Being reflexive in research and clinical practice: a practical example
Wendy English, Merryn Gott, Jackie Robinson
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Reflexivity is an invaluable skill for nurses and researchers, as it assists in closing the gap between research and practice and improves nursing practice. However, there is some doubt about how well reflexivity is implemented in nursing. There has also been little published showing how reflexivity can be applied in research and nursing. AIM: To provide an example of reflexivity in research to demonstrate that knowledge and experiences are transferable to nursing practice. DISCUSSION: Reflexivity is an important tool for research and nursing in finding the meeting points or interface of research and practice. This article provides an example of being reflexive that identified how the research skills of 'listening to understand' and 'finding meaning' filtered into nursing practice. CONCLUSION: Reflexivity helped to generate knowledge about research skills filtering across a research project into clinical practice. Being reflexive as a researcher and a nurse can transform the care of patients and families. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This article provides an example of how reflexivity can be applied to research and nursing practice. It also suggests reframing the gap between research and practice as an interface between the two. This could encourage nurses to think of research skills and knowledge as transferable into real-time nursing practice.