Running head: IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN NURSING 1

The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills in Nursing Practice and the Student Nurses

Development

Courtney Eades

Brigham Young University Idaho School of Nursing

IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN NURSING 2

According to van Graan, Williams, and Koen (2016), The distinction of nursing care by

professional nurses lies in the clinical judgment inherent in the processes of assessment,

diagnosis, implementation and evaluation (2016, p. 281). The degree to which nurses use

clinical reasoning in their work must not be underestimated. The clinical judgment that nurses

utilize is what makes nursing an occupation separate from other medical disciplines. Van Graan

et al. (2016) informs that todays clinical nursing environment is more complex than ever

before (p. 281), and strong critical thinking skills is required to perform well in these complex

situations. In order to use clinical reasoning skills, nurses must be able to understand what

clinical reasoning is in order to put it into practice. According to Simmons (2009), understanding

the what clinical reasoning entails will enhance nursing education, improve nursing practice,

and offer direction for further research (p. 1152).

Koharchik, Caputi, Robb, and Culleiton (2015) define clinical reasoning as applying

ideas to experience in order to arrive at a valid conclusion (p. 58). In addition, Simmons (2009)

defines it as a complex cognitive process that uses formal and informal thinking strategies to

gather and analyze patient information, evaluate the significance of this information and weigh

alternative actions (p. 1155). This process includes cognition, metacognition, and discipline-

specific knowledge (Simmons, 2009, p. 1155). Therefore, efficient clinical reasoning is

something that requires both knowledge and skills. It requires experience with different

situations of differing complexity and the ability to sort through them while discussing the

complexities with fellow students, educators, and clinical mentors as role models (van Graan

et al., 2016, p. 282). According to van Graan et al. (2016), this process can help students [or

nurses] to move from dependence to self-direction (p. 282).

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In order to offer the best care to the patient, student nurses must learn to think critically

because the way a student or nurse thinks impacts the outcome of every situation they encounter.

A student nurses ability to critically think is limited, but it should not discourage them from

striving to develop into a more expert nurse. According to Koharchik et al. (2015), becoming an

expert nurse requires lifelong nursing, and student nurses will gradually find that they are

becoming experienced, competent nurses with reliable and tested decision-making skills (p. 61).

Learning critical thinking will allow student nurses to be prepared for the ever-growing

environment of patient care and help them to improve patient outcomes.

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References

Koharchik, L., Caputi, L., Robb, M., & Culleiton, A. L. (2015). Fostering Clinical Reasoning in

Nursing Students. American Journal of Nursing, 58-61.

Simmons, B. (2009). Clinical Reasoning: Concept Analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 1151-

1158.

van Graan, A. C., Williams, M. J., & Koen, M. P. (2016). Professional Nurses' Understanding of

Clinical Judgment: A Contexual Inquiry. Health SA Gesondheid, 280-293.