what is critical thinking in nursing

what is critical thinking in nursing

Importance of Critical Thinking in Nursing

1. Introduction

Critical thinking allows you to dig under the surface to understand and articulate the implications of your decisions. It leads to a systematic form of decision making with the outcome being more effective and patient-centered. Socrates asked people questions to reveal their irrational thinking or lack of reliable knowledge. Socratic questioning can help you with this and can also aid in the things you are unsure of. Following a line of inquiry and reflecting on the issue later will show if the decision was a good one and can also help in learning from any mistakes made.

Critical thinking is a self-regulated judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation. This kind of thinking is very important for a nurse who is providing care to the patient. It helps a great deal with decision making. Several decisions are to be made every day, some with a very significant effect on the patient and the patient’s family. If the decision is a poor one, it can be a matter of life or death for the patient. With critical thinking, the decision can be analyzed and a conclusion reached that is not only the best for the patient but can also be proven to be the best. Often, the conclusion can be reached quickly and can also save time and money.

2. Benefits of Critical Thinking in Nursing

Duration of the process – It hardly needs mentioning that all this cognitive thought takes time. Critical thinking is not something that’s done in a second. The advantages above prove that it’s well worth the time and effort, but it’s important that nurses are given the time to think critically. Without this, they may revert to their old knowledge-based habits.

Better decision making – This is the aim of the previous sections. Critical thinking leads to a better decision-making process. If an individual reviews a situation and weighs up all possible outcomes and solutions, they are much more likely to reach the best conclusion. This is crucial in nursing, where a simple human error can have grave consequences.

Effective problem solving – Being an element of creative thinking by another name, effective problem solving is also a cornerstone of critical thought. When a nurse has a complex problem to solve, they will use their critical thinking abilities to review the evidence, discover the best solution, and then put that solution into practice. This three-staged process involves much cognitive thought, but it’s likely to produce the best results.

Creative thinking – Critical thinking often involves some level of creativity. It might sound a bit far-fetched, but in nursing, a simple change of procedure can often mean the difference between life and death. Considering many options for a particular situation will often lead the nurse to try a new method which is a clear solution to the problem.

Critical thinking attitude – Critical thinking is autonomous thinking. That is to say, the individual is thinking about a problem or question on their own. This is important in nursing, where it’s necessary to make split-second decisions on the best course of action to take. A critical thinking approach is much more likely to lead to the right decision than a knee-jerk reaction, as the individual will weigh up the pros and cons of each.

The benefits of critical thinking The practice of critical thinking can be broken down into different elements, but perhaps it’s easiest to see what it looks like in practice through the following components:

3. Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Nursing

Truth seeking, lazy versus active problem solving. Considering and analyzing the problem and issue directly questioning your own assumptions and beliefs, actively seeking the truth or the best possible explanation to a problem. Emulating Socrates by asking clarifying or probing questions to assess what can be known or reasonably be believed and doing it in a disciplined manner. Socratic questioning is at the heart of critical thinking and a number of homework problems draw from R Ennis’s ideas about Socratic or reflective questioning. Socrates said “Wisdom begins in wonder” and wondering is a form of active problem solving in that vast knowledge is brought to the issue to find the best possible solution. Critical thinkers are always seeking a solution that is best for the situation and actively engaging in step-by-step Socratic reasoning. The opposite of truth seeking is bias, mindlessness, one-sidedness and uncritical acceptance of a problem solution, the lazy thinker.

Understanding the logical connection between ideas. Critical thinking is guided by intellectual criteria and standards of quality and, as a result, it has implications and consequences. Well-cultivated critical thinking results in the formulation of opinions and beliefs that are well thought out and logically formed. Critical thinkers can and do make their assumptions explicit and assess them.

Mindful communication, empathy and compassion, and a commitment to lifelong learning. According to the experts, the best way to develop critical thinking is to write. Writing forces you to organize your thoughts, consider alternatives, and build a coherent argument. Writing improves the clarity of your thinking, helps you express thoughts in an organized way, and readies you for your next challenge, which is to participate in reasoned discourse. The next time you are reading an essay, a report, or an editorial, stop and evaluate whether the author has provided enough evidence to support the argument. What types of written assignments will help you develop critical thinking skills? Writing to describe an event, issue, or process will help you recall it accurately. Writing to support a position confirms your ability to recall and organize information, recognize unstated assumptions, evaluate evidence, and identify connections among decision-making concepts. Writing to explore an experience helps you think about how and why you responded as you did and allows you to gain perspective.

4. Implementing Critical Thinking in Nursing Practice

It is necessary to understand and use critical thinking in the nursing practice. Critical thinking is a discipline of mind, in which individuals begin to think in a systematic and disciplined manner. It is a tool to use in complex and difficult situations. It provides a method for the nurse to sort through information and decide what is relevant to a patient’s health. Critical thinking is a back-and-forth process that takes information and integrates it into a means to deciding upon an action. This action, in turn, can have a good or bad effect on the patient. The nurse is then forced to begin the critical thinking process all over again. So, in the end, critical thinking can have a positive outcome on patient care. Most nurses it becomes second nature to perform any nursing procedure without thought to what is being done. Critical thinking is more than thinking and doing. It is about thinking about what you are doing. This skill is not one that is obtained through the years, many nurses do not have to think in their job. The role of the RN has a heavy emphasis on performing procedures and getting the work done. This is fine if the work being done is correct and beneficial to the patient. Without any knowledge and solid understanding about the how and why of the task, it is very easy for errors to be made. Critical thinking is a part of work, it is the base of practice, and it is a competency that is mandatory for RNs.

5. Conclusion

Critical thinking is an essential skill in the nursing practice. Evidence-based practice is a conscientious, problem-solving approach to clinical practice that incorporates the best evidence from well-designed studies, patient values and preferences, and a clinician’s expertise. But we have to be knowledgeable of what evidence-based practice involves to be able to teach it to others, and in many cases, the medical and nursing students of today are not taught how to critically think or to find research and evidence for themselves. They may not be taught it in their general education courses, and the teaching may be limited or it may not be a priority in education. So the learning of the skill is often by tradition, or trial and error, or it is not learned at all. In addition, many practicing nurses are not role models of critical thinking, and they are also unable to critically think or arrive at sound clinical judgment because they have never learned this skill in an educational setting, so they are also unable to teach or provide evidence of good critical thinking. This deprives others in the nursing unit of a chance to learn the skill and it creates a vicious cycle. Any student, clinical instructor, administrator, researcher, or practicing nurse in any setting particularly those that are direct care and involved in policy and procedure decisions in the medical field would benefit from taking a deep and systematic look into critical thinking and what it involves and a course in evidence-based practice. To improve patient care and the result of the nursing and medical care it is essential that we take the next steps and become the best critical thinkers and researchers that we can be. This can only result in improved patient outcomes and changed lives.