An introduction to reflective practice for paramedics and student paramedics

Reflective practice is an important tool in practice-based professional learning settings where individuals learn from their own professional experiences, rather than from formal teaching or knowledge transfer. It is an important process in continuous professional competency and development. Reflection is nothing to be scared of – we all reflect every day in different forms and about different things. Learning to be a reflective practitioner includes not only acquiring knowledge and skills, but also the ability to establish a link between theory and practice, providing a rationale for actions. Reflective practice is the link between theory and practice and a powerful means of using theory to inform practice, thus promoting evidence based practice.(1) It can be used by both student paramedics and practicing paramedics to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses and potential areas for development. Professional reflective practice may take the form of reflection-on-action or reflection-in-action.(2) Reflection-on-action encourages practitioners to re-live past events in order to develop an action plan for similar events that may occur in the future. There is a tendency when one performs reflection on action to focus on the negative aspects of one’s performance. Reflection-in-action encourages practitioners to observe and reflect on past situations from both their own perspective and those around them at the time of the event, which may aid in recognizing positive actions and behaviours.