Importance Of Self Evaluation In Nursing

For student nurses, the aspect of constantly analysing one’s own practice when only a beginner can seem an overwhelming idea. It is for this reason that self-awareness is vitally important as each new experience and skill gained throughout a nursing programme will cause new emotions, thoughts, ideas and beliefs to present themselves to the learner. These new experiences can therefore develop understanding and enhance the practice of the learner, however it can also overwhelm them causing a struggle in handling the new situation effectively. To fully appreciate the process of changes that student nurses encounter, we must look at how these new experiences are the source of self-evaluation.
Self-evaluation is an active and conscious process that develops and modifies how we as individuals view ourselves. The benefits of self-evaluation are numerous, from allowing better coping mechanisms in an individual to develop to generally allowing better life choices. This is discussed by Sedikides and Strube (1995) who determine that the holistic effects of self-evaluation allow us to be better self-regulating, more coping in stressful events and also improve our social outlook when interacting with others.
All this improvement however requires active work if it is to be fully achieved. …show more content…
However, self-assessment and reflection are not terms to be used interchangeably. Although self-evaluation causes an individual to look at one’s self and analyse their viewpoint, reflection can be seen as the process of this analysis. It is agreed that the term “reflection” is defined for nurses by an ability to become consciously aware of when new experiences allow an individual to develop a further understanding of concepts and ideas. Through this, the learner should question their own perceptions and beliefs, comparing and contrasting them to those which have been seen or heard during these new