Critical thinking among clinical nurses and related factors: A survey study in public hospitals

Evaluation index system of core competence of Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists: A qualitative evidence synthesis

BACKGROUND

Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists, as the nursing team's core, crucially enhance service quality and spread Traditional Chinese Medicine culture, so strengthening their training based on core competencies is vital for advancing Traditional Chinese Medicine nursing internationally.

AIM

Integration of the core competency evaluation indexes of Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists in different geographical regions.

DESIGN

A qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis.

METHODS

6 English and 4 Chinese databases were systematically searched for studies related to the core competencies of Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists. The JBI critical appraisal tool was used to evaluate the quality of the included literature. The extracted data were thematically integrated using Thomas and Harden's three-stage framework.

RESULTS

The review included 16 studies. The results can be summarized into 3 themes, 7 categories and 21 items. The themes included personality structure (personal qualities, professional qualities), competency structure (professional development competence, general personal competence, organizational and managerial competence) and knowledge structure (professional knowledge and skills, healthcare ethics and regulations).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study have practical implications for the development of training and assessment programs for Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists, providing a more comprehensive and systematic framework to guide professional development. It will be further applied to the training of Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists in the future, serving to enhance the core competitiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine nurse specialists and promote the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine nursing.

Charting critical paths: Exploring how concept mapping amplifies nursing students' critical thinking and elevates patient care - A scoping review

Concept mapping (CM) is a pedagogical approach that allows nursing students to improve their critical thinking (CT) abilities, which is paramount for providing quality patient care that underpins their ability to make sound clinical decisions and judgments by visually understanding the relationships and interconnections between various concepts. The purpose of the present review was to assess the outcome of CM on the CT skills. We searched Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, and other sources to evaluate the effect of CM on CT among nursing students. The review included articles published between 2012 and 2023. Two authors individually extracted the data, identified the bias risk, and analyzed the data using the PRISMA-ScR framework. Database searches found 985 articles, 11 of which matched the inclusion criteria. 63.64% employed quasi-experimental approaches. 45.45% employed concept mapping instead of integration, whereas 9.09% used sophisticated technology. Second-year BSc Nursing students accounted for 54.55%. In 45.45% of the studies, sample sizes varied between 51 and 100. The studies' overall post-test CT scores were higher in groups which received CM as compared to other conventional pedagogical approaches. Most studies demonstrated minimal bias risk and P values greater than 0.05. The findings of the present study considered CM as an effective teaching method to enhance CT skills and also suggest the implementation of CM. It is recommended that nursing educators, administrators, and faculty evaluate curriculum to integrate CM into courses focused at promoting CT abilities in nursing students to improve the quality of patient care.

Psychometric properties of the nursing critical thinking in clinical practice questionnaire in clinical nurse educators

The Nursing Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice Questionnaire is an instrument designed to measure the critical thinking capacity of nurses working in clinical areas. However, there is little existing research on the potential applications of this instrument specifically in clinical nurse educators involved in the training of university nursing students. Therefore, we used a descriptive cross-sectional design to examine the psychometric properties of the questionnaire in clinical nurse educators. We evaluated the construct and convergent validity, assessed the reliability of the questionnaire, and performed a confirmatory factor analysis. A total of 639 clinical nurse educators took part in this study. Results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed a good fit to the model (CFI 0.97, NFI: 0.95). The total Cronbach's alpha was 0.97. The four factors had an internal consistency > 0.7. The interclass correlation coefficient values were 0.78 [95% CI 0.75-0.81] for the whole instrument and 0.70-0.75 for the various dimensions, and all were statistically significant at p < 0.05. These findings suggests that the Nurse Critical Thinking in Practice Questionnaire is a useful tool for measuring critical thinking levels in clinical nurse educators. This enhances the knowledge of all agents involved in the learning process, making it easier to implement in clinical practice.Clinical Trial Registration: This study was prospectively registered at the two Institutional review boards.

