The design for coordinating Reflective Inquiry and Leadership Growth in the promotion of Evidence Based Practice.

The design for coordinating Reflective Inquiry and Leadership Growth in the promotion of Evidence Based Practice.

Leadership is developed from personal experiences, perspectives and experiences. In the realm of nursing practice, reflective inquiry helps leaders to critically analyze their actions, decisions and interactions so they can enhance their professional growth and patient outcomes. Reflective inquiry can help the nurse to develop knowledge and understanding of their strengths, weaknesses and organizational factors that impact practice. In the era of ever-changing healthcare, reflective leadership is critical to the promotion of evidence-based practice (EBP), to enhance patient care, and in the process of leading organizational change. As a nurse, reflection and storytelling have proven to be very effective elements for my leadership development and practice self-awareness and growth.

Reflective thinking and self-understanding.

I believe reflective inquiry has been useful for me to know myself and my organization as a whole, particularly in challenging clinical situations in the past. One memorable experience on my career was when I was busy taking care of a patient who rapidly got worse throughout a busy shift. Interprofessional working was not well managed and there was a lack of a timely response to the patient’s changing condition which caused some frustrations amongst staff. Reflections of the incident: Subsequent to the incident I realized that I had identified the patient was deteriorating and should have advocated with the senior members of staff.

I found out how I am to communicate myself and how I must be more confident as a leader. I also identified areas of poor teamwork, communication and workflow in the organization which affected the patient care. By using reflective inquiry, I was able to look at my actions as well as systems in the organization that helped to bring about the outcome. It helped me to be more confident in my communication approach, to participate more with other interdisciplinary teams when discussing patient safety and to speak up more as a patient’s advocate. Reflective inquiry has also contributed to my own development of self-awareness of the impact of my views and emotions on leadership choices. Stressful situations can impact leadership at times when interacting with colleagues and patients. I learned that being emotionally intelligent, listening actively and being open to others’ feedback are all important things to learn. Using critical reflective inquiry to reflect on experiences and make decisions about how the practice can be improved for the future, nursing staff can build knowledge and understanding in practice (Sherwood 2024). This has helped me to become more critical and think on my feet when taking up leadership positions.

Reflective Inquiry for Leadership Learning and Evidence-based Practice

I wish to further develop my skills in promoting evidence-based practice in my organization as I develop myself as a nurse leader, reflective inquiry will be used. By reflecting, leaders are able to evaluate their practice, identify weaknesses in provision and areas for improvement. Reflective inquiry can also help leaders identify whether clinical practices are based on current evidence, and whether outcomes for patients might improve with the implementation of change initiatives when encouraging EBP. I believe I will keep on using reflective inquiry, reflecting on my leadership and seeking feedback from staff and colleagues regularly. Reflection will assist me to find ways to enhance communication, collaboration and decision making for EBP implementation. Also, reflective inquiry can help facilitate organizational change by helping leaders think through their various options prior to making decisions which impact staff and patients.

Leaders also have a duty to promote staff learning and to foster an ethos that values staff learning. The reflection helps me to understand more about the difficulties encountered by nurses to implement evidence-based interventions and to find solutions to these difficulties. Leadership, quality improvement and evidence-based practice are identified as key competencies of the nursing profession by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Self-awareness, communication, and professional development are also important traits of good leadership, according to the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Through reflective inquiry I will also be able to be flexible with the changes in healthcare. Self-aware leaders will more readily take charge of their learning, embrace learning and are more likely to effectively manage change. By continually evaluating my own practice and processes, I will be able to contribute to improving patient care and creating a culture of evidence-based care (Horsom et al., 2026).

A tale of science and storytelling, with a focus on professional development.

Storytelling has been another aspect that has helped me grow as a professional. An event that had a particularly strong effect on me took place when a senior nurse told me about caring for a patient who had fallen while in hospital, an event that could have been avoided. The nurse spoke about the feelings that surfaced during the incident, the learning points and the adjustments that were made following the incident to improve patient safety. Her account made me see how vital it is to be responsible, work together and communicate proactively to avoid adverse events. It also brought to my mind what a vital role I can play in my own nursing practice in order to promote patient safety concerns. A colleague’s experience proved to be more useful than reading policies/guidelines. It strengthened the notion that leadership is not just about imparting instructions but also about gaining knowledge and helping others based on their experiences. This experience in turn brought to my attention fall prevention strategies and increased openness to being engaged in patient safety enhancements conversations. Storytelling helped build trust, reflection and learning in the team. Narrative nursing enables nurse leaders to be empowered via communication, empathy, and professional connections, writes Brunt & Bogdan (2025). This was a learning experience in how power of the story can influence the growth of leadership and shared experiences can foster career progression.

Conclusion

Experiences and perspectives can have a profound impact on leadership development, affecting the way people think, communicate and react to challenges. Through reflective inquiry, I’ve become more aware of myself and my organization through the process of reflection, critical thinking and professional development. Communication, teamwork and adaptability have been such vital skills to the practice of leadership that I have learned from reflection. I will continue to employ reflective inquiry in my continuing effort to develop my leadership and promote evidence informed practice in my organization. Furthermore, it has assisted me with my professional growth as a nurse because I was able to learn from others’ experiences that are shared in my stories as well as from the lessons that they have to offer. As I continue to grow as a leader, reflection and shared experiences will remain valuable tools in helping to instill positive changes in the organization and improve patient outcomes.

References

‌Brunt, B. A., & Bogdan, B. A. (2025, April 17). Nursing Professional Development Leadership. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519064/

Horsom, D. M., Keogh, N., Lee, G., & Saab, M. M. (2026). The Effect of Education on Evidence‐Based Practice Implementation Among Nurse Leaders: A Mixed‐Methods Systematic Review. International Nursing Review, 73(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.70169

Horsom, D. M., Keogh, N., Lee, G., & Saab, M. M. (2026). The Effect of Education on Evidence‐Based Practice Implementation Among Nurse Leaders: A Mixed‐Methods Systematic Review. International Nursing Review, 73(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.70169

Sherwood, G. (2024). Reflective practice and knowledge development: Transforming research for a practice-based discipline. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 11(4), 399–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2024.08.002

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