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PubMed2001

Prepharmacy predictors of success in pharmacy school: grade point averages, pharmacy college admissions test, communication abilities, and critical thinking skills.

Good admissions decisions are essential for identifying successful students and good practitioners. Various parameters have been shown to have predictive power for academic success. Previous academic performance, the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT), and specific prepharmacy courses have been suggested as academic performance indicators. However, critical thinking abilities have not been evaluated. We evaluated the connection between academic success and each of the following predictive parameters: the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) score, PCAT score, interview score, overall academic performance prior to admission at a pharmacy school, and performance in specific prepharmacy courses. We confirmed previous reports but demonstrated intriguing results in predicting practice-based skills. Critical thinking skills predict practice-based course success. Also, the CCTST and PCAT scores (Pearson correlation [pc] = 0.448, p < 0.001) were closely related in our students. The strongest predictors of practice-related courses and clerkship success were PCAT (pc=0.237, p<0.001) and CCTST (pc = 0.201, p < 0.001). These findings and other analyses suggest that PCAT may predict critical thinking skills in pharmacy practice courses and clerkships. Further study is needed to confirm this finding and determine which PCAT components predict critical thinking abilities.

Communication↗

PubMed2005

Constructive thinking inventory: evidence of validity among Iranian managers.

This study examined the validity and incremental validity of the Constructive Thinking Inventory in a sample of Iranian managers. These 159 men were 39.9 yr. old (SD=2.5) and volunteered to participate in a project in which they responded to the Constructive Thinking Inventory, the Big Five Factors, the Costello and Comrey Depression and Anxiety Scales, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Numerous findings confirmed the validity of the Constructive Thinking Inventory, and the Global Constructive Thinking subscale displayed incremental validity. These data supported the validity of the Constructive Thinking Inventory and its associated theoretical assumptions in a sample of Iranian managers.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationships of nurses' critical thinking ability and perceived patient self-disclosure to accuracy in assessment of depression.

This descriptive study examined the relationships of nurses' critical thinking ability and perceived patient self-disclosure to accuracy in nursing assessment of depression in older medical patients. The sample consisted of 120 female nurse-patient dyads. Critical thinking ability was measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. Accuracy in nursing assessment was measured by deviations between the patient's SDS observed score and the patient's SDS predicted score. The patient's predicted score was based on the relationship between the Depression Status Inventory and Self-Rating Depression Scale. Perceived patient self-disclosure was measured by a 3-point system on patients' disclosure of information on symptoms of depression. A Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The result showed that nurses' education was not significantly related to accuracy in assessment but related to critical thinking ability (r = .26; p = .004). Nurses' critical thinking ability was significantly related to accuracy in nursing assessment depression (r = -.24; p = .008). Perceived patients self-disclosure was not significantly related to accuracy in nursing assessment of depression.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

On impostorship, cultural suicide, and other dangers: how nurses learn critical thinking.

Critical thinking is an important idea whose time seems to have come for nursing education. However, as a newly fashionable buzzword, it is in danger of being uncritically accepted, of being regarded as the panacea for all problems of nursing practice. This article goes behind the positive rhetoric of critical thinking to explore how this process manifests itself in the lives of nursing practitioners, nurse managers, administrators, and educators. Drawing on nurses' own stories of what happened as they challenged conventional professional or organizational assumptions and as they explored alternative perspectives on nursing practice, a picture of critical thinking "from the inside" emerges. Themes of impostorship, cultural suicide, lost innocence, roadrunning, and community emerge as defining features of the critical thinking process. It becomes clear that critical thinking is a strongly emotional as well as cognitive process, and that it carries considerable political dangers for its protagonists.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Strategy to assess, develop, and evaluate critical thinking.

