On reflection in action: unaddressed issues in refocusing the debate on reflective practice.

Reflective practice is now widely debated as a means of improving nursing practice. However, assumptions about reflective practice are rarely clarified and seldom subjected to critique. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to take up Clarke, James & Kelly's suggestion that limits to the scope and depth of reflection be considered. This is achieved by reflecting on what these authors claim it means to reflect in action. Four arguments are presented: (i) that nurses cannot be conscious of all aspects of nursing practice because there are aspects of practice that cannot be represented in consiousness, (ii) that those aspects of practice that can be represented in consciousness can be so only imperfectly, (iii) that all such representations are not reflexive, and (iv) that any representation in the form of an internal dialogue that could be regarded as reflection is overdetermined. Implications for reflexivity are then considered.