The diary of a nursing student in clinical practice compared diaries kept in other disciplines: An inclusive review

© 2014, Universidad de La Sabana. All rights reserved. This article is an inclusive literature review intended to identify data in national and international journals indexed in several databases between 1995 and 2011. The databases consulted were Isi Web of Knowledge Eric PubMed EbscoHost Scopus SciELO Cuiden Cuidatge and Scirus. The objective was to help determine how writing an introspective journal is of assistance to student nurses during their clinical practice and to identify differences and similarities with the diaries kept by students in other disciplines. A broad review was conducted and 54 scientific articles were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria without ruling out any research methodology and including those that analyze student journals in nursing or otherwise. It was concluded that writing an introspective diary during clinical practice has a number of benefits for nursing students such as improved communication with the patient which is fundamental for care. Keeping a diary should be part of all undergraduate curricula in the field of clinical practice.