Critical Thinking

smartnurse1982 · Sep 10, 2016

If you're nearly retired and don't know what critical thinking means god help us all.

From what I understand(I may be wrong though) is that critical thinking was only emphasized in the past 20 years,so nurses who were educated in the 60's and 70's were more task oriented.

I also think this is where the generational gap in nursing comes in.

On a thread asking about a saline or Hep lock,many nurses said they never got a chance to start Iv's while in school.

Some nurses seemed upset that many of us were not taught that in school,but really,it was not a big deal.

It is just that it is a task that could be taught to anyone because there is no critical thinking involved.

I know Cna's that start Iv's legally.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2016

The simple definition that always comes to my mind is thinking about your thinking with the goal of improving it.

Learning to weigh various options using logical, disciplined and systematic processes.

mrsboots87 · Sep 10, 2016

Meow. Cat, I am nearly retired, not a student. Maybe you just don't know the answer.

I of course know as I am a nurse. The way you phrased the question makes it appear to be a homework question seeing as we are in the start of the new nursing program semesters right now when homework like this would be assigned.

Seems rather odd for a seasoned nurse close to retiring to have to ask what critical thinking is...

mrsboots87 · Sep 10, 2016

"Do your own homework" was hardly a constructive answer, which is what prompted Kooky Korky to respond that way. Can't really say I blame him/her.

I chose not to fluff my answer up with a paragraph long of a$$patting in order to "nicely" convey that this site is not a Google search and answers are not generally just given. If this person is not actually a student then great. The question seems like a homework question. Students don't learn from just getting answers and not having to try for themself. Hence the "we don't do your homework for you." My apologies for not being "constructive" enough.

Cat365 · Sep 10, 2016

It's a learned skill - watching kids in action will tell you that easily. At certain points of development kids just do stuff with zero regard for consequence or available information. Watch them age and you'll see it change.
And I'll concede that, like all skills, some are better than others and it exists at varying degrees. Designing a bridge that will stand the tests of time and nature requires a different aspect of it than diagnosing a disease or designing a air battle plan or figuring out what is really going on with the train wreck patient in Room 1910. But it is ALL synthesis and analysis.
Buzz words annoy the crap out of me. People who bandy about buzz words with zero regard for what the thing REALLY is in an effort to sound hip or intelligent also annoy me. Along with the ridiculousness of nursing diagnoses (really? can't we just speak medically like the rest of the medicine-oriented world?) and some of the insanity found there (altered energy field? and I'm supposed to take NANDA seriously?), the whole "critical thinking" dog and pony show will never get anything out of me other than inward eye rolling.
It's higher level thinking. Any educated person does it. You HAVE to be able to do higher level thinking to graduate high school! College just hones the skill further - but so will life experience.

I thought I was the only one who found nursing diagnosis absurd. It always makes me feel like a kid that invented his own game because the other kids wouldn't let him play theirs.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Sep 10, 2016

From what I understand(I may be wrong though) is that critical thinking was only emphasized in the past 20 years,so nurses who were educated in the 60's and 70's were more task oriented.

Talk about generational gap! Those old nurses don't think critically, huh?

Critical thinking was emphasized when I went to school in the 70s, although we did not have that handy dandy buzzword with which to describe it.

I remember being taught that it was our responsibility to know what drug/treatment/test we were giving/doing, the reasons for doing it, the proper way to give it or do it, the right dose and how it related to the patient's condition. We were also taught to monitor for side or toxic effect, know when to hold, delay or question the order. and to know the rationale for using this drug/treatment or requesting that test. Anyone who didn't understand why Lasix was given to someone in CHF or why we would monitor the patient's electrolytes while giving it could write a paper explaining the rationale and turn it in the next day.

Critical thinking is difficult to describe and difficult to teach. But the absence of critical thinking is very noticeable!

Wrench Party · Sep 10, 2016

I always thought it was my complex, higher order thinking that makes my brain hurt. Last night's example:

"what are nursing interventions I can use to get my lung transplant's pCO2 down without her needing to go on BiPAP/CPAP again tonight, because she always wakes up at some point, has a huge panic attack, rips it off, has a huge incontinent episode because of said anxiety, and without fail never gets back to sleep because she's stressed, embarrassed and exhausted?" (Answer: walking, IS, sitting more upright, sleeping in chair).

0600 ABG: pCO2 dropped from 70 to under 60, goal. She slept for the first time ever from 2300 to 0600 right through several IV pump alarms and whatever I was doing, was able to get to the commode in ample time, and practically hopped out of bed and was walking laps when I left.

:yes:

compassionresearcher · Sep 10, 2016

Lol! They asked us this in grad school and then told all of us our answers were wrong, but never told us the right answer!

smartnurse1982 · Sep 11, 2016

Talk about generational gap! Those old nurses don't think critically, huh?
Critical thinking was emphasized when I went to school in the 70s, although we did not have that handy dandy buzzword with which to describe it.
I remember being taught that it was our responsibility to know what drug/treatment/test we were giving/doing, the reasons for doing it, the proper way to give it or do it, the right dose and how it related to the patient's condition. We were also taught to monitor for side or toxic effect, know when to hold, delay or question the order. and to know the rationale for using this drug/treatment or requesting that test. Anyone who didn't understand why Lasix was given to someone in CHF or why we would monitor the patient's electrolytes while giving it could write a paper explaining the rationale and turn it in the next day.
Critical thinking is difficult to describe and difficult to teach. But the absence of critical thinking is very noticeable!

Well now I know.

The OP states she is retired,so I assuming she was critically thinking all along without the buzzwords.

Libby1987 · Sep 11, 2016

Seeing nurses (or anyone) that seem to work with blinders, I think it's part aptitude and part choice. When someone possesses both, it's obvious, same when one possesses neither.

AutumnApple · Sep 11, 2016

Seeing nurses (or anyone) that seem to work with blinders, I think it's part aptitude and part choice. When someone possesses both, it's obvious, same when one possesses neither.

Good point. What you call "work with blinders" I call "Playing the dumb card".

Playing the dumb card has become a very common coping mechanism, for all career paths. It seems to me, some just never learn to deal with the stresses of a workday. So they willfully underachieve and hope expectations for them will lower.

I saw this more so in the restaurant business than anywhere else. I could give a thousand examples. One waitress hated folding silverware, so she never quite picked up the skill (if you call it that) and often left her part undone. But she was too smart to just not do it. She just made sure she always looked in over her head with other duties and didn't get to it. Meanwhile, when friends came in for a meal or she felt someone was a big tipper.............wow, she all of a sudden came out of the fog and did her job like a pro.

Nursing has many who are like her. They can't cope with the workday, find certain tasks too much to handle and........play the dumb card. It floors me when these types then turn around and get defensive about being considered task oriented.

The problem with playing the dumb card is, people eventually stop taking it as an act and just assume you are dumb.

I often wonder, when this debate about critical thinking comes up, how often are the people we say don't get it are..........just playing the dumb card.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Sep 11, 2016

Meow. Cat, I am nearly retired, not a student. Maybe you just don't know the answer.

No, she knows. But you coming in asking for a definition without providing what you THINK it is is kind of a hallmark "do my homework for me" ploy.

Also, google is a thing.