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Critical Thinking in Nursing: Tips to Develop the Skill

4 min read • February, 09 2024

Critical thinking in nursing helps caregivers make decisions that lead to optimal patient care. In school, educators and clinical instructors introduced you to critical-thinking examples in nursing. These educators encouraged using learning tools for assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Nurturing these invaluable skills continues once you begin practicing. Critical thinking is essential to providing quality patient care and should continue to grow throughout your nursing career until it becomes second nature. 

What Is Critical Thinking in Nursing?

Critical thinking in nursing involves identifying a problem, determining the best solution, and implementing an effective method to resolve the issue using clinical decision-making skills.

Reflection comes next. Carefully consider whether your actions led to the right solution or if there may have been a better course of action.

Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all treatment method — you must determine what's best for each patient.

How Is Critical Thinking Important for Nurses? 

As a patient's primary contact, a nurse is typically the first to notice changes in their status. One example of critical thinking in nursing is interpreting these changes with an open mind. Make impartial decisions based on evidence rather than opinions. By applying critical-thinking skills to anticipate and understand your patients' needs, you can positively impact their quality of care and outcomes.

Elements of Critical Thinking in Nursing

To assess situations and make informed decisions, nurses must integrate these specific elements into their practice:

Clinical judgment. Prioritize a patient's care needs and make adjustments as changes occur. Gather the necessary information and determine what nursing intervention is needed. Keep in mind that there may be multiple options. Use your critical-thinking skills to interpret and understand the importance of test results and the patient’s clinical presentation, including their vital signs. Then prioritize interventions and anticipate potential complications. 
Patient safety. Recognize deviations from the norm and take action to prevent harm to the patient. Suppose you don't think a change in a patient's medication is appropriate for their treatment. Before giving the medication, question the physician's rationale for the modification to avoid a potential error. 
Communication and collaboration. Ask relevant questions and actively listen to others while avoiding judgment. Promoting a collaborative environment may lead to improved patient outcomes and interdisciplinary communication. 
Problem-solving skills. Practicing your problem-solving skills can improve your critical-thinking skills. Analyze the problem, consider alternate solutions, and implement the most appropriate one. Besides assessing patient conditions, you can apply these skills to other challenges, such as staffing issues .

A diverse group of three (3) nursing students working together on a group project. The female nursing student is seated in the middle and is pointing at the laptop screen while talking with her male classmates.

How to Develop and Apply Critical-Thinking Skills in Nursing

Critical-thinking skills develop as you gain experience and advance in your career. The ability to predict and respond to nursing challenges increases as you expand your knowledge and encounter real-life patient care scenarios outside of what you learned from a textbook. 

Here are five ways to nurture your critical-thinking skills:

Be a lifelong learner. Continuous learning through educational courses and professional development lets you stay current with evidence-based practice . That knowledge helps you make informed decisions in stressful moments.  
Practice reflection. Allow time each day to reflect on successes and areas for improvement. This self-awareness can help identify your strengths, weaknesses, and personal biases to guide your decision-making.
Open your mind. Don't assume you're right. Ask for opinions and consider the viewpoints of other nurses, mentors , and interdisciplinary team members.
Use critical-thinking tools. Structure your thinking by incorporating nursing process steps or a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to organize information, evaluate options, and identify underlying issues.
Be curious. Challenge assumptions by asking questions to ensure current care methods are valid, relevant, and supported by evidence-based practice .

Critical thinking in nursing is invaluable for safe, effective, patient-centered care. You can successfully navigate challenges in the ever-changing health care environment by continually developing and applying these skills.

Images sourced from Getty Images

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The Value of Critical Thinking in Nursing

How Nurses Use Critical Thinking
How to Improve Critical Thinking
Common Mistakes

Some experts describe a person’s ability to question belief systems, test previously held assumptions, and recognize ambiguity as evidence of critical thinking. Others identify specific skills that demonstrate critical thinking, such as the ability to identify problems and biases, infer and draw conclusions, and determine the relevance of information to a situation.

Nicholas McGowan, BSN, RN, CCRN, has been a critical care nurse for 10 years in neurological trauma nursing and cardiovascular and surgical intensive care. He defines critical thinking as “necessary for problem-solving and decision-making by healthcare providers. It is a process where people use a logical process to gather information and take purposeful action based on their evaluation.”

“This cognitive process is vital for excellent patient outcomes because it requires that nurses make clinical decisions utilizing a variety of different lenses, such as fairness, ethics, and evidence-based practice,” he says.

How Do Nurses Use Critical Thinking?

Successful nurses think beyond their assigned tasks to deliver excellent care for their patients. For example, a nurse might be tasked with changing a wound dressing, delivering medications, and monitoring vital signs during a shift. However, it requires critical thinking skills to understand how a difference in the wound may affect blood pressure and temperature and when those changes may require immediate medical intervention.

Nurses care for many patients during their shifts. Strong critical thinking skills are crucial when juggling various tasks so patient safety and care are not compromised.

Jenna Liphart Rhoads, Ph.D., RN, is a nurse educator with a clinical background in surgical-trauma adult critical care, where critical thinking and action were essential to the safety of her patients. She talks about examples of critical thinking in a healthcare environment, saying:

“Nurses must also critically think to determine which patient to see first, which medications to pass first, and the order in which to organize their day caring for patients. Patient conditions and environments are continually in flux, therefore nurses must constantly be evaluating and re-evaluating information they gather (assess) to keep their patients safe.”

The COVID-19 pandemic created hospital care situations where critical thinking was essential. It was expected of the nurses on the general floor and in intensive care units. Crystal Slaughter is an advanced practice nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) and a nurse educator. She observed critical thinking throughout the pandemic as she watched intensive care nurses test the boundaries of previously held beliefs and master providing excellent care while preserving resources.

“Nurses are at the patient’s bedside and are often the first ones to detect issues. Then, the nurse needs to gather the appropriate subjective and objective data from the patient in order to frame a concise problem statement or question for the physician or advanced practice provider,” she explains.

Top 5 Ways Nurses Can Improve Critical Thinking Skills

We asked our experts for the top five strategies nurses can use to purposefully improve their critical thinking skills.

Case-Based Approach

Slaughter is a fan of the case-based approach to learning critical thinking skills.

In much the same way a detective would approach a mystery, she mentors her students to ask questions about the situation that help determine the information they have and the information they need. “What is going on? What information am I missing? Can I get that information? What does that information mean for the patient? How quickly do I need to act?”

Consider forming a group and working with a mentor who can guide you through case studies. This provides you with a learner-centered environment in which you can analyze data to reach conclusions and develop communication, analytical, and collaborative skills with your colleagues.

Practice Self-Reflection

Rhoads is an advocate for self-reflection. “Nurses should reflect upon what went well or did not go well in their workday and identify areas of improvement or situations in which they should have reached out for help.” Self-reflection is a form of personal analysis to observe and evaluate situations and how you responded.

This gives you the opportunity to discover mistakes you may have made and to establish new behavior patterns that may help you make better decisions. You likely already do this. For example, after a disagreement or contentious meeting, you may go over the conversation in your head and think about ways you could have responded.

It’s important to go through the decisions you made during your day and determine if you should have gotten more information before acting or if you could have asked better questions.

During self-reflection, you may try thinking about the problem in reverse. This may not give you an immediate answer, but can help you see the situation with fresh eyes and a new perspective. How would the outcome of the day be different if you planned the dressing change in reverse with the assumption you would find a wound infection? How does this information change your plan for the next dressing change?

Develop a Questioning Mind

McGowan has learned that “critical thinking is a self-driven process. It isn’t something that can simply be taught. Rather, it is something that you practice and cultivate with experience. To develop critical thinking skills, you have to be curious and inquisitive.”

To gain critical thinking skills, you must undergo a purposeful process of learning strategies and using them consistently so they become a habit. One of those strategies is developing a questioning mind. Meaningful questions lead to useful answers and are at the core of critical thinking .

However, learning to ask insightful questions is a skill you must develop. Faced with staff and nursing shortages , declining patient conditions, and a rising number of tasks to be completed, it may be difficult to do more than finish the task in front of you. Yet, questions drive active learning and train your brain to see the world differently and take nothing for granted.

It is easier to practice questioning in a non-stressful, quiet environment until it becomes a habit. Then, in the moment when your patient’s care depends on your ability to ask the right questions, you can be ready to rise to the occasion.

Practice Self-Awareness in the Moment

Critical thinking in nursing requires self-awareness and being present in the moment. During a hectic shift, it is easy to lose focus as you struggle to finish every task needed for your patients. Passing medication, changing dressings, and hanging intravenous lines all while trying to assess your patient’s mental and emotional status can affect your focus and how you manage stress as a nurse .

Staying present helps you to be proactive in your thinking and anticipate what might happen, such as bringing extra lubricant for a catheterization or extra gloves for a dressing change.

By staying present, you are also better able to practice active listening. This raises your assessment skills and gives you more information as a basis for your interventions and decisions.

Use a Process

As you are developing critical thinking skills, it can be helpful to use a process. For example:

Ask questions.
Gather information.
Implement a strategy.
Evaluate the results.
Consider another point of view.

These are the fundamental steps of the nursing process (assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate). The last step will help you overcome one of the common problems of critical thinking in nursing — personal bias.

