What are the possible alternative perspectives?
Using different basic assumptions and paradigms can help the critical thinker develop several different views of an issue. Com- pare how a nurse manager who assumes that more RNs equal better care will deal with a budget cut with a manager who is committed to adding assistive personnel instead. What evidence supports the alternatives? What solutions do staff members, patients, physicians, and others propose? What would be the ideal alternative?
Critical-thinking skills are used throughout the nursing process (see Table 8-1). Nurses can build on the knowledge base they began acquiring in school to make the critical-thinking process a conscious one in daily activities. Learning to be a critical thinker requires a commitment over time, but the skills can be learned. The characteristics of an expert critical thinker are shown in Box 8-1.
Creativity Creativity is an essential part of the critical-thinking process. Creativity is the ability to develop and implement new and better solutions. Creativity demands a certain amount of exposure to outside contacts, receptiveness to new and seemingly strange ideas, a certain amount of free- dom, and some permissive management.
Most nurses, however, are employed in bureaucratic settings that do not foster creativity. Control is exercised over staff, and rigid adherence to formal channels of communication jeopardizes innovation. In addition, there is little room for failure, and when failures do occur they are not well tolerated. When staff are afraid of the consequences of failure, their creativity is inhibited and innovation does not take place. (See later section on innovation.)
Maintaining a certain level of creativity is one way to keep an organization alive. New employees, who are not encumbered with details of accepted practices often can make sugges- tions based on their prior experiences or insights before they get set in their ways or have their innovative ideas “turned off.” The advantages offered by new employees should be explored because all staff gain from such use of valuable human resources.