What is critical thinking/reflective practice?
Critical thinking is the disciplined, intellectual process of applying
skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action. Critical thinkers
strive to be clear, accurate, precise, logical, thorough, significant
and fair when they listen, speak, read and write. In nursing, critical
thinking for clinical decision making is the ability to think in
a systematic and logical manner with openness to questions and reflect
on the reasoning on the process used to ensure safe nursing practice
and quality care.
All thinking, if it is purposeful, includes the following elements
of thought:
(Paul, 1990)
1. The problem, question, concern or issue being discussed or thought
about by the thinker. What the thinker is attempting to figure out.
2. The purpose or goal of the thinking. Why we are attempting to
figure something out and to what end. What do we hope to accomplish.
3. The frame of reference, points of view or even world view that
we hold about the issue or problem.
4. The assumptions that we hold to be true about the issue upon
which we base our claims or beliefs.
5. The central concepts, ideas, principles and theories that we
use in reasoning about the problem.
6. The evidence, data or information provided to support the claims
we make about the issue or problem.
7. The interpretations, inferences, reasoning, and lines of formulated
thought that lead to our conclusions.
8. The implications and consequences that follow from the positions
we hold on the issue or problem.
It's more than just critical thinking.
(Heaslip, 1993; Paul, 1990)
Critical Listening
- A mode of monitoring how we are listening so as to maximize
our accurate understanding of what another person is saying. By
understanding the logic of human communication - that everything
spoken expresses point of view, uses some ideas and not others,
has implications, etc., critical thinkers can listen so as to
enter empathetically and analytically into the perspective of
others.
Critical Thinking
- Disciplined, self-directed thinking which implies the perfection
of thinking appropriate to a particular mode or domain of thinking.
- Thinking that displays master of intellectual skills and abilities.
- The art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking
in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate,
or more defensible.
Critical Writing
- To express oneself in languages required that one arrange ideas
in some relationships to each other. When accuracy and truth are
at issue, then we must understand what our thesis is, how we can
support it, how we can elaborate it to make it intelligible to
others, what objections can be raised to it from other points
of view, what the limitations are to our point of view, and so
forth. Disciplined writing requires disciplined thinking; disciplined
thinking is achieved through disciplined writing.
Critical Reading
- Critical reading is an active, intellectually engaged process
in which the reader participates in an inner dialogue with the
writer. Most people read uncritically and so miss some part of
what is expressed while distorting other parts. A critical reader
realizes the way in which reading, by its very nature, means entering
into a point of view other than our own, the point of view of
the writer. A critical reader actively looks for assumptions,
key concepts and ideas, reasons and justifications, supporting
examples, parallel experiences, implications and consequences,
and any other structural features of the written text to interpret
and assess it accurately and fairly.
Critical Speaking
- Critical speaking is an active process of expressing verbally
a point of view, ideas and thoughts such that others attain an
in-depth understanding of the speaker's personal perspective on
an issue. Monitoring how we express ourselves verbally will ensure
that we maximize accurate understanding of what we mean through
active dialogue and openness to feedback on our views.
How is critical thinking/reflective practice evaluated?
Evaluating Critical Thinking Behaviors
(Boyer, 2008)
- Practices within limits of experience/capability.
- Seeks assistance/information correctly.
- Integrates data obtained from multiple sources.
- Explains diagnostic reasoning.
- Prioritizes care needs and tasks correctly.
- Applies population- and disease-specific considerations in planning
and providing nursing care.
- Initiates/supports discharge planning throughout the continuum
of care.
What are the key principles that evidence supports about critical
thinking/reflective practice?
Critical Thinking and Evidence-Based Practice
(Ireland, 2008)
- Nurses use critical thinking to evaluate real-time patient situations
as well as to appraise evidence when answering a clinical question.
- Reflection on practice occurs as part of the critical thinking
process and may be used to identify questions about nursing practice.
- In order to foster evidence-based practice in the clinical setting,
leaders must support a culture of reflection and critical thinking
within nursing practice.
References
Boyer,
S. (2008). Competence and innovation in preceptor development: Updating
our programs.
Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, 24, E1-E6.
Ireland, M. (2008).
Assisting students to use evidence as part of reflection on practice.
Nursing
Education Perspectives, 29, 90-93.
Paul, R. (1990). Critical thinking: What every person needs to
survive in a rapidly changing world.
Rohnert Park, California: Center for Critical Thinking and Moral
Critique.
References
Creating a Nursing
Simulation Laboratory: A Literature Review (November 2008)
Current Knowledge
Related to Intelligenceand Thinking with Implications for the Development
and use of Case Studies (October - December 2008)
|