Common Critical Thinking Pitfalls in Nursing

Your brain uses a set of processes to make inferences about what’s happening around you. In some cases, your unreliable biases can lead you down the wrong path. McGowan places personal biases at the top of his list of common pitfalls to critical thinking in nursing.

“We all form biases based on our own experiences. However, nurses have to learn to separate their own biases from each patient encounter to avoid making false assumptions that may interfere with their care,” he says. Successful critical thinkers accept they have personal biases and learn to look out for them. Awareness of your biases is the first step to understanding if your personal bias is contributing to the wrong decision.

New nurses may be overwhelmed by the transition from academics to clinical practice, leading to a task-oriented mindset and a common new nurse mistake ; this conflicts with critical thinking skills.

“Consider a patient whose blood pressure is low but who also needs to take a blood pressure medication at a scheduled time. A task-oriented nurse may provide the medication without regard for the patient’s blood pressure because medication administration is a task that must be completed,” Slaughter says. “A nurse employing critical thinking skills would address the low blood pressure, review the patient’s blood pressure history and trends, and potentially call the physician to discuss whether medication should be withheld.”

Fear and pride may also stand in the way of developing critical thinking skills. Your belief system and worldview provide comfort and guidance, but this can impede your judgment when you are faced with an individual whose belief system or cultural practices are not the same as yours. Fear or pride may prevent you from pursuing a line of questioning that would benefit the patient. Nurses with strong critical thinking skills exhibit:

Learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of other nurses
Look forward to integrating changes that improve patient care
Treat each patient interaction as a part of a whole
Evaluate new events based on past knowledge and adjust decision-making as needed
Solve problems with their colleagues
Are self-confident
Acknowledge biases and seek to ensure these do not impact patient care

An Essential Skill for All Nurses

Critical thinking in nursing protects patient health and contributes to professional development and career advancement. Administrative and clinical nursing leaders are required to have strong critical thinking skills to be successful in their positions.

By using the strategies in this guide during your daily life and in your nursing role, you can intentionally improve your critical thinking abilities and be rewarded with better patient outcomes and potential career advancement.

Frequently Asked Questions About Critical Thinking in Nursing

How are critical thinking skills utilized in nursing practice.

Nursing practice utilizes critical thinking skills to provide the best care for patients. Often, the patient’s cause of pain or health issue is not immediately clear. Nursing professionals need to use their knowledge to determine what might be causing distress, collect vital information, and make quick decisions on how best to handle the situation.

How does nursing school develop critical thinking skills?

Nursing school gives students the knowledge professional nurses use to make important healthcare decisions for their patients. Students learn about diseases, anatomy, and physiology, and how to improve the patient’s overall well-being. Learners also participate in supervised clinical experiences, where they practice using their critical thinking skills to make decisions in professional settings.

Do only nurse managers use critical thinking?

Nurse managers certainly use critical thinking skills in their daily duties. But when working in a health setting, anyone giving care to patients uses their critical thinking skills. Everyone — including licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, and advanced nurse practitioners —needs to flex their critical thinking skills to make potentially life-saving decisions.

Meet Our Contributors

Crystal Slaughter, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, CNE

Crystal Slaughter is a core faculty member in Walden University’s RN-to-BSN program. She has worked as an advanced practice registered nurse with an intensivist/pulmonary service to provide care to hospitalized ICU patients and in inpatient palliative care. Slaughter’s clinical interests lie in nursing education and evidence-based practice initiatives to promote improving patient care.

Jenna Liphart Rhoads, Ph.D., RN

Jenna Liphart Rhoads is a nurse educator and freelance author and editor. She earned a BSN from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing and an MS in nursing education from Northern Illinois University. Rhoads earned a Ph.D. in education with a concentration in nursing education from Capella University where she researched the moderation effects of emotional intelligence on the relationship of stress and GPA in military veteran nursing students. Her clinical background includes surgical-trauma adult critical care, interventional radiology procedures, and conscious sedation in adult and pediatric populations.

Nicholas McGowan, BSN, RN, CCRN

Nicholas McGowan is a critical care nurse with 10 years of experience in cardiovascular, surgical intensive care, and neurological trauma nursing. McGowan also has a background in education, leadership, and public speaking. He is an online learner who builds on his foundation of critical care nursing, which he uses directly at the bedside where he still practices. In addition, McGowan hosts an online course at Critical Care Academy where he helps nurses achieve critical care (CCRN) certification.

What is Critical Thinking in Nursing? (With Examples, Importance, & How to Improve)

Successful nursing requires learning several skills used to communicate with patients, families, and healthcare teams. One of the most essential skills nurses must develop is the ability to demonstrate critical thinking. If you are a nurse, perhaps you have asked if there is a way to know how to improve critical thinking in nursing? As you read this article, you will learn what critical thinking in nursing is and why it is important. You will also find 18 simple tips to improve critical thinking in nursing and sample scenarios about how to apply critical thinking in your nursing career.

What is Critical Thinking in Nursing?

4 reasons why critical thinking is so important in nursing, 1. critical thinking skills will help you anticipate and understand changes in your patient’s condition., 2. with strong critical thinking skills, you can make decisions about patient care that is most favorable for the patient and intended outcomes., 3. strong critical thinking skills in nursing can contribute to innovative improvements and professional development., 4. critical thinking skills in nursing contribute to rational decision-making, which improves patient outcomes., what are the 8 important attributes of excellent critical thinking in nursing, 1. the ability to interpret information:, 2. independent thought:, 3. impartiality:, 4. intuition:, 5. problem solving:, 6. flexibility:, 7. perseverance:, 8. integrity:, examples of poor critical thinking vs excellent critical thinking in nursing, 1. scenario: patient/caregiver interactions, poor critical thinking:, excellent critical thinking:, 2. scenario: improving patient care quality, 3. scenario: interdisciplinary collaboration, 4. scenario: precepting nursing students and other nurses, how to improve critical thinking in nursing, 1. demonstrate open-mindedness., 2. practice self-awareness., 3. avoid judgment., 4. eliminate personal biases., 5. do not be afraid to ask questions., 6. find an experienced mentor., 7. join professional nursing organizations., 8. establish a routine of self-reflection., 9. utilize the chain of command., 10. determine the significance of data and decide if it is sufficient for decision-making., 11. volunteer for leadership positions or opportunities., 12. use previous facts and experiences to help develop stronger critical thinking skills in nursing., 13. establish priorities., 14. trust your knowledge and be confident in your abilities., 15. be curious about everything., 16. practice fair-mindedness., 17. learn the value of intellectual humility., 18. never stop learning., 4 consequences of poor critical thinking in nursing, 1. the most significant risk associated with poor critical thinking in nursing is inadequate patient care., 2. failure to recognize changes in patient status:, 3. lack of effective critical thinking in nursing can impact the cost of healthcare., 4. lack of critical thinking skills in nursing can cause a breakdown in communication within the interdisciplinary team., useful resources to improve critical thinking in nursing, youtube videos, my final thoughts, frequently asked questions answered by our expert, 1. will lack of critical thinking impact my nursing career, 2. usually, how long does it take for a nurse to improve their critical thinking skills, 3. do all types of nurses require excellent critical thinking skills, 4. how can i assess my critical thinking skills in nursing.

• Ask relevant questions • Justify opinions • Address and evaluate multiple points of view • Explain assumptions and reasons related to your choice of patient care options

5. Can I Be a Nurse If I Cannot Think Critically?

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Why Critical Thinking Skills in Nursing Matter (And What You Can Do to Develop Them)

By Hannah Meinke on 07/05/2021

The nursing profession tends to attract those who have natural nurturing abilities, a desire to help others, and a knack for science or anatomy. But there is another important skill that successful nurses share, and it's often overlooked: the ability to think critically.

Identifying a problem, determining the best solution and choosing the most effective method to solve the program are all parts of the critical thinking process. After executing the plan, critical thinkers reflect on the situation to figure out if it was effective and if it could have been done better. As you can see, critical thinking is a transferable skill that can be leveraged in several facets of your life.

But why is it so important for nurses to use? We spoke with several experts to learn why critical thinking skills in nursing are so crucial to the field, the patients and the success of a nurse. Keep reading to learn why and to see how you can improve this skill.

Why are critical thinking skills in nursing important?

You learn all sorts of practical skills in nursing school, like flawlessly dressing a wound, taking vitals like a pro or starting an IV without flinching. But without the ability to think clearly and make rational decisions, those skills alone won’t get you very far—you need to think critically as well.

“Nurses are faced with decision-making situations in patient care, and each decision they make impacts patient outcomes. Nursing critical thinking skills drive the decision-making process and impact the quality of care provided,” says Georgia Vest, DNP, RN and senior dean of nursing at the Rasmussen University School of Nursing.

For example, nurses often have to make triage decisions in the emergency room. With an overflow of patients and limited staff, they must evaluate which patients should be treated first. While they rely on their training to measure vital signs and level of consciousness, they must use critical thinking to analyze the consequences of delaying treatment in each case.

No matter which department they work in, nurses use critical thinking in their everyday routines. When you’re faced with decisions that could ultimately mean life or death, the ability to analyze a situation and come to a solution separates the good nurses from the great ones.

How are critical thinking skills acquired in nursing school?

Nursing school offers a multitude of material to master and upholds high expectations for your performance. But in order to learn in a way that will actually equip you to become an excellent nurse, you have to go beyond just memorizing terms. You need to apply an analytical mindset to understanding course material.

