Midwifery students’ experiences of learning through the use of written reflections – An interview study

• Published in: Nurse education in practice Vol. 30; pp. 73 - 78
• Main Authors: Persson, Eva K., Kvist, Linda J., Ekelin, Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Scotland Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2018; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap; Childbirth & labor; Clinical medicine; College students; Content analysis; Diaries; Educational Strategies; Ethics; Feedback; Female; Focus groups; Funding; Health Sciences; Health services; Humans; Hälsovetenskap; Interviews; Learning; Learning Processes; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Midwifery; Midwifery - education; Midwives; Narration; Nursing; Nursing Education Research; Nursing Evaluation Research; Obstetrics; Omvårdnad; Other Medical Sciences; Other Medical Sciences not elsewhere specified; Pedagogy; Professional development; Qualitative Research; Researchers; Students; Students, Nursing - psychology; Students, Nursing - statistics & numerical data; Supervisors; Sweden; Teaching Methods; Writing; Övrig annan medicin och hälsovetenskap; Sweden
• ISSN: 1471-5953; 1873-5223
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2018.01.005

In an effort to strengthen midwifery students' learning process, written reflections during the students' clinical practice at birth units have been applied. The aim of this study was to examine how students of midwifery experienced the writing of daily reflections on their practice at birthing units. An interview study was carried out using an inductive method with descriptive design. During 2013 (n = 12) and 2014 (n = 7), respondents were recruited from two cohorts of midwifery students (n = 19) at a university in southern Sweden. Narrative interviews were carried out. The interviews were analysed with thematic content analysis. One theme including four categories emerged from the analysis. The theme was “An educational strategy for the present and the future”. The four categories were “Towards personal and professional development”, “Reflection requires effort”, “Supervisors' commitment” and “Clarification of the rationale”. Daily written reflections are useful for students’ personal and professional development during clinical practice/placement. In order for the reflections to be used optimally, students must be given clear instructions on the purpose of their use and be given enough time to write them. Furthermore, supervisors must provide constructive feedback on the students' written reflections.
•Written reflections are useful for students' personal and professional development.•Supervisors' constructive written feedback on the reflections is crucial for learning.•Promoting supervisors' positive attitude to reflective writing must be prioritized.•Allocating time for reflection and communication with supervisors is crucial.•Learning reflective thinking is a useful educational strategy for the future.