Abstract
Many nurses transition from clinical practice to a role as a nurse educator. Challenges have been identified during this process such as role ambiguity, unexpected expectations and, non-teaching responsibilities. Many interventions have been developed by leaders in nursing education, however the identified challenges continue to be a problem for the novice nurse educator. One intervention that has not been thoroughly explored with this population is the use of reflection. Reflection has been embraced by national and international professional nursing organizations as a core competency for the specialty of nursing education faculty in addition to a fundamental concept of growth for the discipline at large. Transition theory is an integral part of this role change for the novice educator. The proposition of this research, incorporating both transition and reflection theory, is that reflection on teaching practice, by the novice nurse educator, may provide a method to facilitate the transition to an expert nurse educator. The significance of this research aligns with the National League for Nursing Research Priorities in Nursing Education. Despite the universal acceptance of reflection, a single definition across disciplines and operationalization of the concept remains elusive despite a number of theoretical models having been developed. Within the profession of nursing the majority of research has concentrated on staff development of clinical nurses, leadership development, nursing students, and patient education or patient health management. Little research has been completed investigating how novice nurse faculty use, evaluate or teach reflection. The purpose of this research is to describe how novice nurse educators perceive and use reflection. Using a naturalistic constructionist perspective, a qualitative descriptive research design was used to guide this study. The guiding research questions are 1. What is the nature of reflection among novice nurse educators? 2. What types of situations stimulate the use of reflection? 3. Is there a common process of reflection among novice nurse educators? 4. What is the perception of novice nurse educators regarding the significance of reflection in the transition process of becoming a nurse educator? Responsive interviewing was used to elicit descriptions of the complexities of reflection and to answer the research questions. 11 participants ultimately met inclusion criteria. Interviews were conducted face-to-face and virtually. A process with four steps surfaced that best represented the data. 1. a common process of reflection, 2. situations perceived as negative, challenging or unfamiliar, 3. knowledge, skills and preparation and, 4. professional and personal growth. Congruencies and incongruencies were noted between the data and current reflection and transition theory literature. Implications for theory, education policy, practice, and research are included in the discussion.