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

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 (R2=0.798 and R2=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.