Critical Thinking Success in Nursing Education

Critical Thinking Success in Nursing Education 

Critical Thinking Success in Nursing Education Critical thinking is a skill that has both been taught and learned. However, it is also something that arises naturally, and as a result, students are often taught to think critically, but not practised. As a result, critical thinking skills are often either neglected or poorly taught by nursing education providers. 

Critical thinking is a skill that has both been taught and learned. However, it is also something that arises naturally, and as a result, students are often taught to think critically, but not practised. 

As a consequence of this neglect of critical thinking in nursing education providers (partly due to the above-mentioned lack of practice), many students experience difficulty in applying critical thinking in their nursing practice: for example, when they encounter situations where they must make decisions about the patient’s condition using different perspectives; when they must choose between competing theories or possible treatments; or when they must consider ethical dilemmas.

Critical thinking can be achieved with practice if you have the opportunity to do so on an ongoing basis in your nursing studies; however, we can all learn how to do so even more effectively by developing our critical thinking skills through engagement with positive therapeutic experiences such as those provided through the support groups developed by the Faculty of Nursing at Queen's University Belfast (with which Queen's University Belfast links).

The group activities are free of charge and are held on every Tuesday at 3.30pm during term time (inclusive) and on Fridays during term times thereafter (exclusive). Improvement of critical thinking skills can be achieved through participation in these groups and through reading other people’s critiques of them (e.g., http://www.criticalthinkingnetwork.org/ ). The goal is to improve our understanding of critical thinking using this forum as an example and by sharing with one another our experiences from participating in these groups over time - we should all strive for improved critical thinking skills!

Critical Thinking Defined

Critical thinking is the ability to think critically, to understand and evaluate information that others give you — in a way that rewards you for your understanding, not your agreement with the information. You will use critical thinking in nursing education.

Nursing students are faced with many questions and problems, not only in their studies but also in their practice as nurses. You must be able to think critically about information that is given in class and apply the information to the questions and problems you face in the real world. Critical thinking success is not only about critical thinking skills; it's about developing those skills as you study and practice nursing.

The following are some of the ways that critical thinking can be developed:

• Persistently asking challenging questions (questioning what you think)

• Challenging your assumptions (thinking critically about things that are outside your area of expertise) • Reviewing what has been said before (thinking critically when something has already been said) • Extending what has been said before (thinking critically beyond what was originally said) • Using myths (thinking critically when it comes to difficult concepts, such as death) • Knowing when enough's enough (practicing taking a break from hard work or challenging something too much).

Critical Thinking and the Nursing Profession

Critical thinking is a critical component of learning in nursing. Nurses need to be able to think critically, and critically about their practice, about the conditions of care, and about the future of nursing. Critical thinking skills are a top concern for today’s nurses (and too often for their students).

In this short post, I’d like to illustrate how critical thinking can be used as a tool — and not just a goal — in the process of education. As always, please do share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below!

Critical Thinking Skills

Critical Thinking Skills (CTS) is a series of videos designed to raise critical thinking skills in nursing students. It is a series of videos on critical thinking that were created by Hope College to help nursing students have the ability to critically analyze and evaluate information from various sources.

The videos cover various topics such as learning styles, communication styles, information literacy, decision-making and more. The videos also discuss how the critical thinking process can be used in different areas of nursing practice and how these skills can be applied when applying for certain healthcare positions.

The Importance of Skills Development to Practice Success

Critical thinking is an important component of nursing education. However, one of the biggest obstacles to its success is the often lack of critical thinking skills among nursing students. To help encourage a better understanding of critical thinking, the Nursing Department at The Ohio State University created a student-led project that aims to increase critical thinking skills among nursing students.

The project, called Critical Thinking in Nursing Education (CTEN), groups student-led projects that attempt to improve critical thinking skills in nursing students across several areas.

Each project is designed to help students understand and implement strategies for improving their own critical thinking skills. In addition to working on research projects, many CTEN participants also have proposals for small grants they hope to receive from Ohio State's College of Nursing Research and Graduate Studies Programs.

Through this collaboration, we hope to strengthen our ability as a department to work with nursing students on developing stronger critical thinking abilities and ensure that our residents and graduate students have the knowledge and skills necessary for successful practice in their chosen fields.

The Role of Faculty in Critical Thinking Development

Critical thinking is a central part of nursing education and the underlying principles of good nursing practice; it is also a skill that many students struggle with and come to embrace only after long and hard work. In order to develop critical thinking skills, educators need to understand how critical thinking works and what it is not.

The way we teach critical thinking can have an impact on whether or not students understand how to use it in real-world situations. This post outlines the components of teaching critical thinking in nursing education and provides suggestions for how educators can best communicate this message about critical thinking.

This post was originally published on The BN Review, in partnership with American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). It has been republished here with permission.

The Role of the Nurse Educator in Critical Thinking Development

Critical thinking is a core competency for any nurse. What is critical thinking? Critical thinking is the process of discovering, evaluating and synthesizing information; it is not just the ability to recognize facts and figures without further analysis. It’s also the ability to understand how things work, how they fit together, and how they affect other things.

Nurse educators can help students develop these skills through the development of critical-thinking skills in nursing education. Critical Thinking Skills (CTS) are the skills that nurses need to apply in their clinical practice. These skills include: • Learning about Nursing • Evaluating Evidence • Judging Cause-and-Effect • Working with Concepts of Scientific Reasoning • Using Concepts of Probability and Statistics • Using Concepts of Visualization

The most effective way to teach critical thinking is by providing students with opportunities to practice hands-on clinical knowledge through small group discussions or individual clinical teaching. But this alone won’t make your students critical thinkers – you must help them learn how best to use their critical thinking skills in the context of nursing practice. Critical thinking in action:

Teaching Students How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills In order for a student to develop authentic critical thinking, he or she needs a supportive environment in which learning takes place. As a nurse educator, you must offer an environment that supports learning and fosters development of critical thought skills because true critical thinking takes place when students are exposed repeatedly to new information.

Professional Practice for

Critical thinking is a very important component of nursing education. In fact, a lack of critical thinking skills has been linked to an inability to succeed in nursing education and in practice.

A new study led by researchers at the National Center for Nursing Excellence (NCE) found that 30 percent of practicing nurses were deficient in critical-thinking skills, compared with 9 percent who were considered well-educated.

The study also showed that once nurses develop critical-thinking skills, they are more likely to believe that their profession is the most important job in the world and that nursing can be about helping people rather than about making money.

The study’s message is that critical thinking must be provided as part of all nursing education. The study was published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship: Nursing Education for Health Professions in September 2018.