One way for students to begin implementing critical thinking is by applying the nursing process to their line of thought, according to Vest. The process includes five steps: assessment, diagnosis, outcomes/planning, implementation and evaluation.

“One of the fundamental principles for developing critical thinking is the nursing process,” Vest says. “It needs to be a lived experience in the learning environment.”

Nursing students often find that there are multiple correct solutions to a problem. The key to nursing is to select the “the most correct” solution—one that will be the most efficient and best fit for that particular situation. Using the nursing process, students can narrow down their options to select the best one.

When answering questions in class or on exams, challenge yourself to go beyond simply selecting an answer. Start to think about why that answer is correct and what the possible consequences might be. Simply memorizing the material won’t translate well into a real-life nursing setting.

How can you develop your critical thinking skills as a nurse?

As you know, learning doesn’t stop with graduation from nursing school. Good nurses continue to soak up knowledge and continually improve throughout their careers. Likewise, they can continue to build their critical thinking skills in the workplace with each shift.

“To improve your critical thinking, pick the brains of the experienced nurses around you to help you get the mindset,” suggests Eileen Sollars, RN ADN, AAS. Understanding how a seasoned nurse came to a conclusion will provide you with insights you may not have considered and help you develop your own approach.

The chain of command can also help nurses develop critical thinking skills in the workplace.

“Another aid in the development of critical thinking I cannot stress enough is the utilization of the chain of command,” Vest says. “In the chain of command, the nurse always reports up to the nurse manager and down to the patient care aide. Peers and fellow healthcare professionals are not in the chain of command. Clear understanding and proper utilization of the chain of command is essential in the workplace.”

How are critical thinking skills applied in nursing?

“Nurses use critical thinking in every single shift,” Sollars says. “Critical thinking in nursing is a paramount skill necessary in the care of your patients. Nowadays there is more emphasis on machines and technical aspects of nursing, but critical thinking plays an important role. You need it to understand and anticipate changes in your patient's condition.”

As a nurse, you will inevitably encounter a situation in which there are multiple solutions or treatments, and you'll be tasked with determining the solution that will provide the best possible outcome for your patient. You must be able to quickly and confidently assess situations and make the best care decision in each unique scenario. It is in situations like these that your critical thinking skills will direct your decision-making.

Do critical thinking skills matter more for nursing leadership and management positions?

While critical thinking skills are essential at every level of nursing, leadership and management positions require a new level of this ability.

When it comes to managing other nurses, working with hospital administration, and dealing with budgets, schedules or policies, critical thinking can make the difference between a smooth-running or struggling department. At the leadership level, nurses need to see the big picture and understand how each part works together.

A nurse manager , for example, might have to deal with being short-staffed. This could require coaching nurses on how to prioritize their workload, organize their tasks and rely on strategies to keep from burning out. A lead nurse with strong critical thinking skills knows how to fully understand the problem and all its implications.

How will patient care be affected by having fewer staff?
What kind of strain will be on the nurses?

Their solutions will take into account all their resources and possible roadblocks.

What work can be delegated to nursing aids?
Are there any nurses willing to come in on their day off?
Are nurses from other departments available to provide coverage?

They’ll weigh the pros and cons of each solution and choose those with the greatest potential.

Will calling in an off-duty nurse contribute to burnout?
Was this situation a one-off occurrence or something that could require an additional hire in the long term?

Finally, they will look back on the issue and evaluate what worked and what didn’t. With critical thinking skills like this, a lead nurse can affect their entire staff, patient population and department for the better.

Beyond thinking

You’re now well aware of the importance of critical thinking skills in nursing. Even if you already use critical thinking skills every day, you can still work toward strengthening that skill. The more you practice it, the better you will become and the more naturally it will come to you.

If you’re interested in critical thinking because you’d like to move up in your current nursing job, consider how a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) could help you develop the necessary leadership skills.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in July 2012. It has since been updated to include information relevant to 2021.

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Hannah Meinke

Posted in General Nursing

nursing education

Developing Critical-Thinking Skills in Student Nurses

April 8, 2020

View all blog posts under Articles | View all blog posts under Master of Science in Nursing

Nurse educators should ensure that students can incorporate critical thinking skills into everyday practice.

Critical thinking skills for nurses include problem-solving and the ability to evaluate situations and make recommendations. Done correctly, critical thinking results in positive patient outcomes, Srinidhi Lakhanigam, an RN-BSN, said in a Minority Nurse article.

“Critical thinking is the result of a combination of innate curiosity; a strong foundation of theoretical knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, disease processes, and normal and abnormal lab values; and an orientation for thinking on your feet,” Lakhanigam said in “Critical Thinking: A Vital Trait for Nurses.” “Combining this with a strong passion for patient care will produce positive patient outcomes. The critical thinking nurse has an open mind and draws heavily upon evidence-based research and past clinical experiences to solve patient problems.”

Since the 1980s, critical thinking has become a widely discussed component of nurse education, and a significant factor for National League for Nursing (NLN) nursing school accreditation. Nursing school curriculum is expected to teach students how to analyze situations and develop solutions based on high-order thinking skills. For nurse educators who are responsible for undergraduate and graduate learners , teaching critical thinking skills is crucial to the future of healthcare.

Characteristics of Critical Thinkers

A landmark 1990 study found critical thinkers demonstrate similar characteristics. The Delphi Report by the American Philosophical Association (APA) identified these cognitive skills common to critical thinkers:

Interpretation

Critical thinkers are able to categorize and decode the significance and meaning of experiences, situations, data, events, and rules, among others.

Critical thinkers can examine varying ideas, statements, questions, descriptions and concepts and analyze the reasoning.

Critical thinkers consider relevant information from evidence to draw conclusions.

Explanation

Critical thinkers state the results of their reasoning through sound arguments.

Self-regulation

Critical thinkers monitor their cognitive abilities to reflect on their motivations and correct their mistakes.

In addition, critical thinkers are well-informed and concerned about a wide variety of topics. They are flexible to alternative ideas and opinions and are honest when facing personal biases. They have a willingness to reconsider their views when change is warranted.

In nursing, critical thinking and clinical reasoning are inextricably linked, columnist Margaret McCartney said in the BMJ . While experienced nurses are able to make sound clinical judgements quickly and accurately, novice nurses find the process more difficult, McCartney said in “Nurses must be allowed to exercise professional judgment.”

“Therefore, education must begin at the undergraduate level to develop students’ critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills,” McCartney said. “Clinical reasoning is a learnt skill requiring determination and active engagement in deliberate practice design to improve performance. In order to acquire such skills, students need to develop critical thinking ability, as well as an understanding of how judgments and decisions are reached in complex healthcare environments.”

Teaching Critical Thinking to Nurses

In 2015, a study in the Journal of College Teaching & Learning found a positive correlation between critical thinking skills and success in nursing school. The study said, “It is the responsibility of nurse educators to ensure that nursing graduates have developed the critical thinking abilities necessary to practice the profession of nursing.”

To help new nurses develop critical-thinking skills, the professional development resources provider Lippincott Solutions recommended nurse educators focus on the following in the classroom:

Promoting interactions

Collaboration and learning in group settings help nursing students achieve a greater understanding of the content.

Asking open-ended questions

Open-ended questions encourage students to think about possible answers and respond without fear of giving a “wrong” answer.

Providing time for students to reflect on questions

Student nurses should be encouraged to deliberate and ponder questions and possible responses and understand that perhaps the immediate answer is not always the best answer.

Teaching for skills to transfer

Educators should provide opportunities for student nurses to see how their skills can apply to various situations and experiences.

In the Minority Nurse article, Lakhanigam also said students who thirst for knowledge and understanding make the best critical thinkers. The author said novice nurses who are open to constructive criticism can learn valuable lessons that will translate into successful practice.

At the same time, however, critical thinking skills alone will not ensure success in the profession , Lakhanigam said in the article. Other factors count as well.

“A combination of open-mindedness, a solid foundational knowledge of disease processes, and continuous learning, coupled with a compassionate heart and great clinical preceptors, can ensure that every new nurse will be a critical thinker positively affecting outcomes at the bedside,” Lakhanigam said.

Another element that ensures success as both an educator and student is earning a nursing degree from a school that focuses on student accomplishments. At Duquesne University’s School of Nursing, students learn best practices in healthcare. The online master’s in nursing program prepares educators to train the next generation of nurses.

About Duquesne University’s online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Program

Duquesne University’s MSN curriculum for the Nursing Education and Faculty Role program focuses on preparing registered nurses (RNs) for careers as nurse educators. Students enrolled in the online master’s in nursing program learn the skills needed in the classroom and for clinical training. RNs learn how to empower student nurses to work to their fullest potential.

The MSN program is presented entirely online, so RNs can pursue their career goals and continue personal responsibilities simultaneously. Duquesne University has been recognized for excellence in education as a U.S. News & World Report Best Online Graduate Nursing Program and best among Roman Catholic universities in the nation.

For more information, contact Duquesne University today.

Critical Thinking: A Vital Trait for Nurses: Minority Nurse

Consensus Descriptions of Core CT Skills And Sub-Skills: Delphi

Margaret McCartney: Nurses must be allowed to exercise professional judgment: BMJ

Predicting Success in Nursing Programs: Journal of College Teaching & Learning

Turning New Nurses Into Critical Thinkers: Wolters Kluwer

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Harnessing the power of critical thinking can be the key to becoming a successful and competent nurse.

