How would you describe your thinking?
Is it easier to describe your thinking now that you know the words?
Describe your personal critical thinking process.
Apply the concepts of critical thinking to patient assessment.
Nursing: Critical Thinking Self Checklist- Boxes 2-4
How confident am I in reasoning ability?
Not very confident Very Confident
2. Do I tend to look at a situation with their context in mind, or do I tend to see things as separate compartments?
Compartmentalized thinker
3. How creative am I in my thinking?
Not very creative Very Creative
4. How flexible is my thinking?
Rigid Very Flexible
5. How inquisitive am I?
Not Naturally Curious Innately inquisitive
6. How much intellectual integrity do I have?
Go with my assumptions Seek the truth no matter what
7. How intuitive am I?
Not very intuitive Always go with my gut
8. How open-minded am I?
Quite Biased Open to all possibilities
9. How much perseverance do I have in my thinking?
Once I have problems I’ll stop Keep at it no matter what gets in the way
10. How reflective am I? Do I think about my thinking?
Not very reflective Always striving for deeper understanding of self
11. How good am I at analyzing situations?
I don’t break things down much I always pick things apart to understand them
12. How much do I pay attention to standards with my thinking?
Do not use much for judgments Always use criteria for judgments
13. How finely do I discriminate among things?
Don’t recognize small differences/similarities. Always recognize small things
14. How good am at seeking out information?
I think about what’s right here I dig for all possible evidence
15. How strong is my logical reasoning?
I can’t always justify my conclusions I can always trace my conclusions to evidence
16. How good are my abilities to predict consequences in situations?
Don’t see much further than my nose I always think. What would happen if
17. How well do I transform knowledge from one situation to the next?
Prefer textbook situations. Can adapt concepts to meet situation
Nursing: Critical Thinking - Essay
How would you describe your thinking?
I must admit, truthfully, there is no confidence or little demonstrated in the way I think. Critical thinking has been described as the art of taking control of the mind (Facione, 2011). One of the ways a person can take control of the mind is through developing confidence. Also, theorists have posited that in articulating critical thinking one must assert the ability to decide whether a claim is fully true, partly true, false or nearly false. (Hamby, 2007)
This is done mainly through observation; analysis, inference and prediction. When I describe myself as a contextual thinker it is that I see the issue, thing or situation within a contextual framework. As such, my observation, analysis inference and finally prediction is based most of my narrow view of the world.
Is it easier to describe your thinking now that you know the words?
Yes! It has become more comfortable since I recognize that I must be willing to criticize myself, be reflective in my approach and develop competence through practice (Paul and Elder, 2006). Precisely, in willing to criticize myself I am learning that I must inculcate the habit of being intentional and just do not allow anything to enter my mind and interpret them in anyway as I do. I have the ability to entertain a though or discard it.
In being reflective it is important to consider evidence before making my predictions. Hence, I know that I am a contextual thinker when I combine evidence with judgment. This is how confidence deflation surfaces because so often I feel incompetent to expose the way I think to others for fear of being criticized, but it is easier to do now.
Describe your personal critical thinking process.
My personal critical thinking can be described as me showing limited competence to entirely break things down. However, I always pick things apart to understand them and think about what is right here, digging for all possible evidence. The set back is that I do not utilize enough analysis for sound judgments. Often, the criteria I use are not clearly conclusive even though I have the ability to trace the evidence, but it has to be within the context of a textbook. Therefore, I express very little of my own thoughts.
Apply the concepts of critical thinking to patient assessment.
If a psychiatric patient becomes agitated beginning to express emotional outbursts I would observe the behavior from the perspective of a nurse. Further observation would make an assessment of the situation in determining possible reasons. My analysis would then be that he/she would not only become harmful, but the inference to arm him/herself by taking up a weapon. Finally, my prediction would be that the client/s may harm others.
Hence, observing the behavior to make sense of it, then analyze actions and reactions to determine the cause. Thirdly, I would make an inference based on what I have seem expressed verbally and emotionally then finally, a prediction would be made which is my assessment of the patient’s behavior,
Facione Peter (2011). Critical Thinking: What it is and why it counts? California. California
Academic Press.
Hamby, B.W. (2007). The Philosophy of Anything: Critical Thinking in Context. Kendall Hunt
Dubuque. Iowa Publishing Company.
Paul, Richard and Elder, Linda. (2006) Critical Thinking Tools for Taking Charge of Your
Learning and Your Life, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Publishing
