CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
The nursing profession tends to attract those who have natural nurturing abilities, a desire to help others, and a knack for science or anatomy. But there is another important skill that successful nurses share, and it's often overlooked: the ability to think critically.
Identifying a problem, determining the best solution and choosing the most effective method to solve the program are all parts of the critical thinking process. After executing the plan, critical thinkers reflect on the situation to figure out if it was effective and if it could have been done better. As you can see, critical thinking is a transferable skill that can be leveraged in several facets of your life.
Nursing experts was consulted to learn why critical thinking skills in nursing are so vital to the profession, the patients and the success of a professional nurse.
Professional nurses have learnt all or most of practical skills in nursing school, like flawlessly dressing a wound, taking vitals like a pro or starting an IV without flinching. But without the ability to think clearly and make rational decisions, those skills alone won’t get you very far, so you need to think critically as well. No matter which department they work in, nurses use critical thinking in their everyday routines. When you’re faced with decisions that could ultimately mean life or death, the ability to analyze a situation and come to a solution separates the good nurses from the great ones.
ACQUIREMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN NURSING SCHOOL
Nursing school offers a multitude of material to master and upholds high expectations for your performance. But in order to learn in a way that will actually equip you to become an excellent nurse, you have to go beyond just memorizing terms. You need to apply an analytical mindset to understanding course material.
One way for students to begin implementing critical thinking is by applying the nursing process to their line of thought. The process includes five steps: assessment, diagnosis, outcomes/planning, implementation and evaluation.
When answering questions in class or on exams, challenge yourself to go beyond simply selecting an answer. Start to think about why that answer is correct and what the possible consequences might be. Simply memorizing the material won’t translate well into a real-life nursing setting.
DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS BY NURSE
As prominently known by all nurses, learning doesn’t stop with graduation from nursing school. Good nurses continue to soak up knowledge and continually improve throughout their careers. Likewise, they can continue to build their critical thinking skills in the workplace with each shift.
APPLICATION OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN NURSING
Nurses use critical thinking in every single shift because critical thinking in nursing is a paramount skill necessary in the care of patients. Nowadays there is more emphasis on machines and technical aspects of nursing, but critical thinking plays an important role. You need it to understand and anticipate changes in your patient's condition.
As a nurse, you will inevitably encounter a situation in which there are multiple solutions or treatments, and you'll be tasked with determining the solution that will provide the best possible outcome for your patient. You must be able to quickly and confidently assess situations and make the best care decision in each unique scenario. It is in situations like these that your critical thinking skills will direct your decision-making.
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS MATTER MORE FOR NURSING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT POSITIONS
While critical thinking skills are essential at every level of nursing, leadership and management positions require a new level of this ability.
When it comes to managing other nurses, working with hospital administration, and dealing with budgets, schedules or policies, critical thinking can make the difference between a smooth-running or struggling department. At the leadership level, nurses need to see the big picture and understand how each part works together.
NEGATIVE INFACTS OF STAFF SHORTAGE TO PATIENT CARE
Undescribable strain will be on the nurses due to shortage of manpower as it will definitely affect the critical thinking skills of that nurses working in understaffed facilities.
At the end stage of each intervention, nurses should have to look back on the care rendered to the patient and evaluate what worked and what didn’t. With shortage of manpower or work overload to the Nurses they can not be able to make such kind of evaluation.
Sometimes critical thinking skills like this can not be done due to the above written problem.
WAYS TO IMPROVE THE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Nurses are well aware of the importance of critical thinking skills in nursing. Even if nurses already use critical thinking skills every day, they're still supposed to work toward strengthening that skill. The more they practice it, the better they will become and the more naturally it will come to them.
If nurses are interested in critical thinking because they’d like to move up in their current nursing job, consider how a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) could help them develop the necessary leadership skills.
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