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Summary
This article demonstrates reflective practice by examining a critical incident that took place at a children's burns unit. The development of reflective skills is documented using a method of structured reflection. The concepts of aesthetics, personal knowing, empirics and ethics are considered to reflect on the critical incident. Reflection is considered in the context of developing a portfolio to analyse and demonstrate learning in practice.
Keywords
Critical incident; Reflective practice; Paediatric nursing; Portfolios
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REFLECTION contributes to professional development by revealing the knowledge and skills used in everyday practice, and exposing areas that require development (Driscoll and Teh 2001). This article discusses my reflection on a critical incident encountered at a paediatric burns unit in the Republic of Ireland. I am currently undertaking a master's decree in nursing and a requirement of the master's programme is to submit a professional portfolio of reflections on practice. This article highlights issues that may be of relevance to other reflective practitioners.
Portfolios and reflective practice
The Oxford Dictionary of English defines a portfolio as a case for keeping sheets of paper; samples of creative work; and investments (Soanes and Stevenson 2005). A portfolio can also he described as a collection ofevidence of learning which is critically analysed to demonstrate personal and professional development (McMullan et al 2003). A portfolio is nut simply a collection of certificates of training or conference attendance because these do not demonstrate that lea ruing has occurred (Joyce 2005).
A portfolio is more than a description of incidents. To learn from experience, practitioners need to go beyond description and reflect on that experience (Bulman and Schutz 2004). Reflection is the process of critically analysing practice to uncover underlying influences, motivations and knowledge (Taylor 2000). Reflecting on one's actions and decisions and linking these with relevant theoretical knowledge can enable practitioners to bridge the theory-practice gap (Bulman and Shutz 2004). Therefore, a portfolio is a collection of samples (evidence) of a practitioner's work, identifying the investments (learning) that contribute to personal and professional development (Box 1).