INTRODUCTION In the era of evidence based practice and knowledge-driven healthcare, nurses are constantly challenged to discover new and better ways of delivering care. Thus, journaling and reflective practice becomes an important tool in Nursing Practice. Reflective writing through keeping a journal allows nurses to become more sensitive observers and encourages enquiry which focuses on the roles as well as direction of nursing (Holly, 1987). Through this professional journal writing, I discovered the value of the reflective process. This process has changed my feelings, belief and assumption in enhancing holistic care to my patients, peers and even for my family. Atkins (1995, pp.32) supports this by saying that “reflective writing is the process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern triggered by an experience which created and clarifies, meaning in forms of self”. I used four methods of seeing to demonstrate my level of understanding namely, literal, lateral, critical and speculative. By critically analyzing the nursing articles, I have developed a greater understanding about nursing, especially about my own practice within the nursing discipline. Reflecting on the practice based description in the professional journal which I maintained over my career, I have discovered a number of emergent themes relevant to ways of knowing and the empirical, interpretive and critical paradigms. In order to comprehensively explain and analyze my ideas, I have used headings entitled Describing, Informing, Challenging and Reconstructing. DESCRIBING I have used the tenants of Benner (1984, 2000, and 2001) to form the eclectic conceptual framework. Specifically, Benner’s work on Novice to Expert (1984) provides me useful descriptions to describe my four practice descriptions. It explained well the events, interaction, thinking, concern and feelings which I have been experience in my practice descriptions. The following
INTRODUCTION In the era of evidence based practice and knowledge-driven healthcare, nurses are constantly challenged to discover new and better ways of delivering care. Thus, journaling and reflective practice becomes an important tool in Nursing Practice. Reflective writing through keeping a journal allows nurses to become more sensitive observers and encourages enquiry which focuses on the roles as well as direction of nursing (Holly, 1987). Through this professional journal writing, I discovered the value of the reflective process. This process has changed my feelings, belief and assumption in enhancing holistic care to my patients, peers and even for my family. Atkins (1995, pp.32) supports this by saying that “reflective writing is the process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern triggered by an experience which created and clarifies, meaning in forms of self”. I used four methods of seeing to demonstrate my level of understanding namely, literal, lateral, critical and speculative. By critically analyzing the nursing articles, I have developed a greater understanding about nursing, especially about my own practice within the nursing discipline. Reflecting on the practice based description in the professional journal which I maintained over my career, I have discovered a number of emergent themes relevant to ways of knowing and the empirical, interpretive and critical paradigms. In order to comprehensively explain and analyze my ideas, I have used headings entitled Describing, Informing, Challenging and Reconstructing. DESCRIBING I have used the tenants of Benner (1984, 2000, and 2001) to form the eclectic conceptual framework. Specifically, Benner’s work on Novice to Expert (1984) provides me useful descriptions to describe my four practice descriptions. It explained well the events, interaction, thinking, concern and feelings which I have been experience in my practice descriptions. The following