BACKGROUND: To care for patients with complex health problems, nurses need a strong knowledge base and critical thinking skills. Critical thinking enables the nurse to process and analyze information, solve clinical problems, and decide on actions to take. Teaching and evaluation, however, often focus on memorizing facts and details about clinical care rather than on critical thinking. METHOD: Context-dependent test items are designed to evaluate critical thinking and may be used in orientation, in competency testing, and by preceptors and others who work with beginning nurses for formative evaluation and discussions with them. A context-dependent item presents introductory material to analyze and determine a course of action. The introductory material may be a clinical scenario, an issue nurses might face in their practice, patient data, graphs or flow sheets, and other types of material for analysis. Carefully planned questions for assessing critical thinking are then asked. CONCLUSION: The article describes how to develop and use context-dependent items in nursing continuing education.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Use of the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory in critical care orientation.

In the current health care environment it is imperative that orientation programs be effective and efficient in the preparation of nurses entering critical care nursing. Institutions strive to develop orientation programs that use the least amount of resources necessary to achieve the desired outcome. The desired outcome of the critical care orientation process is for nurses to use critical thinking skills to make sound clinical judgments based on scientific knowledge of critical care nursing. Identifying areas of strengths and deficits in critical thinking could prove beneficial in assisting educators to individualize nursing orientation programs using critical thinking skills in practice. The purpose of this article is to describe a method used to measure nurses' dispositions toward critical thinking and the application of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) in critical care orientation programs.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Principled thinking: a comparison of nursing students and experienced nurses.

BACKGROUND: A descriptive study was used to compare ethical reasoning abilities in senior baccalaureate nursing students and experienced registered nurses. The effects of environmental factors and previous experience with ethical dilemmas in regard to nursing principled thinking were also examined. RESULTS: Findings on the Nursing Dilemma Test indicated a significant difference in the level of nursing principled thinking in the two groups, with nursing students scoring higher than experienced nurses. There was a significant negative correlation between years of experience and level of nursing principled thinking. The level of nursing education (e.g., associate degree of nursing, diploma, bachelor of science in nursing, masters degree, or doctorate) did not appear to have an effect on nursing principled thinking. In addition, subjects who were most affected by practical considerations demonstrated less use of higher level moral reasoning. The effect of previous experience with ethical dilemmas on nursing principled thinking was found to be nonsignificant. CONCLUSION: Ethical dilemmas continue to create much confusion and uncertainty for practicing nurses. Suggestions are made regarding individual analysis of personal and professional values in nurses. In addition, recommendations include ongoing educational offerings and nursing administration support to assist nurses during times of moral distress.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Critical thinking and nursing education.

This study evaluated the impact of nursing education on students' critical thinking abilities, as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WG). In addition, the WG and the NLN Pre-Admission Test were related to GPA and NCLEX. A sample of 108 AS and BS students at the University of Hawaii School of Nursing were tested at entry and exit. AS and BS students showed comparable improvement in critical thinking ability. NCLEX was best predicted by the GPA, which in turn summed up effects of WG and NLN. The results confirm the efficacy of nursing education in improving critical thinking skills and suggest that the GPA is more important than the WG in predicting the NCLEX. The latter effect was more prominent in the BS group. Further investigation of the role of critical thinking in nursing and academic performance is suggested.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1997

Relationship between selected discourse strategies and student critical thinking.

This study investigated the relationship between use of selected discourse strategies and level of student critical thinking in nursing clinical post-conferences. Selected discourse strategies included: (a) teacher high-level questions, (b) teacher elaboration of student ideas, (c) teacher probing questions, (d) student participation, and (e) student-to-student participation. The level of student critical thinking was defined as the quartile ranking of students (N = 57) on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal summative measure. It was hypothesized that greater use of discourse strategies would be associated with high-levels of student critical thinking. All discourse strategies were significantly associated (p < .0001) to student quartile ranking for one taping session (Conference II). Further analysis, however, revealed ambiguous patterns of two-way associations. The more consistent findings suggested a conceptual relationship between less student talk and student-to-student talk and high-levels of student critical thinking.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Evaluation of critical thinking in a baccalaureate nursing program.

