Critical-thinking types among nursing and management undergraduates

The effect of cooperative learning on critical thinking of nursing students in clinical practicum: A quasi-experimental study

Critical thinking is a core element of higher nursing education that needs to be promoted during university study. However, lecturing as a teaching method is still heavily used by nurse educators, and nursing students have few opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. This study evaluated the impact of cooperative learning on critical thinking. A quasi-experimental study was conducted (n = 50). Students in the experimental group were arranged into small cooperative groups and completed the clinical practice together, whereas those in the control group practiced individually. After the intervention, total and subscale scores of critical thinking dispositions were significantly higher in the experimental rather than in the control group. The percentage for experiencing positive inclinations or strong dispositions toward critical thinking was 100% among the experimental group, whereas it was 85% among the control group. It is concluded that the cooperative learning-based clinical practicum is helpful for promoting students' critical thinking dispositions.

Cluster Analysis in Nursing Research: An Introduction, Historical Perspective, and Future Directions

The use of cluster analysis in the nursing literature is limited to the creation of classifications of homogeneous groups and the discovery of new relationships. As such, it is important to provide clarity regarding its use and potential. The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to distance-based, partitioning-based, and model-based cluster analysis methods commonly utilized in the nursing literature, provide a brief historical overview on the use of cluster analysis in nursing literature, and provide suggestions for future research. An electronic search included three bibliographic databases, PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science. Key terms were cluster analysis and nursing. The use of cluster analysis in the nursing literature is increasing and expanding. The increased use of cluster analysis in the nursing literature is positioning this statistical method to result in insights that have the potential to change clinical practice.

Critical thinking dispositions among newly graduated nurses

AIM

The aim of the study was to describe critical thinking dispositions among newly graduated nurses in Norway, and to study whether background data had any impact on critical thinking dispositions.

BACKGROUND

Competence in critical thinking is one of the expectations of nursing education. Critical thinkers are described as well-informed, inquisitive, open-minded and orderly in complex matters. Critical thinking competence has thus been designated as an outcome for judging the quality of nursing education programmes and for the development of clinical judgement. The ability to think critically is also described as reducing the research-practice gap and fostering evidence-based nursing.

METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed. The data were collected between October 2006 and April 2007 using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. The response rate was 33% (n = 618). Pearson's chi-square tests were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

Nearly 80% of the respondents reported a positive disposition towards critical thinking. The highest mean score was on the Inquisitiveness subscale and the lowest on the Truth-seeking subscale. A statistically significant higher proportion of nurses with high critical thinking scores were found among those older than 30 years, those with university education prior to nursing education, and those working in community health care.

CONCLUSION

Nurse leaders and nurse teachers should encourage and nurture critical thinking among newly graduated nurses and nursing students. The low Truth-seeking scores found may be a result of traditional teaching strategies in nursing education and might indicate a need for more student-active learning models.

Fostering critical thinking skills: a strategy for enhancing evidence based wellness care

Chiropractic has traditionally regarded itself a wellness profession. As wellness care is postulated to play a central role in the future growth of chiropractic, the development of a wellness ethos acceptable within conventional health care is desirable. This paper describes a unit which prepares chiropractic students for the role of "wellness coaches". Emphasis is placed on providing students with exercises in critical thinking in an effort to prepare them for the challenge of interfacing with an increasingly evidence based health care system.

METHODS

This case study describes how health may be promoted and disease prevented through development of personalized wellness programs. As critical thinking is essential to the provision of evidence based wellness care, diverse learning opportunities for developing and refining critical thinking skills have been created. Three of the learning opportunities are an intrinsic component of the subject and, taken together, contributed over 50% of the final grade of the unit. They include a literature review, developing a client wellness contract and peer evaluation. In addition to these 3 compulsory exercises, students were also given an opportunity to develop their critical appraisal skills by undertaking voluntary self- and unit evaluation. Several opportunities for informal self-appraisal were offered in a structured self-study guide, while unit appraisal was undertaken by means of a questionnaire and group discussion at which the Head of School was present.

RESULTS

Formal assessment showed all students capable of preparing a wellness program consistent with current thinking in contemporary health care. The small group of students who appraised the unit seemed to value the diversity of learning experiences provided. Opportunities for voluntary unit and self-appraisal were used to varying degrees. Unit evaluation provided useful feedback that led to substantial changes in unit structure.

CONCLUSION

Students have demonstrated themselves capable of applying critical thinking in construction of evidence based wellness programs. With respect to unit design, selective use of learning opportunities highlighted the desirability of using obligatory learning opportunities to ensure exposure to core constructs while student feedback was found to provide useful information for enriching unit review. It is hoped inclusion of critical thinking learning opportunities in the undergraduate chiropractic curriculum will contribute to the development of an evidence based ethos in chiropractic care.

A Measure of Success

Anxiety reactions are common to situations perceived as threatening; however, excessive anxiety may paralyze an individual and interfere with effective functioning. Nursing students and nursing orientees face multiple stressors as they progress through a competitive and oftentimes grueling nursing program or job orientation. This article will focus on the experience of test anxiety in nursing students and new orientees and measures the nurse educator may employ in reducing this anxiety to facilitate learner progression through a nursing program or orientation.