Are you a critical thinker?

Critical considering is a skill that nurses must learn and is just not easy to master. There is an ideal deal of emphasis within the literature on assessing or measuring a student’s or nurse’s critical considering ability. How are you able to as this student or nurse improve your critical considering skills?

Scheffer and Rubenfield describe critical considering in nursing as consisting of 11 affective components (persistence, open-mindedness, flexibility, self-confidence, creativity, curiosity, reflection, mental integrity, intuition, context and perspective) and seven cognitive skills (information searching for, discrimination , analyzing, transforming knowledge, predicting, applying standards and logical reasoning). Thinking about these elements brings to mind the next suggestions for fine-tuning your critical considering:

• Rest assured that critical considering will include experience.
• Be open to latest learning situations and seek them out at any time when you’ll be able to.
• Be flexible. Moving to a brand new unit, changing shifts, or working with a unique teacher will not be so bad!
• Be confident, but do not be afraid to confess when there’s something you do not know. Ask questions!
• Don’t ignore your “inner voice”. Nursing intuition is an actual phenomenon.
• Learn from your individual and others’ mistakes.
• When you are feeling overwhelmed, take a moment to stop and think concerning the situation.
• After code or any critical event, take a while to take into consideration how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Was there anything you would have done in a different way or something you would have done in a different way?
• Practice your skills! Your self-confidence will increase and you’ll have the option to acknowledge problems.
• Learn your facility’s policies and procedures (and where to search out them!)
• Talk to other nurses and colleagues in other fields. Plan your care together and discuss assessments, problems, interventions and evaluations. Communication is the important thing!
• Plan ahead and think concerning the potential consequences of your actions. Administration of a diuretic? You can check your patient’s potassium level.

I do know there’s more advice I could add here – please do! Additionally, Scheffer and Rubenfield’s article was referenced in Nursing Student Stories on Learning to Think Like a Nurse, an ideal read (and FREE!) from the journal

DiVito-Thomas P. Stories from nursing students about learning to think like a nurse. Nurses Educ 2005;30(3):133-136.

Scheffer BK, Rubenfield MG. Consensus on critical considering in nursing. J.Nurs Educ. 2000;39(8):352-359.