The assessment of critical thinking traditionally has been accomplished through observation of students by faculty in clinical settings and evaluation of written patient assessments and care plans. Quantitative measurement has become a current focus of nurse educators. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare and contrast critical thinking abilities in beginning and graduating nursing students using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). The CCTST revealed a significant difference in critical thinking from the sophomore year to the senior year. There also were significant differences between sophomores and seniors on the overall score for the CCTDI, with subtest differences in truth-seeking, analyticity, self-confidence, and inquisitiveness.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Critical thinking: perceptions of newly graduated female baccalaureate nurses.

Nursing education strives to develop critical thinking through emphasis on process, inquiry, and reasoning. Although North American nursing education programs have recommended integrating the critical thinking construct into the conceptual framework that supports undergraduate nursing programs, critical thinking is still ambiguously and inconsistently applied within the profession. The research described in this article explored the development of thinking in five newly graduated baccalaureate RNs by accompanying them on the conceptual, theoretical, and practical evolutionary journey of their first 6 months in nursing practice and explicating their knowledge development over time, offering insights into the role of undergraduate education in teaching, and fostering critical thinking as an approach to nursing practice.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Critical thinking: back to square two.

Tracking the development of critical thinking in students presents challenges for nursing programs. After 8 years of measuring critical thinking with mixed results, faculty at one school analyzed current beliefs and practices with a focus on the type of thinking that is reinforced in both classroom and clinical settings and the effects of classroom technology on critical thinking. Recommendations for the conceptualization of critical thinking and its measurement, as well as teaching strategies to emphasize principles over "coverage," are proposed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2004

[The effects of PBL (Problem-Based Learning) on the metacognition, critical thinking, and problem solving process of nursing students].

PURPOSE: This investigation examined the effect of PBL on the meta-cognition, critical thinking, and problem solving process. METHOD: The research design was pre-posttest with a nonequivalent control group design. Scenarios for PBL sessions were developed on the basis of textbooks and patients' charts and tested for content validity. Seventy six nursing students who took a 'Nursing Process' course from two nursing schools participated in the experimental group and control group. The experimental group performed PBL during the semester. Meta-cognition and problem solving processes were assessed by questionnaires which were developed using pedagogics. Critical thinking was measured by the CCTST (California Critical Thinking Skill Test) Form 2000. The data was analyzed by repeated measure (pretest-posttest) MANOVA, and correlation analysis. RESULT: PBL improved the participants' meta-cognition and problem solving process but not critical thinking. The relationship between meta-cognition and the problem solving process was supported but the relationship between critical thinking and problem solving was not supported. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that PBL has a positive effect on nursing students' educational outcomes. To improve the problem solving ability of nursing students, PBL should be applied to more subjects in the nursing curriculum.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Thinking in nursing practice.

Despite the fairly extensive body of research describing nurses' thinking in practice, our understanding of this phenomenon remains incomplete. Until we have a full description of nurses' thinking, the component of our practice that is an exercise in clinical judgment will be less precise and scientific. This descriptive study utilized think aloud method to identify and describe the thinking strategies that nurses use in practice. Findings from this study improve our understanding of nurses' thinking in practice and provide information that can facilitate the development of decision support systems to assist nurses in their practice.

Decision Making, Computer-Assisted↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assessment of a scenario-based approach to facilitating critical thinking among paramedic students.