Developing and refining your critical thinking skills is crucial as you embark on your nursing journey. By doing so, you’ll enhance your ability to provide high-quality care, advance your professional growth, and contribute to the ever-evolving nursing field.

What is critical thinking in nursing?

Critical thinking is an essential cognitive process that enables nurses to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to make informed decisions. In the context of nursing, it involves observing, interpreting, and responding to patient needs effectively.

Critical thinking allows nurses to go beyond memorized facts and apply logical reasoning to address patient problems holistically.

As a nurse, you’ll encounter multifaceted healthcare scenarios, each presenting its unique challenges. Critical thinking enables you to approach these situations systematically, evaluate the available data, identify relevant factors, and understand the patient’s condition comprehensively.

By employing critical thinking skills, you can differentiate between urgent and non-urgent issues, prioritize care, anticipate potential complications, and adapt your interventions accordingly. This analytical approach helps minimize errors, promote patient safety, and achieve positive patient outcomes.

Why is critical thinking important in nursing?

Critical thinking serves as the backbone of nursing practice. You’ll encounter various uncertainties, changing conditions, and ethical dilemmas as a nurse. Developing critical thinking abilities empowers you to navigate these challenges confidently and provide optimal patient care.

In nursing, critical thinking is crucial for the following reasons:

Enhanced Clinical Judgment: Critical thinking enables assessing complex situations, analyzing available information, and drawing logical conclusions. It enhances your clinical judgment, allowing you to make informed decisions based on the best available evidence and expert consensus.
Effective Problem Solving: Nursing involves encountering problems and finding effective solutions. Critical thinking equips you with the tools to identify underlying issues, explore alternative options, and implement interventions that address the root cause of the problem.
Patient Advocacy: Critical thinking empowers you to advocate for your patients’ needs. By actively engaging in critical inquiry, you can challenge assumptions, question policies, and promote patient-centered care.
Adapting to Changing Environments: Healthcare is constantly evolving, with new research findings, technologies, and treatments emerging regularly. Developing critical thinking skills helps you adapt to these changes, ensuring you stay updated and deliver evidence-based care.

Examples of Critical Thinking in Nursing

Let’s dive into some real-life examples that highlight how critical thinking plays a crucial role in nursing practice:

Prioritization: Imagine working in an emergency department where multiple patients arrive simultaneously with varying degrees of severity. Utilizing critical thinking, you can assess each patient’s condition, prioritize care based on the urgency of their needs, and allocate resources effectively.
Medication Administration: When administering medication, critical thinking prompts you to cross-check the prescribed dose, assess potential drug interactions or allergies, and evaluate the patient’s response to the medication. This proactive approach ensures patient safety and minimizes medication errors.
Ethical Dilemmas: Critical thinking helps you navigate complex ethical dilemmas by analyzing the values at stake, considering legal and ethical principles, and collaborating with the healthcare team to make decisions that align with the patient’s best interests.

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Critical thinking in nursing clinical practice, education and research: From attitudes to virtue

Affiliations.

1 Department of Fundamental Care and Medical Surgital Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Nursing, Consolidated Research Group Quantitative Psychology (2017-SGR-269), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
2 Department of Fundamental Care and Medical Surgital Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Nursing, Consolidated Research Group on Gender, Identity and Diversity (2017-SGR-1091), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
3 Department of Fundamental Care and Medical Surgital Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
4 Multidisciplinary Nursing Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Vall d'Hebron Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
PMID: 33029860
DOI: 10.1111/nup.12332

Critical thinking is a complex, dynamic process formed by attitudes and strategic skills, with the aim of achieving a specific goal or objective. The attitudes, including the critical thinking attitudes, constitute an important part of the idea of good care, of the good professional. It could be said that they become a virtue of the nursing profession. In this context, the ethics of virtue is a theoretical framework that becomes essential for analyse the critical thinking concept in nursing care and nursing science. Because the ethics of virtue consider how cultivating virtues are necessary to understand and justify the decisions and guide the actions. Based on selective analysis of the descriptive and empirical literature that addresses conceptual review of critical thinking, we conducted an analysis of this topic in the settings of clinical practice, training and research from the virtue ethical framework. Following JBI critical appraisal checklist for text and opinion papers, we argue the need for critical thinking as an essential element for true excellence in care and that it should be encouraged among professionals. The importance of developing critical thinking skills in education is well substantiated; however, greater efforts are required to implement educational strategies directed at developing critical thinking in students and professionals undergoing training, along with measures that demonstrate their success. Lastly, we show that critical thinking constitutes a fundamental component in the research process, and can improve research competencies in nursing. We conclude that future research and actions must go further in the search for new evidence and open new horizons, to ensure a positive effect on clinical practice, patient health, student education and the growth of nursing science.

Keywords: critical thinking; critical thinking attitudes; nurse education; nursing care; nursing research.

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Introduction to Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning

In the dynamic and demanding field of healthcare, nurses play a pivotal role in ensuring the well-being and recovery of patients. To excel in this profession, nurses must possess a crucial skill set, and at the core of that skill set lies critical thinking. In this course, Nurse Kelly will walk you through strategies for both critical thinking and clinical reasoning that will support you while you are in nursing school and into your career as a nurse.

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Familiarize yourself with the necessary attitudes for effective critical thinking
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Critical thinking skills for back to school

Davis, Charlotte BSN, RN, CCRN

Charlotte Davis is a CCU/CVICU Clinical Nurse at Heritage Medical Center in Shelbyville, Tenn., and a Clinical Nurse/Charge Nurse/CCRN Review Program Coordinator at Alvin C. York VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. She is also a Nursing made Incredibly Easy! Editorial Advisory Board Member.

The author has disclosed that she has no financial relationships related to this article.

Thinking about returning to school or have you recently returned? If so, then you need to hone your critical thinking skills. These are skills you use every day in your practice—the purposeful, disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to our thoughts, assessments, or interventions.

In nursing, critical thinking is a logical and multifaceted process that guides our clinical decision making. It's a systematic and logical approach that encourages us to question our current nursing interventions through logical reasoning and reflection. Critical thinking requires us to ask: “Is this the best way to perform this intervention? Or is this the most effective intervention for my patient or my work area?”

So how can you put these skills to work when going back to school? Let's take a closer look.

The crucial seven

There are seven critical thinking skills that all nurses utilize in their professional roles.

Our job roles call for us to analyze objective and subjective data. As clinical nurses, we utilize the critical thinking skill of objectively analyzing the efficacy of new evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions as we incorporate them into our daily practice.

When returning to school, use your analytical skills to compare each school's curriculum and costs to ensure they meet your professional goals.

Applying standards

All members of the healthcare team should utilize their intellectual integrity and apply professional and organizational standards of care into their daily practice. As nurses, we apply professional standards to ensure that we remain proficient and competent in our job roles. Common places to search for professional standards are your state board of nursing, the American Nurses Association, or the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Professional standards are the basic guidelines and principles around which we base our interventions and care plans. They help us ensure clinically competent, skillful, and safe care.

Utilize your critical thinking skill of applying standards when evaluating undergraduate and graduate programs to ensure they're accredited by a widely accepted governing body such as the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Discriminating data

We must discriminate data and decide if an intervention has been effective or if it's safe and appropriate for our patient population or clinical work area. We're inundated with extensive data from pharmaceutical companies, research trials, governing bodies, and scholarly journals. We must distinguish the potential risks and benefits associated with any procedure, intervention, or treatment that might resolve a system failure, improve a patient outcome, or improve the work environment. As clinical nurses, we routinely discriminate data to identify any potential risks associated with a new intervention before we implement it into our daily practice.

When returning to school, you'll discriminate data as you evaluate each nursing program's curriculum, costs, reputation, and retention rates to determine what's the best fit to help meet your long-term professional goals.

Seeking information

Inquiry is an eagerness to know by seeking knowledge and understanding through observation, review, analysis, and thoughtful questioning to explore possibilities and effective alternatives. Inquisitiveness is a thirst for knowledge and understanding through observation and targeted questioning with a goal of identifying the possibility of more effective or efficient alternatives. You can foster your sense of inquiry by exploring new EBP guidelines and clinical research outcomes within your specialty area.

Nurses have always sought more efficient ways to provide safe patient care, resolve delays in care delivery, and improve clinical outcomes and work areas. Seeking information exposes us to innovative interventions, procedures, or practices that can enhance our professional nursing role. Begin your journey of attaining an advanced degree by first seeking information on what job role you'd like to have and determining the educational requirements that are needed. Nursing is a highly specialized field with limitless possibilities that range from positions such as certified registered nurse anesthetist to advanced practice nurse practitioner to executive leadership positions.

Logical reasoning

Logical reasoning allows us to interpret conclusions that are supported by evidence. We can assess the efficacy of nursing interventions and delivery systems, along with identifying patterns and predicting likely outcomes. Systematic processing of information is a characteristic of logical reasoning to identify trends and outcomes associated with specific interventions, diagnoses, symptoms, or behaviors.

You can utilize your logical reasoning skills to resolve barriers that may impair your ability to return to school, such as childcare arrangements or applying for scholarships. If you struggle with successfully navigating or completing online in-services, you might utilize your logical reasoning skills to determine that your education action plan may be most effective if delivered in a classroom versus an online setting.

