The study illustrates that the link between reflection and what a
culture views as good practice (in this case humanistic nursing)
should be recognised, since this view of practice influences how
people value what is important in the way that they reflect. Reflection
was constructed as a process of ‘critical being’, echoing the work of
Barnett (1997) as well as Brookfield (1987) on critical thinking, and
Brockbank and McGill (1998) and Johns (2004) on reflection. This
resonated with the humanistic culture of nursing, where nursing
was lived out as being ‘with’ and ‘for’ people, rather than simply
‘doing to’ them. This is of interest to further understanding of reflection
as it is used in nursing, since whatever the area of nursing maybe, care and compassion are surely at its heart, and these are fundamental
to a humanistic approach to nursing, wherever it is practiced.