University Report: Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision-Making

This report examines the influence of reflective writing interventions on the critical thinking skills and managerial decision-making abilities of baccalaureate nursing students, based on a research article by Naber and Wyatt (2014). The study investigates how reflective writing enhances critical thinking, crucial for success in nursing. The research methodology involved an experimental design with control and experimental groups, utilizing tools like CCTST and CCTDI for data analysis. Findings revealed that reflective writing positively impacts critical thinking skills, enabling students to analyze information effectively and make informed decisions. The report highlights the implications for management practices, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking in patient care and professional development. It also evaluates the article's effectiveness and credibility, concluding that reflective writing interventions are beneficial for nursing students' cognitive development and future career success.

Running head: CRITICAL THINKING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION-MAKING
Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision-Making
Name of student
Name of University
Author note
Table of Contents

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CRITICAL THINKING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION-MAKING
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Topic of research.............................................................................................................................3
Topic of the article...........................................................................................................................3
Identifying gaps in literature............................................................................................................4
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................5
Findings...........................................................................................................................................6
Implications of the article for management practice.......................................................................7
Evaluation of the article's effectiveness and credibility..................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The report is represented to discuss the various information and data present within the
article that has been provided. Based on the research article, it can be understood about the
impact of reflective writing interventions on the critical thinking skills and understanding the
behaviors of the baccalaureate students. Discussions will be made regarding the critical thinking
skills that they will achieve and how it can help them to achieve success in the field of nursing in
the future. The research methodology will further expand the scope of the research to derive the
best possible outcomes.
Topic of research
The topic of the article is to determine the impact of reflective writing interventions on
the critical thinking skills and dispositions of the baccalaureate-nursing students in Australia.
The report is prepared to demonstrate the critical thinking skills and managerial decision making
for ensuring successful writing interventions and analyze the different types of data and
information obtained all throughout (Naber and Wyatt 2014).
Topic of the article
According to the article presented by Naber and Wyatt (2014), it could be understood that
reflective writing interventions had brought positive impacts on the critical thinking skills as well
as on the dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students. THE American Association of Colleges
of Nursing and National League for Nursing have worked together to provide a layout for
making the students understand the benefits of critical thinking and how it can even improve the
efficiency of managerial decision making with ease and effectiveness (Naber and Wyatt 2014).

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To improve the critical thinking and managerial decision making skills, it would be important to
focus on the objectives including the testing of reflective writing interventions, common features
of the participants who have high scores and evaluating the relationship between scores,
institutions, gender, age, race or ethnicity.
By obtaining the degree, their critical thinking skills have improved and they can perform
certain actions with much convenience. Few of the actions performed are the analysis of
patient’s situation, evaluating the effectiveness of the nursing measures and considering the
feelings and behaviors of the patients properly to fulfill their needs and requirements properly.
The nursing students would be able to pass the test of State Board of Nursing Registered Nurse
certification and would also be able to gain higher scores than the sophomore and freshmen
(Naber and Wyatt 2014). Based on their experiences and actions undertaken, the educators could
increase their understanding and often utilize reflective writings to enable successful analysis and
reasoning while critically thinking.
Identifying gaps in literature
There is very little gap in the literature because of the lack of information in the area,
because of which, it may be difficult to reach a good conclusion in the end. The need for research
is considered as a gap that can hinder the successful decision making process as well as make the
nursing students face certain issues to think critically and make decisions properly. From the
literature, the baccalaureate nursing students scored higher than the AND and RN students in the
test scores due to the nursing programs, though there were no such evidences regarding the
improvement of critical thinking skills based on their experiences. The Paul’s model was not
implemented, which was a major literature gap well that not only hindered the generation of

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successful outcomes (Naber and Wyatt 2014). It proved that the nursing education had negligible
impact on their critical thinking and managerial decision-making skills.
These gaps were found, though the Writing to Learn pattern facilitated the reflective
writing among the students who had obtained the degree of nursing from their respective
universities and colleges. The reflective skills are termed as threshold skills that can not only
make them focused on critical thinking but also gather samples effectively while conducting a
research. This would also improve the relationships between the faculties of the University and
the students as well as create a positive impact on the dispositions of the baccalaureate-nursing
students (Naber and Wyatt 2014). The pedagogical strategy constituted the reflective writing,
which further allowed the nursing students to know the approaches needed to complete a
reflective journal assignment and even solve problems, gain clarity of messages and maintain
accuracy during the writing. Though relevant information could be obtained from the literature
review, still there was no such mentioned components related to the managerial decision making
process and how it was impacted.
Research methodology
A proper research methodology was managed by following suitable research methods,
ethical considerations and involvement of participants to collect and analyze data properly. The
level III study was done by using the experimental design for testing the variables and complete
the assignment in reflection considering the experiences gained regarding the clinical shifts and
rotation hours, group activities and class readings.
The sample size was chosen as 70 considering the students who have been baccalaureates
after the nursing program from the two universities were managed. All these students hold either