Envisioning a plan

We must be forward thinkers and envision a plan for our patients, clinical work areas, professional projects, and careers to meet the expectations of tomorrow. Formulating a plan requires us to utilize the nursing process steps of assessment, diagnosis or problem identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation. This is a step-by-step process with a clear goal or objective.

When contemplating returning to school, envision a plan on how to realistically attain that goal. This plan should include how to maintain your work, family, and school obligations. After you begin to formulate your plan, you can resolve barriers to meeting your goal.

Transforming knowledge

It's vital to the nursing profession that we transform our knowledge to meet the growing complexities of our patients' healthcare needs. There's an evolving need for nurses to utilize the knowledge we acquire and function as transformational leaders who create positive change and can translate the vision, goals, and purpose of our organization and profession to peers and staff on the unit and organizational level.

As our profession continues to grow in both clinical practice and national recognition, we must be open to exploring innovative, safe alternatives to all aspects of our nursing practice. When you seek additional education, you expand your current knowledge base and challenge your old thought processes. We must continue to utilize our newly acquired knowledge and insight to formulate creative solutions to improve our current practices and resolve barriers that impact the nursing profession and our healthcare team, facility, and patient population.

Let's get critical

As nurses, we utilize our critical thinking skills as we collect and analyze data while providing direct care to patients, as well as evaluate qualitative or quantitative research studies to decide if interventions may be applicable to our patient population. We can use the same skills to attain a professional goal, such as specialty certification or an advanced nursing degree (see Using your critical thinking skills to choose a program ).

Critical thinking inspires us to thoroughly evaluate all aspects of a problem and acquire an adequate knowledge base to help us see all of the possible solutions. Enhancing your critical thinking skills can help you develop a clear education action plan to achieve your professional goals. Let's get started!

cheat sheet

Seven critical thinking skills.

Using your critical thinking skills to choose a program

Analyze —Gather information on the schools you're considering, such as their retention and graduation rates. Ask questions such as how long have their instructors been educating nurses, what's the curriculum, and what's the duration of classes.
Apply standards —Is your targeted school accredited? Check with the school or accrediting body to determine the length of time for which the school is accredited. Common accrediting organizations include the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, and the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
Discriminate data —Multiple factors may need to be evaluated when contemplating returning for an undergraduate or graduate nursing degree, such as cost, convenience, and the quality of the curriculum.
Seek information —Consider attending an onsite tour of the school you're considering. Preschedule an appointment with the admissions department, financial aid, program coordinator, or curriculum consultant for your perspective nursing program.
Logical reasoning —Look at each program to see which one fits best with your lifestyle and learning needs. Although many nurses prefer to take online classes for convenience, live classes may better meet your learning style. Also, many organizations offer to pay for your tuition, but you must typically be committed to staying at the organization for a set number of years or you'll have to repay tuition and expenses.
Envision a plan —You're in charge of your career success. You must envision a plan on how you can attain your degree and apply your energy to make that dream happen. It can be challenging to balance your home, work, and educational obligations to plan for a better, more rewarding career in the future. You can do this!
Transform knowledge —By starting on your journey to attaining your targeted nursing degree, you'll evolve into a leader within your organization. As you progress though each class, you're one step closer to your dream job and changing the lives of many patients and peers along the way.

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How To Critically Think (Nursing)

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There are 2 parts to critical thinking: 1. Connecting the dots with everything you’re learning 2. Planning ahead

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Curriculum framework to facilitate critical thinking skills of undergraduate nursing students: A cooperative inquiry approach

Christian makafui boso.

1 Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town South Africa

2 School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast Ghana

Anita S. van der Merwe

Janet gross.

3 Peace Corps Liberia, Mother Patern College of Health Sciences, Stella Maris Polytechnic, Monrovia Liberia

Associated Data

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Critical thinking (CT) is vital in assisting nurses to function efficiently in the ever‐changing health care environment. A CT‐based curriculum framework provides the impetus necessary to drive the acquisition of CT skills of students. Yet, there is no known CT‐based framework contextualized to developing countries where seniority tradition is a norm. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a CT‐based curriculum framework to facilitate the development of CT skills of nursing students in developing countries.

Cooperative inquiry.

Using purposive sampling, 11 participants comprising students, educators and preceptors developed a CT‐based curriculum framework.

Findings were organized into a framework illustrating interconnected concepts required to foster CT skills of nursing students. These concepts include authentic student–facilitator partnership, a facilitator that makes a difference; a learner that is free to question and encouraged to reflect; a conducive and participatory learning environment; curriculum renewal processes and contextual realities.

1. INTRODUCTION

Nurses in today's volatile and complex health care environment need to be able to critically appraise information when giving care (Dozier et al., 2021 ; Whiteman et al., 2021 ). Nursing regulatory bodies worldwide such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana ( 2015 ) and the South African Nursing Council ( 2014 ) recognize critical thinking (CT) as crucial for nurses. These bodies require that nursing curricula promote CT skills of students (Dozier et al., 2021 ; Gholami et al., 2016 ). The rationale is that individuals with CT skills are potentially able to make good clinical judgements (Dozier et al., 2021 ; Gholami et al., 2016 ) which may lead to good patient outcomes (Ward‐Smith, 2020 ).

Critical thinking‐based curricula adopt learning outcomes, instructional methods and assessment approaches that are grounded on the principles of CT. Such CT‐based curricula create a participatory and democratic learning environment for students. Students will be empowered if they are allowed to take risks, encouraged to make inputs, permitted to share their opinions and if their mistakes are rectified with dignity (Raymond et al., 2017 ). Thus, as consistent with Billings & Halstead ( 2005 ) view, a curriculum should aim at enhancing active learning and the student–faculty interaction (as cited in Billings & Halstead, 2005 ). Learning environments where divergent views are suppressed (Raymond et al., 2017 ), and the educator is seen as the authority of information (Boso & Gross, 2015 ) do not promote CT in students.

A considerable number of reforms in higher education have stressed the need to facilitate CT skills of students (Butler, 2012 ). CT courses have been introduced in different academic disciplines such as nursing, law, sociology, psychology and philosophy. Despite the attention CT has received, there remains doubt whether graduates are being prepared to think critically (Butler, 2012 ). At the heart of this challenge is the fact that the concept of CT has not been incorporated into the teaching methods of many educators (Billings & Halstead, 2005 ). For example, educators construct questions that are mostly at the lower level of thinking (Amoako‐Sakyi & Amonoo‐Kuofi, 2015 ). This suggests that educational institutions may be failing in their quest to develop CT skills of students (Dunne, 2015 ).

In many developing countries, nursing schools encounter challenges that may further compound the challenge of assisting students to engage in CT skills. For example, in Ghana, challenges such as limited resources in nursing schools (Talley, 2006 ) have been reported. Specifically, a lack of qualified educators (Bell et al., 2013 ), infrastructural and logistical constraints (Talley, 2006 ), inappropriate instructional methods and large class sizes (Wilmot et al., 2013 ) are some of the challenges affecting nursing education. Also, as indicated in the authors' previous articles (Boso et al., 2020 , 2021c ), sociocultural norms uphold the seniority tradition. Traditionally, seniority is valued in most global societies. The aged are viewed as the source of knowledge, power and authority, thus seniority is a dominant cultural norm (Chen & Chung, 2002 ). For example, an individual is not expected to disagree or question an authority figure in public even if the authority figure appears to be wrong (Donkor & Andrews, 2011 ). The seniority tradition has been noted as a challenge to facilitating the CT skills of students (Chan, 2013 ; Raymond et al., 2017 ). Meanwhile, the complexity of fostering CT skills of students has often been underestimated leading to diverse conceptualizations of CT (Dwyer et al., 2014 ). Diverse conceptualizations could impede the development of CT skills of students.

Notwithstanding these challenges, a CT‐based curriculum framework could provide the needed impetus to foster the development of CT skills of students. A curriculum framework could provide ‘a means of conceptualizing and organizing the knowledge, skills, values, and beliefs critical to the delivery of a coherent curriculum that facilitates the achievement of the desired curriculum outcomes’ (Billings & Halstead, 2005 , p. 167). More importantly, a CT‐based framework provides a participatory and effective learning environment for both the learner and the educator (Dozier et al., 2021 ; Duron et al., 2006 ) even in societies where the seniority tradition is strongly adhered to. Yet, these authors could not identify a known curriculum framework to drive the facilitation of CT skills in the context of developing countries where the seniority tradition is a norm.

2. AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study was to develop a CT‐based curriculum framework to facilitate the development of CT skills of nursing students in developing countries.

3. BACKGROUND

This study was underpinned by an eclectic model derived from Dwyer et al.'s ( 2014 ) and Duron et al.'s ( 2006 ) frameworks of CT development (see Figure 1 ). This eclectic model addressed four interconnected concepts relating to the exploration of experiences of students and educators towards CT skills facilitation namely CT, memory, comprehension (Dwyer et al., 2014 ) and instructional activities (Duron et al., 2006 ). These concepts are further explicated.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is NOP2-10-5129-g001.jpg

Eclectic model of critical thinking development adopted from Duron et al.'s ( 2006 ) and Dwyer et al.'s ( 2014 ) models of CT. Permission to adapt was obtained.

