Critical Thinking and Nursing Practice Chapter 10

Critical Thinking Intentional higher level reasoning process Purposeful, self regulatory judgment which results in interpretations, analysis, evaluation, inference and explanation “reflective reasoning process that guides a nurse in generating, implementing, and evaluating approaches for dealing with client care and professional concerns” (NLN)

Critical Thinking Use clinical reasoning and clinical decision making to: practice safe and effective nursing care improve clinical systems decrease errors in clinical judgment

Critical Thinking Skills Analyzing Applying standards Discriminating Information seeking Logical reasoning Predicting Transforming knowledge

Attitudes that Foster Critical Thinking Independence Fair-mindedness Insight Intellectual humility Intellectual courage

Attitudes that Foster Critical Thinking (cont'd) Integrity Perseverance Confidence Curiosity

The Nursing Process Systematic, rational method of planning and providing individualized care Assessing Diagnosing Planning Implementing Evaluating

Problem-Solving Process Clarify the nature of a problem and suggests possible solutions One situation contributes to the nurse’s body of knowledge for problem solving in similar situations Commonly used approaches Trial and Error Intuition Research process

Decision-Making Process Choosing the best actions to meet a desired goal Make value decisions Time management decisions Scheduling decisions Priority decisions

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