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L4/R or L4/NR degree based on the nursing courses to which they were enrolled (Naber and
Wyatt 2014). The collection of data process also included the in-depth research activities
including both didactic and clinical activities that required critical reflection. The information
about demographics was obtained by obtaining the age, race, gender as well as the experience
time duration at the health care.
The research was conducted by considering all the ethical standards properly. The
participation of respondents was voluntary, because of which, they were selected randomly
according to CCTST and CCTDI. The computer databases stored the necessary data and
information that could be used for conducting the research efficiently. None of the respondents
was forced to take part in the research and they were informed about the research, which should
be conducted. They were provided with information about the time, dates and locations and were
even acknowledged with the scores obtained from the nursing program (Naber and Wyatt 2014).
The analysis of data was done by utilizing SurveyMoneky, which had been a effective
online survey and questionnaire tool. Feedbacks were obtained along with the post-intervention
CCTDI and CCTST tests, which improved the data analysis process effectiveness. A test was
done that consisted of 75 statements to which the students should agree or disagree by obtaining
scores ranging between 70 to 420. MANCOVA was done to compare the results derived on the
basis of their responses (Naber and Wyatt 2014).
Findings
The findings were the data analysis outcomes generated to understand whether the
reflective writing interventions could create an impact on the critical thinking and managerial
decision-making skills or not for the baccalaureate students’ scores of CCTST and CCTDI

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during the experiences. Among the 70 respondents, 36 students were part of the control group
while the remaining students were in the experimental group.
Based on the non-parametric test, it was found that there was not much variations
between the control and experimental groups in terms of months of experiences while pursuing
the nursing program. By using Chi Square tool, it was depicted that the groups were
heterogeneous. The score for control group was lesser than the experimental group, which
favored then critical thinking skills of the experimental group (Naber and Wyatt 2014). Thus, the
group members in the experimental group possessed good reflective writing skills, which
enabled them to gain in-depth analysis of researches when compared to the control group. The
interventions improved the students’ abilities to obtain the best knowledge and understand
whether the information that they recovered had been accurate, valid and true to the research or
not. The top ten scoring participants possessed exceptional analytical thinking skills, which made
them skilled enough to gain the truth and accurate information. Most of the students were
believed to complete the necessary clinical components and could strive for excellence in the
future during the nursing practices ((Naber and Wyatt 2014).
Implications of the article for management practice
From the article provided, it could be understood that the critical thinking helped in
analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating the information and data. These should be considered
those as important things by the students as effective for making decisions successfully and
experience growth and success in their career. This is not only an essential aspect of nursing for
theirs but also is responsible for the actions undertaken by them to serve the patients in a better
way. Baccalaureate nursing students mean the students who have gained a degree in the field of

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nursing and health. The article not only stated the benefits that could be obtained from the
reflective writing interventions but also depicted the approaches that could be followed to
enhance critical thinking skills and facilitate the making of managerial decisions in business.
Various data analysis tools were used and tests were done to check whether the students had
been capable of writing in reflection and could make decisions properly or not (Naber and Wyatt
2014).
Evaluation of the article's effectiveness and credibility
The article presented here was quite effective for evaluating the findings of the research.
It also showed the findings of the research were true to the research goals and objectives. The
data and information obtained were quite effective, which not only maintained the authenticity of
the research but also created a positive impact by enhancing the skills, knowledge and expertise
of the students to proceed in their career. The article was published in 2014 and the authors
Naber and Wyatt are quite popular in the field of reflective writing and critical thinking. The
article also allowed me to obtain results based on the data collection and analysis, which further
helped in improving the effectiveness of the research conduction (Naber and Wyatt 2014). I
learned about the control and experimental groups where the group members obtained relevant
knowledge and skills to carry out their nursing practices with ease and effectiveness.
Conclusion
Based on the findings from the article, it could be understood that the reflective writing
interventions improved the skills of the students to think critically and even gain the scopes to
become successful in the field of nursing and healthcare. They would be able to identify the
cause of everything and even obtain leadership and managerial skills, which might assist them in

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better management practices. The test and data analysis also showed that the students had
obtained the necessary skills to write reflectively and thus a positive impact had been created on
the critical thinking abilities of theirs too.

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References
Naber, J. and Wyatt, T.H., 2014. The effect of reflective writing interventions on the critical
thinking skills and dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 34(1),
pp.67-72.