3.1. Critical thinking

There is no agreement about the definition of CT (Raymond et al., 2018 ) and its relationship with memory and comprehension (Dwyer et al., 2014 ). According to Davies and Barnett ( 2015 ), there are three main approaches to CT, namely, ‘skills‐and‐judgement’, ‘skills‐plus‐propensity’ and ‘skills‐plus‐disposition‐actions’ perspectives. The skills‐and‐judgement perspective of CT views CT as the possession of a set of characteristic skills. The skills‐plus‐propensity perspective highlights both skills and dispositions aspects of CT. While the ‘skills‐plus‐disposition‐actions’ view, also known as criticality, sees CT beyond skills and disposition to include actions/activism. The skills‐plus‐propensity view on which this study is based recognizes that activism is an outcome of CT and not necessarily an aspect of CT. Thus, Facione's ( 1990 ) definition accepted for the purposes of this study illustrates skills‐plus‐propensity perspective of CT: ‘…purposeful, self‐regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based…’ (Facione, 1990 , p. 5).

Though Facione's definition has been criticized for being long‐winded and difficult to implement (Davies & Barnett, 2015 ), its use for CT assessment in nursing education is evident (Raymond et al., 2017 ). Dwyer et al.'s ( 2014 ) model incorporate both reflective judgement (skills) and self‐regulatory functions of metacognition (disposition) as requirements for CT consistent with Facione's ( 1990 ) definition. Self‐regulation refers to the individual's ability, willingness and perceived need to think critically when solving problems.

3.2. Memory

Critical thinking skills are dependent on what information one can remember (Dwyer et al., 2014 ). Information is either stored in short‐ or long‐term memory. Dwyer et al. ( 2014 ) assert that through deliberate attention or perception processes, information is stored as short‐term memory (working memory). This short‐term memory includes two sub‐systems—phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad; a central executive (attention focussing process that relates to long‐term memory) and episodic buffer (storage centre that integrates new information from working memory with existing memory from long‐term memory) (Baddeley, 2010 ). Through manipulation, information in short‐term memory may be encoded as long‐term memory. Long‐term memory is stored as schemas (categorization of knowledge based on how it will be used).

3.3. Comprehension

Meaningfully organizing information into schemas for future retrieval requires understanding or comprehension (Dwyer et al., 2014 ). Comprehension encompasses the ability to translate or interpret information based on previous learning (Huitt, 2011 ). Long‐term memory and comprehension are fundamental processes for CT application (Dwyer et al., 2014 ).

3.4. Instructional activities

Duron et al. ( 2006 ) designed a 5‐step model to provide a practical impetus in the acquisition of CT skills. This model focuses on steps that educators should take to foster the CT skills of students. The 5‐step framework requires that educators first determine learning objectives. The educator should identify the behaviours that the students should exhibit by the time they exit a course. The objectives should correspond to the higher order of Bloom's taxonomy. Secondly, the importance of teaching through questioning is underlined. The educator should design appropriate questions and questioning techniques to encourage discussion. The questions should vary and be concise to generate student participation. Particularly, divergent questions encourage CT. Thirdly, practice before assessing is considered important – inclusive of learning experiences that encourage active and experiential learning. Fourthly, the educator should continuously review, refine and improve instructional activities for CT skills. These include strategies such as evaluating students' participation through teaching, diary and journaling. Lastly, educators need to provide feedback and assessment of learning. Thoughtful, purposeful and timely feedback should be provided to students on their performance.

It is the contention of these authors that a CT‐based curriculum framework should address factors that either impede or enhance the students' abilities to memorize information (attention/perception processing), comprehend, reflectively make judgement (ability to analyse, evaluate and create) and engage in self‐regulation functions (disposition towards CT). Pursuant to this view, these authors observed classroom instructional practices (Boso et al., 2020 ), explored the experiences of students and educators (Boso et al., 2021c ) and assessed the CT disposition of students (Boso et al., 2021b ). These studies revealed a number of issues that informed the development of a CT‐based curriculum framework. For example, challenges such as seniority tradition, large class size; negative attitude, lack of commitment and inappropriate assessment styles/methods of educators; background and culture, learning practices, lack of comprehension of the participant, distractive behaviour of students (Boso et al., 2020 , 2021c ) were identified. Though students had a confident disposition towards reasoning, they did not have a mindset of truth‐seeking (Boso et al., 2021b ). Lack of involvement of students in curriculum reviews and continuous professional development programs on CT for faculty were also identified as challenges in developing CT skills of students (Boso et al., 2021c ). Also, educators' examination questions about a higher order of thinking constituted <6% (Boso et al., 2021a ).

4.1. Research design

This article is the concluding part of a larger project (see Boso et al., 2020 , 2021a , 2021b , 2021c ) that sought to develop a CT‐based curriculum framework. The study used participatory action research (PAR), specifically, cooperative inquiry (CI) as an overarching research design to develop a CT‐based curriculum framework. CI is one of the approaches embedded in PAR (Mash, 2014 ; Mash & Meulenberg‐Buskens, 2001 ) and is used interchangeable with PAR in this article. PAR inter alia assists in problem solving (Hart & Bond, 1995 ; Mash, 2014 ), promotes organizational improvement (Hart & Bond, 1995), bridges the theory–practice gap (Mash, 2014 ; Rolfe, 1996 ) and allows users to be involved (Beresford, 2006 ).

4.2. Study setting, population and sampling

The study was conducted in the nursing school of an accredited publicly funded university in Ghana. There were approximately 527 nursing students and 16 full‐time faculty members. Like many educational institutions in developing countries, the school had challenges such as a lack of sufficient qualified faculty, and infrastructural and logistical constraints that may militate against assisting students to acquire CT skills. For example, class sizes could range from 50 to 150 students.

The study participants included students who had been enrolled in the degree nursing program for at least a year, nurse educators with current full‐time appointments with at least a year of teaching experience, preceptors and coordinators of CT‐based medical programs. It is believed that these participants had been associated with the nursing educational system long enough to provide rich data on their experiences and expertise. Furthermore, using diverse stakeholders in the study aided in providing balanced perspectives.

Twelve participants comprised 3 educators (with 1 being a coordinator of a CT‐based medical program), 2 preceptors, 6 students and the researcher himself were part of the cooperative inquiry group (CIG). Pertinent to the tenets of cooperative inquiry, these CIG were to collaboratively engage to develop a CT‐based curriculum framework. To select students for the CIG, presentations on the purpose and nature of the study were made in their respective classrooms. A list of those who agreed to participate in the study was compiled based on the different educational levels. Individuals were randomly selected and contacted through email or telephone. Similarly, a list of preceptors was obtained. In the Ghanaian context, preceptors are clinical nurses who instruct students during clinical placement. They were contacted and those who were willing to participate were ranked based on their educational level and experience. Two preceptors with Master's degrees in nursing were selected to participate in the study as their clinical experience and educational background provided the necessary expertise towards developing the CT‐based curriculum framework. Two educators were randomly selected while the coordinator of the CT‐based medical program (also an educator) was purposively invited through email and/or telephone. The CIG was engaged throughout the entire research process to identify ideas, observe, and reflect on results to develop a framework to foster CT skills of students. Seven steps of the research process evolved till the aim of the study was met. Different data sets—qualitative and quantitative—were gathered and analysed, culminating in the development of the framework.

4.3. Summary of research process

In this study, O'Leary's cycle of action research as described by Koshy et al. ( 2011 ) was adopted. The process alternates from observation, reflection and planning to action. Seven steps from observation to action were followed during the entire research project (see Figure 2 ). The cooperative inquiry group members were engaged throughout the seven steps of the research process. In total, three workshop meetings were held.

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Summary of research process.

4.3.1. Step 1

Data were collected on the instructional practices/activities of the selected school from September 2017 to March 2018. These data sets were to aid the CIG in understanding current practices and to provide the baseline data for the development of the framework. Factors that either inhibited or enhanced perception/attention processing and comprehension of information and reflective judgement (analysing, evaluating and creating) according to Dwyer et al.'s ( 2014 ) were identified. Prior to data collection, the participants were exposed to the research methodology and methods at a training workshop held in September 2017. Nine participants—the first author (initiating researcher), two preceptors, one educator and five students—were able to attend this session. The first author introduced the CIG members to the Nominal Group Technique (NGT). The NGT is considered one of the most frequently used formal consensus building techniques (Harvey & Holmes, 2012 ). The NGT includes five stages, namely: (1) introduction and explanation, (2) silent generation of ideas, (3) sharing ideas—round robin, (4) group discussion/clarifying and (5) voting and ranking. Measures to ensure the rigour of inquiry were discussed and agreed upon. Two educators who were unable to attend the session were met individually and the purpose and methods of the study were discussed with them.

4.3.2. Step 2

The analysed data from step 1 were presented to the CIG members at a second meeting held in March 2018. Nine participants—three educators, two preceptors, three students and the first author—were present at this meeting. The CIG deliberated on the results obtained through group discussions facilitated by the first author. Upon reflection, CIG agreed that the data provided enough basis for a draft framework to be considered. Vital issues about instructional practices had been elicited.

4.3.3. Step 3

Following the reflection on the data, the CIG through the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) facilitated by the first author designed a draft framework. Three questions were formulated for the NGT session, namely, (a) What concept(s) should be included in the framework that will facilitate CT skills of nursing students? (b) How should these elements/components/concepts/variables be related? and (c) What should the structure of the framework be?

