approached differently. in the field of nursing there is concern that actions may run the risk of habitualisation, thus dehumanizing patients and their needs. in using reflective practice, nurses are able to plan their actions and consciously monitor the action to ensure it is beneficial to their patient. the act of reflection is seen as a way of promoting the development of autonomous, qualified and self-directed professionals, as well as a way of developing more effective healthcare teams. engaging in reflective practice is associated with improved quality of care, stimulating personal and professional growth and closing the gap between theory and practice. medical practitioners can combine reflective practice with checklists (when appropriate) to reduce diagnostic error. activities to promote reflection are now being incorporated into undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education across a variety of health professions. professor of medical education karen mann and her colleagues found through a 2009 literature review that in practicing professionals the process of reflection appears to include a number of different aspects, and practicing professionals vary in their tendency and ability to reflect. they noted that the evidence to support curricular interventions and innovations promoting reflective practice remains largely theoretical. samantha davies identified benefits as well as limitations to reflective practice: benefits to reflective practice include: increased learning from an experience or situation promotion of deep learning identification of personal and professional strengths and areas for improvement identification of educational needs acquisition of new knowledge and skills further understanding of own beliefs, attitudes and values encouragement of self-motivation and self-directed learning could act as a source of feedback possible improvements of personal and clinical confidence limitations to reflective practice include: not all practitioners may understand the reflective process may feel uncomfortable challenging and evaluating own practice could be time-consuming may have confusion as to which situations/experiences to reflect upon may not be adequate to resolve clinical problems environmental management and sustainability the use of reflective practice in environmental management, combined with system monitoring, is often called adaptive management. there is some criticism that traditional environmental management, which simply focuses on the problem at hand, fails to integrate into the decision making the wider systems within which an environment is situated. while research and science must inform the process of environmental management, it is up to the practitioner to integrate those results within these wider systems. in order to deal with this and to reaffirm the utility of environmental management, bryant and wilson propose that a "more reflective approach is required that seeks to rethink the basic premises of environmental management as a process". this style of approach has been found to be successful in sustainable development projects where participants appreciated and enjoyed the educational aspect of utilizing reflective practice throughout. however, the authors noted the challenges with melding the "circularity" of reflective practice theory with the "doing" of sustainability. leadership positions reflective practice provides a development opportunity for those in leadership positions. managing a team of people requires a delicate balance between people skills and technical expertise, and success in this type of role does not come easily. reflective practice provides leaders with an opportunity to critically review what has been successful in the past and where improvement can be made. reflective learning organizations have invested in coaching programs for their emerging and established leaders. leaders frequently engage in self-limiting behaviours because of their over-reliance on their preferred ways of reacting and responding. coaching can help support the establishment of new behaviours, as it encourages reflection, critical thinking and transformative learning. adults have acquired a body of experience throughout their life, as well as habits of mind that define their world. coaching programs support the process of questioning and potentially rebuilding these pre-determined habits of mind. the goal is for leaders to maximize their professional potential, and in order to do this, there must be a process of critical reflection on current assumptions. other professions reflective practice can help any individual to develop personally, and is useful for professions other than those discussed above. it allows professionals to continually update their skills and knowledge and consider new ways to interact with their colleagues. david somerville and june keeling suggested eight simple ways that professionals can practice more reflectively: seek feedback: ask "can you give me some feedback on what i did?" ask yourself "what have i learnt today?" and ask others "what have you learnt today?" value personal strengths: identify positive accomplishments and areas for growth view experiences objectively: imagine the situation is on stage and you are in the audience empathize: say out loud what you imagine the other person is experiencing keep a journal: record your thoughts, feelings and future plans; look for emerging patterns plan for the future: plan changes in behavior based on the patterns you identified create your own future: combine the virtues of the dreamer, the realist, and the critic human activity and work in general reflective practices can also be applied to areas of human activity, in particular work, and include considering the impacts of one's (or a workforce's) actions. relevant considerations could include ethical values, environmental impacts and efficiency and could be determinants of one's choice of activity or work during lifetime. reflective capacities could be strengthened by education and possibly other means.