The Value of Critical Thinking as a Registered Nurse: Annotated Bibliography

Introduction

Evidence-based nursing and praxis of nursing require registered nurses to be analytical, reflective, and objective in the evaluation and implementation of nursing care to improve patient outcomes. All levels of nursing theories also require nurses to employ critical thinking, and analytical thinking in investigating a case, examine evidence-based practices and make an appropriate choice in care delivery. Therefore, nurses must employ creativity and rigor in structuring ideas that present a tentative, purposeful the systematic view of the case. The goals of any nursing decision are to develop knowledge that would help in improving patient care. By examining the relevance of critical thinking in nursing, the researcher seeks to explain that critical thinking is central to nursing practices and all the four levels of nursing theory: grand theory, metatheory, middle-range theory, and practice theory.

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Outline

The introduction of the paper will include the definition of the concept of critical thinking and how it can be applied in nursing. The introduction ends with a thesis in support of the importance of critical thinking among nurses.

The body of the paper will include an analysis of the relevance of critical thinking in patient care, the relationship between critical thinking and nursing care, the relationship between critical thinking and personal values, as well as the alignment of critical thinking with the healthcare organization's core values. The transition will provide an overview of the theoretical and conceptual framework between critical thinking and care practice and organizational objectives.

The paper will conclude with the theories that underlie critical thinking and how the registered nurse influence and promote critical thinking in care settings and give recommendation on how to effectively implement critical thinking in a multidisciplinary care setting.

Annotated Bibliography

Brunt, B. (2005). Critical Thinking in Nursing: An Integrated Review. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 36(2), 60-67. DOI: 10.3928/0022-0124-20050301-05

According to Brunt (2005), critical thinking is mandatory in today's complex healthcare setting. The researcher argues that registered nurses need critical thinking skills to make sense of the patient cases, by reexamining the thinking process and improving care. Nurses must, therefore, think actively, carefully explore and view the situation from different perspectives because critical thinking is pertinent to competencies this paper will be used to write the introduction of the paper

Chen, F., Chen, S., & Pai, H. (2019). Self-reflection and critical thinking: the influence of professional qualifications on registered nurses. Contemporary Nurse, 21(11), 1-12. DOI: 10.1080/10376178.2019.1590154

This paper by Chen, Chen & Pai (2019) argues that critical thinking requires self-reflection among registered nurses. The paper argues that aftercare delivery, nurses should engage in introspection to learn and recognizer how they handled the case. Nuri should understand nature, purpose as well as the essence of their care to develop deeper insight on how to handle future cases. Self-reflection is what drives critical thinking. Therefore, this paper will be used to draft the literature review section.

Sullivan, E. (2012). Critical thinking in clinical nurse education: Application of Paul's model of critical thinking. Nurse Education in Practice, 12(6), 322-327. DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2012.03.005

Sullivan (2012) argues that nurses students have difficulties main decisions in clinical practices because they have not developed critical thinking skills. The paper also argues that registered nurses can develop curtail thinking skills by actively participating in decision making especially by adopting Paul's model of critical thinking which takes into consideration the elements of thought (reasoning), the intellectual standards, and intellectual traits. The paper will be used in drafting the discussion section.

Zori, S., Nosek, L., & Musil, C. (2010). Critical Thinking of Nurse Managers Related to Staff RNs' Perceptions of the Practice Environment. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 42(3), 305-313. DOI: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2010. 01354.x

This paper argues that critical thinking skills and the general nurse's inclination to engage in critical thinking are important for registered nurses to be effective transformational leaders. The nurses who have a high inclinational to employ critical thinking can influent the staff to align their practices with organizational goals. The paper will be used to draft the literature review by examining the relationship between critical thinking skills and a positive work environment for RNs

Bell, L. (2011). Clinical Wisdom and Interventions in Acute and Critical Care: A Thinking-inaction Approach: Second edition. Critical Care Nurse, 31(4), 100-100. DOI: 10.4037/ccn2011779

This book argues that whether the RN oversees acute, critical care, or perioperative nursing care, critical thinking skills are important in facilitating clinical imagination, reflecting as well as lifelong learning. Nurses need critical thinking skills to bridge the gap between theory and practices as well as to transverse the complex care setting. This book will be used to develop a balanced overview of the relevance of critical thinking and draft the theoretical and conceptual framework of the paper.

Gotay, E. (2018). Does Implementation of a Nurse Educator Critical Thinking Resource Impact Critical Thinking Disposition? SSRN Electronic Journal, 21(12), 10-23. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3168193

This paper posits that the nurse educator mindsets are positively disposed to critical thinking. As such, critical thinking is an important factor that facilitates traits that are consistent with the necessary patient care skills. The researcher used the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory assessment tools and found that nurses with dispositions such as truth-seeking, inquisitiveness, systematicity, analytical, confidence, open-mindedness, and maturity tend to have a higher disposition to critical thinking which makes these traits important among registered nurses. This article will be used to draft the literature review section.

References

A Brunt, B. (2005). Critical Thinking in Nursing: An Integrated Review. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 36(2), 60-67. DOI: 10.3928/0022-0124-20050301-05

Andrea Sullivan, E. (2012). Critical thinking in clinical nurse education: Application of Paul's model of critical thinking. Nurse Education in Practice, 12(6), 322-327. DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2012.03.005

Bell, L. (2011). Clinical Wisdom and Interventions in Acute and Critical Care: A Thinking-in Action Approach: Second edition. Critical Care Nurse, 31(4), 100-100. DOI: 10.4037/ccn2011779

Chen, F., Chen, S., & Pai, H. (2019). Self-reflection and critical thinking: the influence of professional qualifications on registered nurses. Contemporary Nurse, 21(11), 1-12. DOI: 10.1080/10376178.2019.1590154

Gotay, E. (2018). Does Implementation of a Nurse Educator Critical Thinking Resource Impact Critical Thinking Disposition? SSRN Electronic Journal, 21(12), 10-23. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3168193

Zori, S., Nosek, L., & Musil, C. (2010). Critical Thinking of Nurse Managers Related to Staff RNs' Perceptions of the Practice Environment. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 42(3), 305-313. DOI: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2010. 01354.