Critical thinking

Critical thinking in clinical practice

So as one can become a professional nurse, one must learn to think like a nurse. The thinking of a nurse is different from others because of the way we view the client and the problems a nurse deals with the practice when engaging in client care. Critical thinking refers to the disciplined, intellectual process for applying skillful reasoning as the guide to action and belief (Harvey et al. 2011). So as to make a good nursing judgment, there must be the use of critical thinking. Critical thinkers normally strive to be clear, precise, accurate, logical complete, fair, and significant when they read, write, listen, and speak. In the clinical practice, the care practitioners normally use critical thinking when trying to figure out something, an issue, problem, an idea, theory, or the views of another person. For instance, a nurse can figure things out through entering into the thinking of another person and comprehend as best as he can, the structure of their thinking.

Critical thinking strategies and clinical competence

Critical thinking in the practitioner includes the adherence to intellectual standards, commitment to developing and maintain intellectual traits of the mind. It also includes proficiency in using reasoning, and competence use of thinking abilities and skills for sound clinical judgment and decision-making (Lunney, 2009). Clinical competence is an essential requirement for clinicians in providing patients with a safe and quality care. Critical thinking is a factor affecting clinical competence. I usually employ critical thinking strategies in probing, judging, and questioning. When using the critical thinking strategies it helps in improving clinical competence as it helps me to gain confidence that is very critical for success in my profession. When probing, am usually able to determine when to take an initiative and act independently and whether I should ask for help from other professionals. So that I can improve clinical competence, I tend to consider establishing positive interpersonal relationships, which involve working on teams and working with diverse individuals who help in my thinking skills. When using the help of other individuals and also reading materials, I am usually able to gain more skills and abilities to improve my nursing capabilities. Critical thinking tends to form a framework for competence as it helps in the evaluation of the potential initiatives (Yildirim & Ozkahraman 2011). When using critical thinking, I am normally able to appreciate the value of consulting other professionals.

Critical thinking, scholarship, and practice

There tend to be numerous connections that exist between critical thinking, scholarship, and practice. Critical thinking normally forms the basis for clinical practice. Those people who pursue studies in the clinical medicine may not excel if they do not have excellent critical thinking skills. Those students who are looking forward to being nursing practitioners should demonstrate abilities to face different scenarios in the clinical setting from the critical reasoning. So as to be a successful clinical practitioner, one should have an excellent learning background. In the nursing education, students normally acquire theoretical and practical success. The success in the scholarship tends to result in a successful practice. Similarly, a poor academic background will affect an individual’s quality of clinical practice. An individual should have an excellent academic background so as to be excellent in the clinical practice. Hence, there tends to be a connection between critical thinking, scholarship, and clinical practice (Barker, 2009).

Reference

Barker, J. (2009). Evidence-based practice for nurses, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications

Lunney, M. (2009). Critical thinking to achieve positive health outcomes, NJ: John Wiley & Sons

Marchigiano, G., Eduljee, N., & Harvey, K. (2011). Developing critical thinking skills from clinical assignments Journal of Nursing Management, 19(1), 143–152.

Yildirim, B & Ozkahraman, S (2011). Critical thinking in the nursing process and education. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 1(13)

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in paper college 24/7. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from custom nursing papers.