Lessons from literature: fiction and reflective practice
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Lessons from literature: fiction and reflective practice

Henry Bladon Policy director, Chase Lodge Care Ltd, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
Jane Bladon Clinical manager, Chase Lodge Care Ltd, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England

Revalidation for UK nurses requires engagement in reflective practice as part of continuing professional development. In this article, the authors look at the usefulness of fiction as an aid to reflective practice and how nurses can integrate fiction, reading and writing into the reflective process. They argue that using fiction can help lead to desired outcomes for mental health nurses. Nurses can use the elements of reading and writing fiction formally or in a less formal way of exploring, interpreting and relaxing. Specifically, we will look at how fiction can help us make sense of ourselves and our clients and increase our empathy so that we can understand our practice and our role more clearly.

Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1330

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

henry@chaselodge.co.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Bladon H, Bladon J (2019) Lessons from literature: fiction and reflective practice. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1330

Published online: 11 February 2019

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