ability, biased or lack of self-insight might mean that one is actually unskilled and unaware of it. In the ambiguous clinical context where an act or omission can have potentially devastating consequences, the implications of this are significant. The questions of whether and how reflection addresses unconscious biases are relatively unexplored in the nursing literature. Given that accurate self-assessment is integral to reflective practice, this article attempts to explore the potential impact of unconscious bias on reflection. The authors conclude that while biases may limit our ability to learn from reflection, this is not a reason to dispense with reflective practice, but rather, is even more reason to critically engage with the process. Nurses of all levels must be encouraged to reflect on both their practice, and their reflection.