Journaling and dialogue pairs to promote reflection in clinical nursing education.

This research focused on the use of writing to increase reflection and problem solving in the clinical setting. Two groups of associate degree students provided clinical care and maintained journals, answering a series of focused questions. One group of students worked as individuals in the clinical setting; the other consisted of students working in pairs. There were significant differences between levels of reflection of students who worked in pairs and those who were not paired. Three major themes were found in students' journals: emotions, connections between theory and practice, and learning.