Being able to critically think in nursing, is being able to organize thoughts in a systematic and logical manner. This will help to ensure safe nursing practice and high-quality care. Although nursing students may hear the words: “The NCLEX will challenge your critical thinking skills” – it is important to understand that critical thinking is more than an NCLEX buzzword. In fact, critical thinking in nursing is more than 90% of the work.
To emphasize how critical thinking is fundamental to you being a proficient nurse, let’s take a quick look at the basic systematic foundation in which nurses’ organize their thoughts – The Nursing Process.
The Nursing Process is a six-part systematic decision-making method focusing on identifying and treating responses of individuals or groups to actual or potential alterations in health.
Here are the six steps to The Nursing Process (the second step is my own addition):
Assessment – Collecting objective patient data through a variety of methods such as interviewing, physical examination, patient response, measurements, and lab specimen collection.
Analysis – Taking time to make sense of all the data that you’ve collected during the assessment phase, such as looking at vital sign trends, lab values, and comparing data from baseline to current status.
Nursing Diagnosis – Identifying actual or potential health risks, and defining the severity of health alterations based on the individual needs of the patient.
Planning – Creating an individualized nursing care plan to prevent, reverse, slow, or relieve the symptoms and/or progression of illness based on the patient’s needs.
Implementation – Strategic delivery of patient care plan and nursing intervention(s) based on the patient’s individual needs.
Evaluation – Analyzing the effectiveness of nursing intervention in meeting the patient’s individual needs, and meeting anticipated patient outcomes.
As you can see – The Nursing Process is systematic progression of thinking about solving problems. It will also help you in making safe and effective clinical decisions for your patients. Whether it be caring for a patient in a clinical setting, taking an exam in class, or sitting for the NCLEX, following these steps of The Nursing Process can guide your critical thinking, and will surely help you in making the best decisions.
One final word of advice: don’t get caught up in the ambiguity of certain concepts or buzzwords such as “critical thinking”. Rather, embrace the systematic tools that are provided to you during your time in nursing school, or in my NCLEX Strategies for Success Program and you will soon find yourself being a valuable addition to the nursing profession!
Also – take full advantage of our 15% off discount for our NCLEX program by using the coupon code: passnclex15 at checkout!
If you have any questions – don’t hesitate to visit thenursespeak.com/contact and get in touch with me – I’d love to answer any questions you may have.
Best Wishes!
-Damion