INTRODUCTION: Paramedic practice is shifting from [direct] on-line medical control to protocol-driven care initiated on the paramedic's judgment of the patient's problem(s). Teaching in most paramedic training programs remains grounded in technical rationality. This does not adequately prepare practitioners for current day practice. Medical conditions often present as ill-defined problems. To deal with these situations, practitioners need problem solving and reflective-thinking skills. Methodologies incorporating the use of these skills in a contextual situation similar to actual practice may help paramedics develop these skills. HYPOTHESIS: This study sought to determine the impact of written scenario exercises in the context of clinical problems as a means of learning in order to foster higher level thinking skills and self-directed tendencies. It involved three hypotheses: 1) Post-test scores would correlate with scores attained on the traditional, multiple choice, final examination; 2) Post-test scores would correlate with scores on the critical thinking sub-test of the final examination; and 3) Scores would be better on the post-test compared to the pre-test. METHODS: This two year, longitudinal, prospective study was conducted with 55 paramedic students using a pre- and post-test. Post-test scores were compared with final examination scores and scores of the subset of higher level thinking questions within that examination using the Pearson r-test. The relationship between the pre- and post-test scores was analyzed using a one-tailed dependent t-test. Post-hoc analysis of the variables of age, experience, and education was conducted using one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: The correlation between post-test scores with final examination scores was positive and modestly significant. There was no correlation of post-test scores with sub-test scores. Comparison of pre- and post-test scores was significant. Effects for age, experience, and education were not significant statistically. CONCLUSIONS: Using written scenarios increases ability to utilize reflective thinking and self-directed tendencies. However, this ability may not be demonstrated consistently on traditional written examinations. A multi-site study using large numbers and a control group or alternative methods appears to be indicated to demonstrate more accurate effects of the methodology.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Cultivating critical thinking in the clinical learning environment.

The dental education knowledge base suggests a lack of understanding and research about how to teach critical thinking skills in the clinical learning environment. The acquisition of critical thinking skills is essential to the development of future practitioners, yet difficult to measure quantitatively. This study used qualitative research methods to assess the frequency and nature of teaching critical thinking skills in the University of Florida College of Dentistry predoctoral student clinics. Thirteen faculty and forty-four students in six clinics (oral diagnosis/treatment planning, endodontics, periodontology, operative dentistry, prosthodontics, and emergency care/oral surgery) were observed by an independent evaluator. Critical thinking skills were infrequently taught, and teacher-dominated instruction predominated. The findings underscore the need for thoughtful curriculum planning prior to predoctoral clinical instruction and periodic appraisal of clinical instruction. Suggestions for improving critical thinking in the clinical learning environment are presented.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2001

Psychometric properties of the California Critical Thinking Tests.

The evaluation of critical thinking, as with any other measure, must employ instruments that meet appropriate psychometric standards. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the two California Critical Thinking Tests. Two samples of undergraduate students enrolled in a southern comprehensive university took the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (TST) and the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (TDI). A portion of the participants, who were nursing students, were retested on the TST and TDI two weeks after the initial testing. Some participants also completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). In both samples the TST had neither sufficient psychometric properties to assess individual abilities nor sufficient stability reliability. In particular, the analysis subscale of the TST demonstrated exceptional weakness in all administrations. In contrast, the TDI demonstrated very good reliability estimates in all administrations of the test. The data did not conform to the subscale structure during factor analysis. Whereas the TST needs further refinement, the TDI demonstrated sufficient reliability for use in attitudinal research.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

[Developmental psychological aspects of schizophrenic thinking].

Based on a phenomenological analysis of psychotic interpretation of the world concretism is supposed to represent an important mechanism of schizophrenic thinking: Schizophrenic concretism is the result of an ontological regression of cognitive functioning onto the archaic level of actional representation. Following Jean Piaget's theories about the children's constructions of reality a hypothesis about the structure of psychotic interpretations of the world is being proposed: In psychotic thinking the knowledge about the world is structured in an adualistic way which is characterized by an alloy of significance and notion, inner and outer world, physis and psyche. The structural similarity of psychotic thinking and thinking in early developmental stages is illustrated concretely on the basis of examples. Fundamental differences between childish and schizophrenic ways of interpreting the world will be presented, showing the specificity of cognitive representation in schizophrenic thinking.

Defense Mechanisms↗