Critical Thinking

Alfaro-LeFevre, R. (2013). Critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment : A practical approach (Fifth ed.).

Critical thinking is a nursing process that includes reflective practice, problem solving and decision making which are connected to one another. The definition of critical thinking is transferring and applying knowledge and skills in a new situation. The critical thinking is needed in a lot of aspects of the nurses’ job such as when the nurses need to provide the precise identification in the specific problems had by the patients. They need to be in detail and also critical to themselves in every time in order to be able to provide identification precisely. When you have the profession in nursing, it is important to be critical thinker. The nurses have the high responsibilities and their responsibilities are increasing from time to time.

Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice There have been several research studies identifying the importance of critical thinking for nurses in clinical practice and the effects on patient care and outcomes. As stated in Assessing Individual Frontline Nurse Critical Thinking," there is widespread agreement among nursing leaders that critical thinking is a frontline nurse competency essential to providing safe and effective care." (Berkow, 2011). Studies continue to identify this in several countries, although the ways to achieve critical thinking varies. The level to which critical thinking should be expected and taught varies in the opinions of researchers.

How is critical thinking used today? This is a typical question that a student in a non-nursing major may ask, but here at the Christ College, we would be happy to answer that for you. As a student nurse, I use and witness critical thinking and clinical reasoning in the clinical field every day. To better understand this topic, I found two articles to read and review. The first article I found is based on education and the second shows the view of a well-practiced nurse.

Underlying both the clinical decision-making process and the nursing process is the skill of critical thinking. Critical thinking has been described as the ability to gather and process data in such a way as to arrive at the best conclusion using the filters of prior knowledge, experience and external resources to overcome personal emotions, biases, and assumptions. (This description was developed during NUR/300 class, University of Phoenix, S. Colorado, March 16, 2006) Note that critical thinking is described as a

This assignment will showcase your ability to recognize and examine argument structure.  Please be sure to follow all of the assignment guidelines, which your instructor will give to you in class or listed below.

The national league for nurses defines critical thinking in the nursing process as “a discipline specific, reflective reasoning process that guides a nurse in generating, implementing, and evaluating approaches for dealing with client care and professional concerns” (Kozier, 2008). This definition is imperative to help a nursing student learn how to think in terms of nursing care. Nursing students must achieve a comprehensive understanding of critical thinking in order to understand the nursing process. The purpose for this paper is for nursing students to learn how to use the nursing process, how to properly document their findings and assessments, and correctly implement APA formatting in a formal paper.

In other words, critical thought is a skill acquired through experience; in this instance, it is gained from clinical practice. I envision myself using critical thinking when assessing my clients, administering medication, enacting physician orders, and reviewing nursing recommendations.

In the book “Asking the Right Questions, A Guide to Critical Thinking” M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Kelley discuss the ten steps to critical thinking. In the following pages I will apply these steps to a memo that was sent to Mr. Robert Shaw of Triad Insurance Company of Indianapolis and discuss them in detail. The memo was from Ms. Denise Khali, Vice President of Human Resources. D. Khali, personal communication, October 04, 2010.

Critical thinking is when a person works hard towards the best answer possible. It involves looking at different situations and ways to get to the right solution or answer. When using critical thinking, a person does not give up and settle on their first answer. They use the tools and sources around to collect data and facts to find a path to the right solution. In order to use critical thinking, a nurse or person needs to think rationally. A critical thinker does not just jump right into the answer without any thought to it. For nurses, it is important for them to use critical thinking for safe and effective jobs lives (Papathanasoius, Kleisiaris, Fradelos, Kakou, Kourkouta, 2014). Usually, in the classroom and in learning situations, people think about what they do before they act. However, in some situations, a nursing student does not use critical thinking to solve the problem. For example, a nursing student does not use critical thinking when rushed and in dire need to make a decision. A nursing student will not use critical thinking when asked a question on blood pressure and what the normal blood pressure is because they already learned all the information they need to answer the

As a professional in the healthcare environment, I use my critical thinking for decision-making and problem solving everyday with every task and grievance I resolve. Critical thinking is very important in risk management, patient safety and quality in healthcare. I utilize my years of experience as a nurse, confidence of knowledge, ability to recognize and adhere to hospital procedures, instinct, professionalism, and understanding of appropriate workflow to assist in my decision-making and

Critical thinking under the limelight when considering accuracy of diagnosis related to nurse’s decision which involves seven cognitive abilities and ten phases of mind. (Lunney & Margaret, 2003). However, when all these factors are established, critical thinking would then setup gaols and derive a plan to identifying, interacting thoughts and interconnecting numerous elements. These all would in return help implantation and evaluation and leading to strong decision making. Moreover, critical thinking is very crucial and important for clinical nursing and its shuffling and implementation further promotes development and decision making criteria (Videbeck, Jan 1997).

Critical thinking and clinical judgment are important skills that professional nurses use in every day clinical setting. In 2012, a mix method qualitative study by Dr. Jeanne Mann was done to evaluate the effectiveness of educational strategy to develop clinical judgment skills in nursing students. In this study, the population was identified as volunteered Level II baccalaureate nursing students from a Midwest nursing program. The variables identified in this article are the relation between critical thinking and clinical judgment. The title of the article clearly indicated the focus of the study and created an interest in reading the research due to nurses utilize their ability to critical think and

Critical thinking and nursing process are related to each other. As nurses, we use nursing process to make a clinical

In this essay, I will share my experience when I was still a novice in the nursing profession and how my understanding of critical thinking has radically transformed, the importance of critical thinking skills in this profession and useful ways on how to develop this specific skill.