Although perceptions of reflection involved a commitment to
action, findings suggested that this was not always empowering.
Julie (teacher) particularly expressed the difficulty students had in
developing contextual issues within their reflection, explaining how
they were often more concerned about their roles with patients and
teams. She described these as the political, social agenda or ethical
issues underpinning practice. Goodman (1984) suggested that these
constitute a level of reflection where the practitioner makes links
between everyday practice and broader social, political and ethical
issues. Findings in RLCs corroborated Julie's observation. The reflective
emphasis on the interpersonal expressed nurses' immediate
practice concerns for their clients and, as such, was a worthy pursuit.
However, contextual and broader issues took second place to the immediate
relationships with clients, colleagues and families. This lack
of emancipation and political awareness may be related to the influence
of humanistic nursing on participants' perceptions of reflection.
This emphasises the interpersonal element of nursing, perhaps to the
detriment of contextual issues which undoubtedly affect practice. It
could also be a developmental phase in post-registration students' reflection,
where they might be expected to expand the contextual side
of their work as they became more experienced reflectors.