"Think like a nurse"

[beatrice1]

I am a nursing student going into my second year. You hear alot throughout the program from instructors to "think like a nurse" But they don't really teach you to think like a nurse, just teach you the anatomy, physiology and pathophysiolgy...ect. I am a good student, but I am still in the habit of studying, memorizing... but not really good at applying the knowledge to "real world"

How can you learn or get better at critical thinking or... "thinking like a nurse" any suggestions?

Bea

[shoegalRN, RN]

I don't understand how nursing schools can tell students to "think like a nurse", when they don't teach you to be a nurse. They teach you to pass NCLEX.

Critical thinking comes with time and experience. When you become a nurse, you will come to understand the "why's" behind what you are doing. Why are you hanging normal saline fluids for someone who is hypotensive? Why are you hanging NS with 20 mEq K+ for someone who has an asthma excerabation that is getting albuterol treatments every 4 hours?

These are only examples of critical thinking that will come with experience.

[Mary2]

One of the things I do is being a part-time senior caregiver. I found taking care of the elderly in their homes got me in the mind-set of being a nurse. So I think that is good practice for the future.

[ragingmomster, BSN, MSN, RN]

Prioritize and think about how to problem solve, come up with at least 2 solutions before you ask what to do.

[hopefulwhoop]

I think that for most people, it (critical thinking) takes time. In nursing school, I excelled in Pathophysiology and Pharmacology, but when it came down to the courses that were mostly about critical thinking and not just memorization, I didn't do as well in the beginning. Toward the end of nursing school, though, I got better. My critical thinking skills improved most significantly AFTER I graduated from nursing school.

And, I do believe that many schools primarily prepare you for the NCLEX. Real nursing begins when you become licensed and are practicing on your own. I have learned more (critical thinking) in my 2+ months as an RN than in my 2 years of nursing school.

Just my 2 cents :-)

[opensesame]

You want real world? Get a job in a hospital, preferably as a nurse tech or nursing assistant. You will get more experience interacting with patients, nurses, and other healthcare workers than you ever will in an academic clinical setting with 1 patient at a time.

[MissJulie]

I had this same thought when I started! But, one of the instructors said "Thinking like a nurse means thinking about the reason behind (fill in the blank)." I responded with a "Huh?" So, she clarified herself, "Think about the reason that you clean an injection site from inside to outside. It's because the inner will be the site where a piece of metal peirces the skin and injects medication! It has to be the cleanest and since you're using one prep pad to clean the site, you clean there first to not pull microbes across the skin."

It may not help you, but it did me!

[HamsterRN, ADN, RN]

It is sort of frustrating to be taught to think in Nursing Diagnoses and yet to think critically as well, sort of hypocritical.

[himilayaneyes]

Nursing schools don't teach you to think like a nurse...their job is to teach you how to pass NCLEX. The critical thinking skills won't come into play until you have a real patient in front of you 3-5 days a week at a nursing job...and that takes about a year to fully develop.

[OttawaRPN]

It is sort of frustrating to be taught to think in Nursing Diagnoses and yet to think critically as well, sort of hypocritical.

Huh?

Development of critical thinking abilities is likely to improve the accuracy of nurses' diagnoses, no?

[tammy1974]

It is sort of frustrating to be taught to think in Nursing Diagnoses and yet to think critically as well, sort of hypocritical.

I understand what the poster is saying...Some opponents of the nursing diagnosis claim that using them actually hinders a nurse's ability to think critically because there is a tendency to start to generalize patient's. Nurses need to think beyond what "NANDA" says the problem is.

[jjjoy, LPN]

one of the instructors said "Thinking like a nurse means thinking about the reason behind (fill in the blank)."

"Thinking about the reason behind" an action is thinking like an intelligent, responsible person. Nursing students are intelligent, responsible people prior to entering nursing school. If they aren't, they won't last long anyway. So nursing school doesn't need to teach students to think about the reason behind actions, but instead it's purpose is to teach those intelligent, responsible people to provide nursing care by teaching the how and the why.

As they say, much of nursing care "isn't rocket science"... oxygenation, hydration, elimination, thermoregulation, etc... are often key elements and not too difficult to grasp if you have a basic foundation in physiology. Of course nurses should know *why* they are doing anything! But knowing the *how* is what makes a nurse a nurse... that is knowing *how* improve oxygenation or facilitate elimination, from something as simple as patient positioning to the latest in pharmacologic therapies and surgical interventions.