Exploring how reflective practice training affects nurse interns' critical thinking disposition and communication skills

Abstract

Background: It is useful for nurses to be able to engage in reflective practice. Reflective practice is an essential aspect of experiential learning.

Aim: To explore how reflective practice training during an internship programme in Saudi Arabia affected nurse interns' critical thinking disposition and interpersonal communication competency.

Method: A convenience sample of 93 senior nursing students undertaking the internship programme at a nursing college in a university in Saudi Arabia answered a questionnaire before and after taking part in reflective practice training sessions. The questionnaire used three tools: the Reflective Practice Questionnaire; the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale; and the Interpersonal Communication Competency Scale.

Results: After the training, the overall mean scores for reflective practice, critical thinking disposition and interpersonal communication competency were significantly higher than before the training. Reflective practice had a positive correlation with critical thinking disposition and interpersonal communication competency. It also had predictive capability for the variance in critical thinking disposition and interpersonal communication competency (R 2 =0.798 and R 2 =0.553, respectively, P <0.001).

Conclusion: Reflective practice training provided to nurse interns in Saudi Arabia improved their reflective practice, critical thinking and interpersonal communication. Reflective practice training would be a useful addition to pre-graduate nurse education and to preceptorship or orientation programmes for newly recruited nurses.

Keywords: communication; continuous professional development; curriculum; education; experiential learning; interpersonal skills; nurse academics; pre-registration education; professional; reflection; training; universities.