Critical Thinking in Nursing: Examining Patient Care and Outcomes

This assignment explores the critical role of critical thinking in nursing practice, emphasizing its significance in patient care. It examines how nurses utilize cognitive behaviors and habits to make informed decisions and improve patient outcomes. The assignment highlights the use of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool for assessing and enhancing critical thinking skills among nurses. It provides a detailed analysis of various questions related to critical thinking, such as managing situations, flexibility, patient attentiveness, knowledge enhancement, handling opinions, describing patient conditions, dealing with complex problems, and managing conflicts. The assignment also includes a review of relevant literature to support the importance of critical thinking in nursing and concludes by emphasizing its impact on the quality of care provided to patients. Overall, the assignment demonstrates the application of critical thinking in a nursing context.

Critical thinking role of nurse
population

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The population uses critical thinking
Nurses are those population that generally use critical thinking aspect for care and treating the
patient properly. Cognitive behaviors and habits help the nurses to take the correct decision by
judging the condition and this encourages their critical thinking behaviors (Carter, Creedy &
Sidebotham, 2016).
A tool useful for measuring cognitive habits or behaviors of the chosen population
The Critical Appraisal Skills Programmed Tool is used by the nurse to improve their critical
thinking process and it help to measure and access their cognitive functioning or habits (Gholami
et al., 2016).
Discussion of the tools
Question Rationale
How do you handle the situation? It defines the critical thinking ability by which
nurses manage the situation
How flexible and creative you are at work? The way that incorporates nurses flexibility
and creativity in the working process
How do you pay attention to your patient’s
conditions?
Critical thinking improve the communication
of nurses by making them attentive
How do you enhance your knowledge of
nursing?
Several books and journals increases the
critical thinking skills of nurses
How do you use your thinking on others
opinion?
Interaction with others improves knowledge
of critical skills
How do you describe the condition of the Simple logic enhances nurses to describe the

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patient to physicians? condition properly
How do you deal with a complex problem? Critical skills with reasoning helps in dealing
with the situation
How do you manage conflict among patients? Proper explanation improves critical thinking
and manages conflicts with others.
Conclusion
Nurses uses critical thinking aspects so that they can improve their quality and treatment of care
to their patients.

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References
Carter, A. G., Creedy, D. K., & Sidebotham, M. (2016). Efficacy of teaching methods used to
develop critical thinking in nursing and midwifery undergraduate students: A systematic
review of the literature. Nurse education today, 40, 209-218.
Gholami, M., Moghadam, P. K., Mohammadipoor, F., Tarahi, M. J., Sak, M., Toulabi, T., &
Pour, A. H. H. (2016). Comparing the effects of problem-based learning and the
traditional lecture method on critical thinking skills and metacognitive awareness in
nursing students in a critical care nursing course. Nurse education today, 45, 16-21.