Experiences of undergraduate nursing students of group reflection

Reflective practice is an explicit requirement within the Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNS) programme with protected reflection time facilitated throughout the four years. There has been limited exploration of students’... [ view full abstract ]

Reflective practice is an explicit requirement within the Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNS) programme with protected reflection time facilitated throughout the four years. There has been limited exploration of students’ views of group reflection.
Aims of the research
The aim of this research was to explore the perceptions of students across a four year degree programme on their experiences of group reflection.

Study Design.
A descriptive qualitative methodology was used in the study and involved the use of focus group interviews as the data collection method. Undergraduate students across the four years of a BSc (General) programme were invited to participate. A total of eight focus groups (n=88) were conducted. Content analysis was used to thematically analyse the data.

Findings: This study highlighted the importance of group reflection as a means of support for students when on clinical placement. Reflection had many purposes among which were debriefing, time out from clinical work to reflect and social interaction within the reflective group. All participants in this study articulated the need for small group sizes and appropriate facilitation for group reflection. The study also highlighted the lack of involvement of clinical staff in either carrying out reflection with students or as part of their own practice.

Conclusions and Implications: Nurse educators need to ensure that facilitators are equipped to effectively facilitate the group reflective sessions. It needs to provide guidelines and a toolkit of activities that can be used to engage students.