CriticalThinkinginNursing.pptVIP

Copyright ? 2008 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. Critical Thinking in Nursing Betty Ackley, RN, MSN, EdS Scenario One A nursing assistant is taking a blood pressure on a surgical patient The BP is 90/60 The assistant is thinking I’ve got to get this recorded and get the rest of those vital signs taken Usual thinking is routine, as in Scenario One, or aimless, with random thoughts running through our heads Usual thinking is not purposeful in nature Scenario Two A registered nurse takes a blood pressure on the same surgical patient The BP is 90/60 The RN is thinking Is this patient hypovolemic? Is he heading into shock? What more should I assess? Could he be septic? What are the other vital signs? Pulse Respirations Temperature Do they show a pattern? And much more . . . This is an example of critical thinking The nurse is thinking to determine what is happening to this client The client may be in serious trouble Critical thinking is significant thinking These two scenarios illustrate the difference between “regular thinking” What the nursing assistant is doing Versus “critical thinking” What the nurse is thinking This ability to think critically is key to excellent nursing practice In fact, great nurses are virtual thinking machines—always observing, questioning, analyzing, diagnosing, evaluating, and so much more “Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed” (Halpern, 1996 [cognitive psychologist]). Critical thinking is purposeful and solution-seeking Critical Thinking Includes Identifying and challenging assumptions Challenging the importance of context Imagining and exploring alternatives Reflective skepticism Making good arguments Creative thinking Critical Thinking It’s more than logical thinking and problem solving Ideally nurses should prevent problems from happening Example The nurse’s goal is not to be in a code on h