The use of critical reflection in baccalaureate nursing education.

Leaders in nursing education are incorporating innovative educational strategies, including reflection, which will more fully develop student nurses' intellectual capacities to conceptualize knowledge to better meet patients' needs (Boud, Keough, & Walker, 1998; Duraghee, 1996; Hallett, 1997). This article examines the theoretical basis for reflective practice and explores its usefulness in the development and transmission of nursing knowledge in baccalaureate nursing education. Critical reflection can be effectively utilized by leaders in baccalaureate nursing education in classrooms, clinical settings, service learning experiences, experiential learning activities, and in the instruction of ethical decision-making.