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Discussion

Critical Thinking??

I just started RN school. I graduated LPN school in July on 05. My new instructors are totally focused on Critcal thinking. I understand it, but I need a way to explain what it is. THinking outside the box, could that be it?

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you might be sorry you asked this question? :o

the syllabus of nursing 661 at old dominion university school of nursing defines critical thinking as: "a purposeful, reflective and goal directed activity that aims to make judgments based on evidence rather than conjecture. it is based on the principles of science and the scientific method. critical thinking is a reasoned interactive process that requires the development of strategies that maximize human potential." got that? :confused:

i remembered posting a long answer to some else who asked this question about a month ago. it took me a little time to find it, but here is the link to that thread in the nursing student assistance forum from december 2005. please read through it for a discussion that we had on critical thinking. then, if you feel really revved up, try the mission critical tutorial link, but let me warn you that it is pretty heady stuff and may be more than what you are looking to get in the way of an answer! in a nutshell, critical thinking is asking yourself "why" you are doing each nursing action and then providing the answer.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/advice-med-surge-1-a-133555-2.html?highlight=critical+thinking - look at my post #12 and vickyrn's reply.

http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/ - mission critical home page. a tutorial on critical thinking from san jose state university. it is a rather deep, scholarly discussion of the subject that may be a little difficult to understand at times. click on the big square at the top of the page that says "welcome to mission critical". then, by clicking on the button "main menu" you will be started into the tutorial's list of links.

Thinking about your thinking while thinking about your thinking...

Hi,

Rosalinda Alfaro-LeFevre has written several excellent books on critical thinking. The one I have is called Critical Thinking in Nursing, A Practical Approach. Do an author search or keywork seach on "critical thinking" at Amazon or Alibris.com. Both site have used books available at reasonable prices.

You can pick up some good ideas with a quick read if you don't have much time. One thing I picked up is the need to have a database of memorized information available. In nursing school we are bombarded with so much information, that it's hard to know what data is relevant. After all, very few people can memorize and remember everything.

A nurse practitioner who worked as a CNA, LVN, and RN told me that assessment is the key to nursing. Most books with "assessment" in the title talked about advanced things like palpating the liver, so instead I focused on signs and symptoms. I got a couple of s/s books, and pulled out the s/s mentioned in class. Then I grouped various s/s into major categories, and started to see how they were related.

Here's an example: Let's say our patient has the s/s of hypoactive bowel sounds. In the past, I would have drawn a blank. Now I know to assess for other abdominal s/s like masses, distention, vomiting, flatus, constipation, appetite, and abdominal pain, and to continue monitoring the bowel sounds. In my nurses notes I would document the findings of my assessments. In care plans assessments are also interventions, so I have an excellent start on my care plan.

Here's another example: Let say our patient has the s/s bradycardia. I would not only assess heart sounds, but I would also assess the lungs and tissue perfusion, since they are both related to heart function.

Hope this helps!

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