Critical Thinking Help

NurseFirst · Apr 4, 2005

i was just accepted to the nursing program for fall 2005!!! :yelclap: so of course now i want to start preparing myself for my fall classes. i know that before classes start i'll have to take a looooong critical thinking test & it's important to do good on this test. i want to improve my skills before i have to take this test so, does anybody know of a good book to help with crical thinking???
thanks a bunch,
debbie

first, congratulations on getting in!!! i'm sure you are quite excited!!! i know i was!

hmmm...interesting. i'd be curious to know what kinds of questions they'd ask, because usually, critical thinking in nursing assumes a certain amount of foundational information.

in short, i'd say that critical thinking is having a reason for every action you take, and based on those reasons, the order is apparent. if this is a written test it will probably be easier than if it is a multiple-guess test, simply because you can write out your rationales. for instance, in our paperwork we are often asked to decide which nursing diagnosis takes precedence, and why. in some situations it might be possible to prioritize differently, depending upon the rationales.

in general, i think the keys to critical thinking are not unlike those techniques some people suggest for handling nclex questions:

1) if a,b or c are in the question, you always know that a comes before b comes before c (airway, breathing, circulation).

2) if a,b and c are not an issue, then prioritization is based upon maslow's hierarchy of needs.

nursefirst, student nurse

Deb123j · Apr 4, 2005

Thanks, I was VERY excited!!!

Also, thanks for the tip w/ the test. I'm not sure what kind of ?'s are on the test, I'll have to ask around. But it's good to know the ABC's.

I did find out that if you score below a 60% on the critical thinking test, the school requires you to have some type of help (I'm guessing a tutor?)!