This book has been written by authors from two very different backgrounds. Janet is an academic working in a university but her roots are in nursing. She has changed dressings and emptied bedpans. Louise is a playwright with an interest in science and medicine. We have both worked with students to help them to understand and improve their academic achievement and their practice. We both have experience of health and care services.

Janet’s reflections on working on this book: This has been a roller-coaster ride for me. I trained as a nurse and had no idea I would ever be an academic in a university. Even though I have a doctoral qualification and I have published, I have never written a book before. I have taught and written about reflective practice for many years and have always been very sceptical about the way we teach and assess it. Writing this book has given me the chance to set out what I believe is a useful, achievable and ethically sound way for professionals to engage in reflection. Writing it with Louise has added dimensions that I would never have thought of on my own.

Louise’s reflections on working on this book: Though I feel confident when working in the theatre or television, academic writing is very different. It requires a discipline and truth that I can’t invent or ‘improve’ in the same way I can in fiction. Working with students I was shocked by how difficult they found reflective writing and how worried they were about being honest about their feelings when they knew their work was going to be seen by their tutors. One of the reasons for writing this book was to address this problem. I do a lot of my thinking while doing other things, which led to chapter 6, ‘Expressing reflection in other ways’. My husband is disabled and I have been surprised by the lack of co-ordination and shared language between social and medical services. I’m used to writing on my own, and working with Janet has taught me a lot about collaboration and joint responsibility.

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