At the first stage of introduction and explanation of the NGT, purpose of the study, NGT procedure and the three questions for the NGT procedure were reiterated to provide all members with the same point of reference. At the second stage of the NGT, members were allocated 5 minutes to generate ideas for the framework. Seventy‐six concepts were generated. These concepts were collated at the third stage of the NGT process. The fourth stage saw the concepts discussed, their meanings sought and consolidated. Through consensus, some concepts or synonyms were removed, leaving a total of 45 concepts. For example, the concept learner replaced and/or represented similar concepts such as student and nursing students. Likewise, facilitators replaced educators and/or lecturers. The 45 concepts were further consolidated (categorized) into nine. These included learner (and associated characteristics), educator/facilitator (and associated characteristics), teaching methods/style, learning environment, institutional support, assessment, technology, review system and curriculum. At the final stage, the CIG members voted to rank the concepts in order of importance. Learner, facilitator, teaching methods, learning environment and assessment were the five most ranked concepts. The first author was tasked to develop the draft framework with the concepts and relationships for the CIG members to review individually and for subsequent evaluation by students and educators for its applicability. Accordingly, the draft framework was designed by the first author together with one of the CIG members and subsequently distributed to all CIG members for input.

The draft framework suggested that the teaching‐learning process needed to be a caring professional relationship between the learner and the facilitator. This relationship should be the heart of the curriculum. The draft framework included six concepts/components which included: (a) caring professional relationship; (b) facilitator; (c) learner; (d) learning environment; (e) outcome setting, system review and advocacy and (f) contextual dynamics.

4.3.4. Step 4

The draft framework was made available to six educators and eight students in the selected school to review/comment on its applicability. The following questions accompanied the draft framework: How applicable is this framework in facilitating CT skills of students? What do you believe are the strength(s)/weakness(es) of this framework? What concept(s) do you believe should be removed and/or added to the framework to make it more applicable? Three educators and six students evaluated the draft framework. Given that these groups of participants are part of the nursing school, their views about the applicability of the framework were important to consider when implementing the framework in a real‐life situation.

4.3.5. Step 5

The students' and educators' comments and critiques about the draft framework were carefully analysed thematically by the first author. The draft framework was evaluated as applicable by all participants (3 applicable, 6 very applicable). The reasons for their choices included that the framework was simple, realistic, comprehensive (essential factors included), improved relationships for easier communication, made the facilitator a role model, made the learner an active participant and the learner's view was encouraged. Considering the strengths of the framework, the evaluators thought the framework was well structured, bridged gaps in the learner–facilitator relationship, comprehensively covered most factors of education, and covered current trends, and legal/regulatory issues.

The following were seen as the weaknesses of the draft framework by the evaluators: (a) difficulty to elicit commitment from all; (b) challenges associated with the hard environment; (c) possibility of being misused by students; (d) possible failure of the authentic student–facilitator partnership; (e) perceived difficulty to explain complex concepts/processes such as outcome setting, advocacy, system review and (f) possible lack of CT skills of learners and facilitators. They also thought concepts like culture, time, students' involvement, external motivation and career counselling should be included in the framework.

4.3.6. Step 6

The results of the evaluation of the draft framework were presented to the CIG at a workshop facilitated by the first author in May 2018. The comments and critiques of the framework were reflected on by the CIG for possible revision. Eight participants—two preceptors, five students and the first author were present at this 5‐h workshop. The CIG members considered the weaknesses identified during the evaluation as rather systemic challenges in the selected school and not of the framework. In their view, a framework should represent the ideal. Also, the CIG members thought culture, time and students' involvement were already captured.

4.3.7. Step 7

A revised framework was designed to reflect the views of the evaluators of the draft framework. Some concepts/processes were fine‐tuned, and others were further explicated by the members (see Results section for more details). For example, the caring professional relationship was altered to authentic student–facilitator partnership. Likewise, more extended phrases were used to provide further explication to the facilitator, learner and learning environment. Through NGT, ownership was suggested and added to the definition of authentic student–facilitator partnership. The CIG held the assertion that ownership will enhance responsible learner and educator behaviour. The final framework is presented in the Results section.

The results from the cooperative inquiry were organized into a framework illustrating interconnected concepts required to foster CT skills of nursing students in developing countries. The framework proposes six key interconnected thematic priorities (see Figure 3 ) to drive the development of CT of students. The concepts/themes included in the final framework were (a) authentic student–facilitator partnership, (b) a facilitator that makes a difference, (c) a learner that is free to question and encouraged to reflect, (d) a conducive and participatory learning environment, (e) curriculum renewal processes and (f) contextual realities. These six concepts are important components that should drive a curriculum based on CT principles. The concepts which emanated from the CIG discussions are described below.

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Critical thinking‐based curriculum for undergraduate nursing program.

5.1. Authentic student–facilitator partnership

The authors of this study suggest that the central focus of the teaching–learning process should be authentic partnership between the learner and the facilitator (Raymond et al., 2018 ). This view is motivated by the evidence of dysfunctional learner–facilitator relationships coupled with heightened students' perceptions of mistrust, lack of support, lack of emotional connectedness and lack of democratic practices informed by cultural realities identified (Boso et al., 2020 , 2021c ). These authors define authentic student–facilitator partnership as a supportive, empathetic, learner‐directed, mutually respectful, accountable and democratic learning relationship which focuses on assisting a learner to engage in meaningful learning experiences toward the development of CT skills.

It is suggested that the educator takes responsibility for the optimum functioning of this partnership (Billings & Halstead, 2005 ; Mangena & Chabeli, 2005 ; Raymond et al., 2017 ). However, both the student and the facilitator (Raymond et al., 2018 ) should feel a sense of ownership of the teaching and learning process. The findings of this study suggest that factors relating to both students and facilitators could either facilitate or inhibit the fostering of CT skills acquisition. Consequently, both the student and the facilitator should be committed to setting up appropriate boundaries to govern this partnership. These boundaries should include adherence to educational justice—creating equal opportunities, fair evaluation, fair criticism and non‐discrimination on the basis of gender, race or religious status (Boozaripour et al., 2018 ). Adherence to boundaries is likely to enhance the perception of trust and ownership.

5.2. A facilitator that makes a difference

We see the facilitator as the leader, role model, mentor and guardian of the student for a purposeful learning experience towards CT skills acquisition. It was evident in this study that the facilitator's approach to classroom management and general attitude towards students and cultural realities influenced how students engaged in the teaching and learning process (Boso et al., 2020 , 2021c ). Cultural competence in healthcare is a global standard; thus, the facilitator should be aware of the influence of cultural tendencies (Chan, 2013 ; Donkor & Andrews, 2011 ) on the student–facilitator partnership. The facilitator should become a role model in terms of how he/she collaborates and communicates (Raymond et al., 2018 ) as well as his/her punctuality to class. These general effective teaching tenets are required to set the tone for the reflective engagement of students towards the acquisition of CT skills. For example, a lack of punctuality will limit the amount of instructional time required for students to think critically. Also, the facilitator should demonstrate CT tenets in his/her teaching.

Furthermore, the facilitator needs to demonstrate scholarly attributes and experience in teaching, clinical skills, and theoretical nursing knowledge; be student‐centred, empathetic, supportive; and enthusiastic about the nursing profession and teaching (Billings & Halstead, 2005 ; Mangena & Chabeli, 2005 ; Raymond et al., 2018 ). The facilitator needs to connect with the learner on an emotional level (Raymond et al., 2018 ). It is proposed that the facilitator should use tools such as CT‐oriented learning outcomes/objectives, appropriate assessment for CT and active learning teaching approaches/methods. In addition, teaching and assessment methods should vary and should be driven by appropriate questioning techniques (Duron et al., 2006 ; Raymond et al., 2018 ). These questioning techniques should predominantly target higher‐order of thinking to help students to engage in appropriate thinking moments (Duron et al., 2006 ).

5.3. A learner that is free to question and encouraged to reflect

The learner is the inquirer/discoverer of knowledge guided by the facilitator in an educational program. It was noted in this study that students were influenced by the Ghanaian cultural realities (Boso et al., 2020 , 2021c ) that did not allow them to question authority (Donkor & Andrews, 2011 ) and the type of assessment/teaching methods to which they are exposed. These authors posit that to assist in fostering CT skills of learners, the students should not see themselves as a receptacle in which content/information is dumped, but rather as rational individuals who can decide for themselves regarding truth. Therefore, students should adopt CT‐oriented learning practices that ensure a reflective view of content/information for self‐determination and lifelong learning. This encourages facilitators to share their CT with students (Raymond et al., 2018 ). In addition, they should be encouraged to be self‐motivated and self‐directed.

Strategies needed to promote CT skills in students should include the use of CT‐oriented learning outcomes/objectives, appropriate assessment for CT and active learning teaching methods. Additionally, teaching and assessment methods should vary and should be driven by appropriate questioning techniques (Duron et al., 2006 ; Raymond et al., 2018 ) which should target higher order of thinking to help students to engage in appropriate thinking moments (Duron et al., 2006 ).

