WEDNESDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Transformational learning, whereby individuals reflect on their actions, question faulty assumptions and revise their actions, can help improve the performance of perioperative nurses, according to an article published in the May issue of the AORN Journal.

Mary E. McNaron, R.N., of Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. writes that in the perioperative setting, continuous reflection and education are key to achieving the goal of best practice, and that preoperative nursing staff can be encouraged to do so through transformational learning.

To do this, nurse leaders must be role models, and encourage other nurses to reflect on individual cases and question their assumptions, the author writes. If they are successful, such role models can inspire individuals as well as departments and institutions to change, she adds.

"Experience by itself does not always result in learning. Research may provide new information demonstrating that an accepted practice was based on faulty assumptions. As a result, nursing practice can be improved proactively to revise invalid or faulty assumptions by using transformational learning principles on an ongoing basis," the author writes. "Each person must incorporate critical thinking and research to transform his or her own learning into evidence-based knowledge."

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