The float model: visualizing personal reflection in healthcare.

Abstract

We propose that the float model can be used to reveal the interplay among clinicians' mental processes, which occur unseen "underneath the water" but subtly influence the appropriateness of the behaviour witnessed at the surface. We believe the model can help prevent errors in understanding practitioners' behaviours and their causes, such as when they blur scientific thinking and personal reflection, take reflection as a goal in and of itself, and deny the value of the intuitive and unconscious aspects influencing their behaviours.