Critical Thinking Through the Nursing Process
The Nursing Process Critical-Thinking Skills
Assessment Observing Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant data Distinguishing important from unimportant data Validating data Organizing data Categorizing data
Diagnosis Finding patterns and relationships Making inferences Stating the problem Suspending judgment
Planning Generalizing Transferring knowledge from one situation to another Hypothesizing
Implementation Applying knowledge Testing hypotheses
Evaluation Deciding whether hypotheses are correct Making criterion-based evaluations
From Wilkinson, J. (1992). Nursing process in action: A critical thinking approach. Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley Nursing, p. 29.
The climate must promote the survival of potentially useful ideas. The nurse manager can foster a climate of support by giving new ideas a fair and adequate hearing, and thereby reduce the tendency to discourage the creative process in individuals and within groups. The challenge for nurse managers is to know when, for whom, and to what extent control is appropriate. If cre- ativity does have a priority in the health care setting, then the reward system should be geared to and commensurate with that priority.
CHAPTER 8 • THINKING CRITICALLY, MAKING DECISIONS, SOLVING PROBLEMS 103
Preparation
Steps Definition
Information gathering
Incubation
Insight
Verification
Unconscious work going on
Solutions emerge
Solutions evaluated