Critical Thinkingand Nursing

Practice

Chapter 10Dr. Wajed Hatamleh

Learning OutcomesLearning Outcomes

1. Describe the significance of developing critical-thinking abilities in order to practice safe, effective, and professional nursing care.

2. Explore ways of demonstrating critical thinking in clinical practice.

3. Discuss the skills and attitudes of critical thinking

Learning Outcomes (cont'd)Learning Outcomes (cont'd)

4. Discuss the relationships among critical thinking, the problem-solving process, and the decision-making process.

BEGIN WITH:

Questions: What do I really know about this

nursing care situation?

How do I know it?

What options are available to me?

Critical thinking: Critical thinking:

• “is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, Appling, analyzing, synthesizing and / or evaluation information gathering from or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication as guide to belief and action”.

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking

• An intentional higher level reasoning process

• Essential component of professional accountability and quality nursing care

• Generated from a triad of professional, socioeconomic, and ethical/moral needs

• Creativity is a major component in critical thinking .

• •Creativity: is the thinking that results in the development of new idea and products. And is the ability to develop and implement new and better solution

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking

• Use clinical reasoning and clinical decision making – to practice safe and effective nursing care – to improve clinical systems– to decrease errors in clinical judgment

Critical Thinking SkillsCritical Thinking Skills

• Analyzing• Applying standards• Discriminating• Information seeking• Logical reasoning• Predicting• Transforming knowledge

Techniques in Critical ThinkingTechniques in Critical Thinking

• Critical analysis• Inductive and deductive reasoning• Making valid inferences• Differentiating facts from opinions• Evaluating the credibility of information

sources• Clarifying concepts• Recognizing assumptions

Attitudes that Foster Critical Attitudes that Foster Critical ThinkingThinking

• Independence• Fair-mindedness• Insight• Intellectual courage

Attitudes that Foster Critical Attitudes that Foster Critical Thinking (cont'd)Thinking (cont'd)

• Integrity • Confidence• Curiosity

Critical Thinking and NursingCritical Thinking and Nursing

• Critical thinking underlies each step of the nursing process, problem-solving process, and decision-making process

The Nursing ProcessThe Nursing Process

• Systematic, rational method of planning and providing individualized care– Assessing– Diagnosing– Planning– Implementing– Evaluating

Problem-Solving ProcessProblem-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(is the understanding or learning of things

without the conscious uses of reasoning (sixth sense).

– Research process

Decision-Making ProcessDecision-Making Process

• Decision making: is the critical thinking process for choosing the best action to met the desired goal

• Choosing the best actions to meet a desired goal– Make value decisions (keep client information

confidential)– Time management decisions (take clean linens

in at the same time as giving medications)

Decision-Making Process (cont'd)Decision-Making Process (cont'd)

• Choosing the best actions to meet a desired goal– Scheduling decisions (bathe clients before

visiting hours)– Priority decisions (most urgent and ones that

can be delegated)

Steps of Decision makingSteps of Decision making

• identify the priorities.• set the criteria:• what need to be achieved. • what need to be preserved.• what need to be avoided. • weight the criteria( set priority).• seek alternative. • examine alternative.• implement (placed into action).• evaluate the outcome

Developing Critical Thinking Developing Critical Thinking Attitudes and SkillsAttitudes and Skills

• Self-assessment• Tolerating dissonance and ambiguity• Create environments that support critical

thinking

Figure 10-2 Mind map for critical thinking in nursing.From University of New Mexico College of Nursing. Retrieved from http://hsc.unm.edu/consg/critical/what_ct.shtml

Box 10-5Box 10-5 Types of Concept Types of Concept MapsMaps

Figure 10-3 Types of concept maps: A, hierarchical; B, spider; C, flowchart; D, systems.