Need input! Whats your experience with critical thinking?

[gromit1084]

Hey guys!

Are you a new grad, nursing student, or new to ICU? I am hoping to connect with you about your experiences on developing critical thinking.

I am trying to articulate how to develop this concept/journey to newer nurses because it can be kind of a frustrating challenge and I think we can do more to help each other.

I know it takes time and experience, but there is more that goes into it than that. My hopes is that we can expand a little more on how to strengthen that skill for those that struggle with that.

[Mini2544, ASN, RN]

Hi! As a new grad starting in critical care, developing critical thinking skills has been one of the biggest challenges I have met so far. However, from the beginning of my orientation, my preceptors have encouraged me to build these skills by asking me to talk through the same 5 questions at the beginning of every shift. The questions are:

What is my patient's main problem? What is the worst thing that could happen? What am I going to do about it? What are the outcomes we are hoping to see from our patient by the end of shift? What are we going to do to get them there?

Thinking through these questions has really helped developed my critical thinking skills because they helped me to organize my thoughts and look at the big picture. In addition, as a new nurse, these questions have been really helpful to me because they break down the thought processes that go into critical thinking.

As a new grad in ICU... I absolutley love these questions! I tend to ask myself something similiar to this at the beginning of my shift but the way you put it into words flows a bit better.

Thanks so much for sharing!