The accrediting bodies and nursing scholars have included decisionmaking and action-oriented, practical, ethical, and clinical reasoning in the rubric of critical reflection and thinking. In the nursing education literature, clinical reasoning and judgment are often conflated with critical thinking. Other essential modes of thought such as clinical reasoning, evaluation of evidence, creative thinking, or the application of well-established standards of practice-all distinct from critical reflection-have been subsumed under the rubric of critical thinking. Professional and regulatory bodies in nursing education have required that critical thinking be central to all nursing curricula, but they have not adequately distinguished critical reflection from ethical, clinical, or even creative thinking for decisionmaking or actions required by the clinician. Exactly how critical thinking is defined will influence how it is taught and to what standard of care nurses will be held accountable. Taken together, these definitions of critical thinking set forth the scope and key elements of thought processes involved in providing clinical care. 9).Ĭourse work or ethical experiences should provide the graduate with the knowledge and skills to:Įngage in creative problem solving 8 (p. Critical thinking includes questioning, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, inference, inductive and deductive reasoning, intuition, application, and creativity 8 (p. These concepts are furthered by the American Association of Colleges of Nurses’ definition of critical thinking in their Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing:Ĭritical thinking underlies independent and interdependent decision making. This is demonstrated in nursing by clinical judgment, which includes ethical, diagnostic, and therapeutic dimensions and research 7 (p.

The deliberate nonlinear process of collecting, interpreting, analyzing, drawing conclusions about, presenting, and evaluating information that is both factually and belief based. The National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC) defined critical thinking as: Critical thinkers in nursing practice the cognitive skills of analyzing, applying standards, discriminating, information seeking, logical reasoning, predicting, and transforming knowledge 6 (Scheffer & Rubenfeld, p. Critical thinkers in nursing exhibit these habits of the mind: confidence, contextual perspective, creativity, flexibility, inquisitiveness, intellectual integrity, intuition, openmindedness, perseverance, and reflection. Scheffer and Rubenfeld 5 expanded on the APA definition for nurses through a consensus process, resulting in the following definition:Ĭritical thinking in nursing is an essential component of professional accountability and quality nursing care. Bittner and Tobin defined critical thinking as being “influenced by knowledge and experience, using strategies such as reflective thinking as a part of learning to identify the issues and opportunities, and holistically synthesize the information in nursing practice” 4 (p. There are three key definitions for nursing, which differ slightly. Every clinician must develop rigorous habits of critical thinking, but they cannot escape completely the situatedness and structures of the clinical traditions and practices in which they must make decisions and act quickly in specific clinical situations. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism.

It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. 2 A more expansive general definition of critical thinking is The American Philosophical Association (APA) defined critical thinking as purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that uses cognitive tools such as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations on which judgment is based. There are several key definitions for critical thinking to consider. 1 The definitions of critical thinking have evolved over the years. Nursing education has emphasized critical thinking as an essential nursing skill for more than 50 years.

Diagnostic reasoning in agena risk