Carr Eloise C J
Senior Lecturer, Institute of Health & Community Studies, Bournemouth University, Royal London House, Christchurch Road. Bournemouth. Dorset BH1 3LT, UK.
J Clin Nurs. 1996 Sep;5(5):289-295. doi: 10.1111/jocn.1996.5.5.289.
Reflection can be seen as a useful tool to enable the practitioner to explore the everyday world of clinical practice. This paper reviews the background to reflection and its relevance to nursing in reducing the theory - practice gap and its role in generating theory from practice. Exemplars from clinical practice are reflected upon and Carper's (1978) 'Patterns of Knowing' are used as a framework to identify nursing knowledge embedded in practice. The process of reflection is critically discussed in the light of the author's experience.