5.4. Conducive and participatory learning environment

The authentic student–facilitator partnership between the learner and the facilitator occurs in a conducive learning environment that promotes CT (Mangena & Chabeli, 2005 ; Raymond et al., 2018 ). This environment has two components: hard and soft. The hard environment involves a library, learning space and technology. Appropriate use of technology should be employed in the teaching–learning process. This study showed that students were engaged in distractive use of social media and technology in the classroom (Boso et al., 2020 ). Guidelines for the use of technology/social media should be available to help learners and facilitators derive maximum benefits from these tools. Also, institutional support is required for the provision of appropriate technology, learning space, appropriate class size and library resources for a meaningful learning experience (Raymond et al., 2017 , 2018 ).

The soft environment involves the intangible safe, empathetic and democratic atmosphere created to encourage the learner to share his/her views freely. This conducive atmosphere should permeate the entire school environment. This helps to establish emotional connectedness between the students and other role players in the educational environment (Raymond & Profetto‐McGrath, 2005 ; Raymond et al., 2017 , 2018 ). It was noted in this study that students did not feel adequately supported, and were not regularly engaged in curriculum reviews and other matters that directly affect their learning (Boso et al., 2021c ). Consequently, we propose the establishment of a system of support (including financial aid) for students and practical avenues for students' engagements based on a consultative process involving students and other role players. Additionally, school managers should provide support to facilitators through staff development programs on CT. Assisting faculty development in the area of CT instructional methods will help educators to infuse CT tenets in their own courses (Mangena & Chabeli, 2005 ; Raymond et al., 2017 , 2018 ). Measures such as assigning facilitators with teaching assistants should be adopted to give facilitators more time to engage in CT instructional practices (Shell, 2001 ). Facilitators in this study expressed the concern of inadequate time to engage students, partially due to the absence of teaching assistants.

5.5. Curriculum renewal processes

We propose that renewal processes should be adopted for a CT‐oriented curriculum as a whole and of parts as deemed necessary and considering local, national and international trends. The aim of these processes should be to encourage continuous feedback and review that will lead to curriculum improvement (Duron et al., 2006 ). Students and other role players should be engaged in the curriculum renewal processes. In reviewing the curriculum, contemporary CT assessment theory and practices should be used. Furthermore, the renewal process should adhere to the standards of curriculum review processes. Also, the relevance of courses should be continuously examined to ensure that they attract students' engagement towards CT skills. Consistent with CT activism tenets (Davies & Barnett, 2015 ), advocacy should be encouraged to effect changes that may be occasioned by observations from the curriculum review. Particularly, educators should be encouraged to engage in advocacy to effect changes that may be necessary to assist students to acquire CT skills.

5.6. Contextual realities

A curriculum does not exist in a vacuum. It should be designed and operated in a specific context (Billings & Halstead, 2005 ). The learning process and the extent to which one can address CT skills are influenced by contextual realities. These contextual realities include the program of study, the global/national trends and policies and legal/regulatory framework. For example, as an undergraduate nursing program, CT is highly recommended as a competency (World Health Organization, 2009 ). It is therefore suggested that CT should be taught as a course and teaching methods that support CT be infused into all courses of the program. Global and national trends and policies need to be considered. For example, international development goals, disease patterns and burdens, employer expectations and needs, international best practices and standards, and availability of health facilities and clinical staff for clinicaleducation should guide the curriculum. Additionally, legal/regulatory bodies' requirements need to be adhered to. In the Ghanaian under graduate nursing context, the requirements of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (formerly of the National Accreditation Board), the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana and the university in which the program is undertaken would be essential to consider.

6. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Research Ethics Committee approveal was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee of Stellenbosch University (Ref. No. FS17/05/106) and the university in which the study was conducted (name withheld to ensure the anonymity of participants). Written permission was sought from the dean of the selected school. All participants including students, nurse educators and preceptors provided informed consent. Given that this was a PAR, the owner of the authorship and the findings were made explicitly clear to the participants as suggested by Mash ( 2014 ). The names and the contributions of participants were kept confidential and the group was supported by the researcher throughout the study.

7. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The quality of a PAR is dependent on how the initiating researcher can unmask and diffuse power differentials. The power relational challenges inherent in many studies may be perpetuated (Scotland, 2012). Given that a hierarchical situation and power inequalities could arise because of the involvement of students, the students' representation was increased to form half of the cooperative inquiry group. Also, training of the cooperative inquiry group was carried out to address coercion, collaboration and partnership. The Nominal Group Technique was adopted for decision‐making to ensure that no one's view was disproportionately rated above others. In addition, the absence of one or two members at different times may have influenced the flow and consistency of ideas generated.

8. CONCLUSION

Conducting a study with the purpose of developing a framework of CT development is appropriate for different reasons. Consistent with the context of this study where the seniority tradition exists which may negatively influence the student–faculty relationship, this curriculum framework emphasized the importance of authentic interaction between students and the faculty in facilitating the CT skills of students. The recommended framework derived may suggest a wider implication for nursing schools and universities to provide CT‐based continuous professional development programs for their nurse faculty. Additionally, the study findings may have implications for monitoring and evaluation activities with the view of improving standard setting and teaching–learning experiences of students.

Based on this study, it is envisaged that nurse educators, who play a pivotal role in nursing education, will find reasons to refine their instructional practices. Also, further research focussing on different contexts of CT in Ghana may be useful. Most importantly, this framework may provide direction for how a curriculum can be predicated on CT, thereby removing arbitrariness.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All the authors made substantial contributions to the manuscript. CMB, ASVDM and JG conceived and designed the study. CMB collected data, analysed and drafted the manuscript. ASVDM and JG supervised the study and made critical revisions to the paper.

FUNDING INFORMATION

No external funding.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

We do not have any conflict of interest to report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to acknowledge Victor Angbah for assisting in data collection. We also express our gratitude to the study participants. Furthermore, we express our profound gratitude to the authority and staff of the educational institution used for this study.

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IMAGES

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The Role of Critical Thinking in Nursing
Critical thinking in nursing involves the ability to question assumptions, analyze data, and evaluate outcomes. It's a disciplined process that includes observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, and communication. For nurses, critical thinking means being able to make sound clinical judgments that can significantly affect patient outcomes.
Empowering Nurses with Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking is an essential cognitive process that enables nurses to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to make informed decisions. In the context of nursing, it involves observing, interpreting, and responding to patient needs effectively. Critical thinking allows nurses to go beyond memorized facts and apply logical reasoning ...
Critical thinking in nursing clinical practice, education and research
Critical thinking is a complex, dynamic process formed by attitudes and strategic skills, with the aim of achieving a specific goal or objective. The attitudes, including the critical thinking attitudes, constitute an important part of the idea of good care, of the good professional. It could be said that they become a virtue of the nursing ...
Introduction to Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning
To excel in this profession, nurses must possess a crucial skill set, and at the core of that skill set lies critical thinking. In this course, Nurse Kelly will walk you through strategies for both critical thinking and clinical reasoning that will support you while you are in nursing school and into your career as a nurse.
Clinical Reasoning, Decisionmaking, and Action: Thinking Critically and
Critical Thinking. Nursing education has emphasized critical thinking as an essential nursing skill for more than 50 years. 1 The definitions of critical thinking have evolved over the years. There are several key definitions for critical thinking to consider. ... and habits are developed in schools and particular practice communities within a ...
How to CRITICALLY THINK in Nursing School (Your COMPLETE Step-By-Step
So here's the BEST news about critical thinking in nursing school: there's really only 2 main parts to it, Planning ahead; Connecting the dots between all the things you're learning; That's it. Doesn't sound so bad, right? But the problem is, actually being ABLE to plan ahead AND connect the dots. That is not an easy task.
Critical thinking skills for back to school : Nursing made ...
These are skills you use every day in your practice—the purposeful, disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to our thoughts, assessments, or interventions. In nursing, critical thinking is a logical and multifaceted process that guides our clinical decision making. It's a systematic and logical approach ...
Developing Critical-thinking and Problem-solving Skills in Nursing
The debate between synchronous and asynchronous education models in nursing has significant implications for developing critical-thinking and decision-making skills. Synchronous learning, with real-time interaction between instructors and students, often fosters a more immediate and dynamic exchange of ideas, which can enhance problem-solving ...
Reflective and critical thinking in nursing curriculum
76 nursing programs participated in the study. The Reflective and Critical Thinking was found as a subject, subject content and didactic strategies. Of the 562 subjects reviewed, this type of thinking is found in 46% of the humanities area and 42% in the area of research and professional discipline. It is important to train teachers to achieve ...
How To Critically Think (Nursing)
Here's what we'll talk about: There are 2 parts to critical thinking: 1. Connecting the dots with everything you're learning. 2. Planning ahead. I'll also walk you through 9 critical thinking questions to ask to help you critically think while you study or take care of patients at clinical during nursing school.
Curriculum framework to facilitate critical thinking skills of
In many developing countries, nursing schools encounter challenges that may further compound the challenge of assisting students to engage in CT skills. ... Perceived barriers to teaching for critical thinking by nursing faculty. Nursing and Health Care Perspectives, 22 (6), 286-291. [Google Scholar] South African Nursing Council . (2014).

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Critical Thinking in Nursing: Tips to Develop the Skill

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The Value of Critical Thinking in Nursing

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Practice Self-Reflection

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An Essential Skill for All Nurses

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How does nursing school develop critical thinking skills?

Do only nurse managers use critical thinking?

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What is Critical Thinking in Nursing? (With Examples, Importance, & How to Improve)

What is Critical Thinking in Nursing?

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