Nurses should consider discussing the mirror experience with women who are having a mastectomy pre- and postoperatively. Nurses also may choose to offer a mirror to their patients when doing the initial dressing change and teaching wound care. Educational materials are needed for patients and nurses. In addition, future research is warranted on the use of mirrors when caring for patients who have had a mastectomy.

This article illustrates the development of the mirror program and the results of the feasibility trial, and provides a discussion with implications for future research.

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Peer debriefing in sensitive qualitative research is important for 2 reasons: study rigor and researcher emotional support. In this case study, the authors share a final debriefing following a study of the experience of viewing self in the mirror after a mastectomy. Each author/researcher shares, in her own words, her recollections of prestudy thoughts about the study. These thoughts stand in sharp contrast to poststudy realizations. These pre- and poststudy thoughts are a continuation of an audit trail that was maintained throughout the study. What was notable in this last debriefing was how the study shifted the researchers' understanding of the phenomenon under study and their use and discussion of the mirror in clinical practice. Lessons learned and implications for nursing are shared with the nursing community.