Critical Thinking

[Kooky Korky]

Can someone please tell me what critical thinking is? Give a couple of examples? Thank you.

[AutumnApple]

I didn't mean for it to be a debate. I just stupidly asked a question, thinking I could get a reply here. Had no idea it was a hot potato topic.

I hope you didn't take my post as being indirectly about you. It wasn't. Want to get that out of the way first.

Asking for a definition of critical thinking always leads to a debate because our professional has mishandled defining it for so long.

I think your situation, being near retirement and still asking for a clear/concise definition for the term illustrates my point. Our profession hasn't figured it out yet, what that definition is.

There are too many wild and irresponsible interpretations of the term floating around for it not to become a debate. The people who prescribe to the "buzz word" uses of the term tend to have hurt feelings when they realize how far off they are with how they define it.

So far down in the hole, they can't even see the light at the top anymore. But they prefer to keep imagining they are on top of things.

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

I'm actively working on teaching critical thinking to my girls right now. I tell them to take the information that they already know, look at what's happening around them, then apply that knowledge to the situation to make an intelligent conclusion. Perhaps over-simplified, but it's working.

[Kitiger, RN]

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!

We learned critical thinking. We just didn't learn the current buzz word for it.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

I'm actively working on teaching critical thinking to my girls right now. I tell them to take the information that they already know, look at what's happening around them, then apply that knowledge to the situation to make an intelligent conclusion. Perhaps over-simplified, but it's working.

No, that's exactly what it is. It's just the three highest levels of Bloom's.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

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!

It's easier to critique and criticize than to give the right answer.

[lemur00, BSN, RN]

The first thing I learned in nursing school is that this term is basically a wax nose and isn't exactly used by nurses the same way it is in other disciplines (where it's much clearer in meaning). However it usually refers to knowledge application to a situation, and there is cross over with other disciplines in terms of analysis and judgement.

Trying to get nurse educators to define it can prove to be interesting though--most I've asked have said some variation of "use your critical thinking to figure out critical thinking". Kind of like the first response--we won't tell you, you must figure it out. Quite helpful.

I think what that does is create a user defined term, which explains the varigation. It gains contextual variation--that is, most nurses just guess at what it means based on the contexts it gets used in. It may be that nurses leave it undefined, in the same way health is often undefined by the public, so that it can take on those nuanced contextual meanings. Or more likely, most don't know the actual definition because it also functions in nursing as a strong in-group password. Either you get it or you don't and if I have to tell you you're not a good nurse. So it is left undefined even though the term does, in fact, have a straight forward meaning everywhere else.

To be honest though I find it's most often used to say someone is stupid or doing something wrong: "she needs to use her critical thinking more" "where is your critical thinking" etc.

It's also interesting that the specific language construction is unique to nurses (eg use critical thinking as opposed to think critically, as if it is a commodity rather than an action). I think this is telling in that to use it the way other disciplines do (ie think critically) reveals more clearly what the term is meant to convey. In nursing, it really is just in-group jargon. That said, it also points to the knowledge application function, the common one for nursing.

[lemur00, BSN, RN]

Oh for some reason I could only see the first page of replies.

[JulieManey]

The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment is critical thinking.

[AutumnApple]

The first thing I learned in nursing school is that this term is basically a wax nose and isn't exactly used by nurses the same way it is in other disciplines (where it's much clearer in meaning). However it usually refers to knowledge application to a situation, and there is cross over with other disciplines in terms of analysis and judgement.

Trying to get nurse educators to define it can prove to be interesting though--most I've asked have said some variation of "use your critical thinking to figure out critical thinking". Kind of like the first response--we won't tell you, you must figure it out. Quite helpful.

I think what that does is create a user defined term, which explains the varigation. It gains contextual variation--that is, most nurses just guess at what it means based on the contexts it gets used in. It may be that nurses leave it undefined, in the same way health is often undefined by the public, so that it can take on those nuanced contextual meanings. Or more likely, most don't know the actual definition because it also functions in nursing as a strong in-group password. Either you get it or you don't and if I have to tell you you're not a good nurse. So it is left undefined even though the term does, in fact, have a straight forward meaning everywhere else.

To be honest though I find it's most often used to say someone is stupid or doing something wrong: "she needs to use her critical thinking more" "where is your critical thinking" etc.

It's also interesting that the specific language construction is unique to nurses (eg use critical thinking as opposed to think critically, as if it is a commodity rather than an action). I think this is telling in that to use it the way other disciplines do (ie think critically) reveals more clearly what the term is meant to convey. In nursing, it really is just in-group jargon. That said, it also points to the knowledge application function, the common one for nursing.

I ran into "critical thinking" being used as a noun rather than an adjective long before I was in nursing school. First time I encountered it was in English Comp. class: "We want you to practice your critical thinking when you are reading, not just scan it."

To be honest, I don't know of other disciplines that use those exact words, be it "critical thinking" or "critically thinking".

I think other professions have entirely different terms, but in the end we're all talking about the same thing: Think outside the box, see the whole picture, be able to perform without the book telling you what to do...................

My brother in law used to be a mechanic, and he was very good at it. He always stressed the last one, being able to get a job done even when the answer to the car's problem wasn't something you could look up in a book.

For *me*, nursing's inability to define critical thinking is a product of the profession's personality. We tend to be very passive about too many things, accepting it when an outside entity decides to step in and tell us "How it's going to be".

We also tend to confuse being "individualized" with being "undecided". Nursing is not universal on anything, including how it defines critical thinking. Our educational processes, our scope of practice and our disciplinary policies all tend to be chaotic, open for interpretation and highly influenced by outside influences. Part of the reason outsiders have so much say about what we do is: We don't answer the question for ourselves, so someone has to. We come off as being "undecided"............

I actually started a topic about just those problems and how it affects our education at the BSN level. The response to that thread has been minimal. That in and of itself didn't surprise me. I think what that thread is talking about tends to fly over the head of many nurses. It's asking for us to make a decision rather than let someone else tell us how it should be. We're not used to doing that so most people have problems generating an opinion on it.

[Kssrn404]

I have read on here it is the difference between performing a nursing task and performing a nursing skill.

Anyone can perform a nursing task,even a monkey if you teach them.

example: Changing a trach tube or inserting a peripheral IV.

A nursing skill requires critical thinking.

Example: Figuring out what a trach/vent pt is turning blue

Sorry if that did not help,but all i know the difference between the two is still blurry to me.

I like your post. It's pretty simple to me. Critical thinking is the "WHY" behind the task. Know why your doing what you do and also "creative latitude" would fall under this category.

[AutumnApple]

. This is also called rolling silverware and it entails assembling the silverware into napkins . This is done at most casual dining restaurants. I used to enjoy it, a moment of zen at the end of my shift.

And I hated it lol

My rolls were fine, not better or worse than would be expected. What was different about me was how I was obsessed with getting it done and over with only to have the manager beg me to do more because............well, everyone else avoided it. I resented that and always said "I don't make tips rolling silverware, get them to do their share."

Which they would quickly respond to me by handing me a free dessert, and I'd break and fall for that every time. Ugh

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

I'm not a monkey and I'm not so good at IV's. So....