our experiences, and that this contributes to our professional

knowledge. David Kolb's Theory of Experiential Learning provides a helpful

framework for understanding how reflection helps us make sense of our

experiences. As healthcare professionals, we are engaged in practical activities

with those in our care. Kolb refers to this as the concrete experience that

begins the cycle of experiential learning. During or after a concrete

experience, we often reflect on what we did, what went well and what didn't go so well.

This is referred to as reflective observation in Kolb's model and

highlights the importance of reflecting in and on action in order to learn from

experience. This reflection on experience often results in new ideas or

conceptualizations that shape our learning about practice. Through what

Kolb calls abstract conceptualization, we generate new understandings about

ourselves and our practices that inform the way we work. We then experiment by

trying out these new ideas or conceptualizations as part of the

learning process. Through what Kolb calls active experimentation, we test out the

implications and validity of our new understandings in the real world and

come to integrate new approaches into our practice repertoire. This cyclical

process of experiential learning is often repeated in order to see what

happens as a result of our adaptations. This process enables healthcare

professionals to think about the new experience,

reflect further, draw new conclusions and perhaps decide to adapt to one's practice again.