Analysis of influencing factors on cognition of organizational innovation climate among clinical nurses in China

Establishing a positive organizational innovation climate can enhance nurses' innovative performance and work quality. This study aims to explore the cognitive status and influencing factors of the organizational innovation climate among clinical nurses. The findings of this study will provide a scientific basis for developing innovative nursing talent teams and strengthening innovative management. This is a cross-sectional study. From July 2024 to September 2024, we conducted a paper questionnaire survey of 210 clinical nurses in 3 tertiary hospitals in China. Participants self-reported on general demographic questionnaires and organizational innovation climate scales. The collected data were analyzed using various statistical methods, including descriptive analysis, independent sample t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, and multiple linear regression analysis. Multicollinearity was tested using the variance inflation factor and tolerance test. All analyses were performed using the SPSS software (version 26.0). P < .05 indicated that the difference was statistically significant. In this study, the score for organizational innovation climate among 210 clinical nurses was (73.70 ± 9.25). Organizational innovation incentive was the dimension having the highest score. Resource supply was the dimension having the lowest score. Multiple regression analysis showed that gender, highest education level, years of work experience, position, job satisfaction, and academic conference participation experience were the main factors influencing clinical nurses' cognition of the organizational innovation climate (P < .05). In this study, the cognitive level of nurses' organizational innovation climate was moderate level. To improve this level, nursing managers should develop targeted intervention measures for various influencing factors. It is recommended that nursing managers strategically integrate scientific research innovation training into their vocational training programs to stimulate nurses' innovation consciousness and improve the quality of clinical nursing services.

Factors associated with the critical thinking ability among nursing students: An exploratory study in Iran

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Critical thinking is a crucial skill in nursing that nursing students should apply in their work environment. It involves analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting information. It is used in various topics such as disease diagnosis, treatment planning and implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of results, problem-solving, and decision-making in emergencies. This study in Iran aimed to evaluate factors associated with nursing students' critical thinking ability.

STUDY METHOD

Following the STROBE guidelines, an analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Ardabil province, northwest Iran. The study collected data through convenience sampling at nursing schools in Ardabil province, with a sample of 246 nursing students participating. The data collected from a demographic information form and the Persian version of the Nursing Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice Questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 software.

RESULTS

The study found that the overall mean score of clinical critical thinking among nursing students was 313.87 ± 25.80 (range = 109-436). Based on this score, most students reported low (63%) or moderate (37%) clinical critical thinking levels. The highest and lowest mean scores between dimensions were related to the intellectual and cognitive (127.99 ± 13.30) and technical (17.25 ± 3.43), respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that semester and college were predictors of clinical critical thinking among nursing students. The selected predictors accounted for 19.3% of the total variance in clinical critical thinking scores (F = 9.396, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The study results showed that nursing students could have performed better in critical thinking ability. The study suggests that nursing education programs should prioritize teaching critical thinking skills in clinical settings as it is an essential subject in nursing education. With significant changes in nursing clinical environments, enhancing clinical critical thinking can improve nursing student performance clinically. Therefore, one of the crucial learning objectives in a clinical nursing course is to develop clinical critical thinking skills for nursing students.

The relationship between critical thinking and job performance among nurses: A descriptive survey study

AIM

This study investigated the relationship between nurses' critical thinking skills and job performance and whether critical thinking and its subdomains predict job performance.

BACKGROUND

It is expected that nurses may use critical thinking skills to provide evidence-based quality patient care in health care settings. However, there is limited evidence about whether critical thinking is related to job performance among nurses.

DESIGN

This was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey study.

METHODS

The study included 368 nurses working in the inpatient wards of a university hospital in Turkey. The survey included a demographic information questionnaire, the Critical Thinking Scale in Clinical Practice for Nurses and the Nurses' Job Performance Scale. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, comparisons, reliability and normality tests, correlation and regression analysis.

RESULTS

Participating nurses got average scores from the critical thinking and job performance scale and sub-scales, and there was a positive, mid-level and statistically significant correlation between the scale scores. According to the multiple linear regression analysis results, personal critical thinking, interpersonal and self-management critical thinking and the total critical thinking scores positively affected the job performance scores of nurses.

CONCLUSION

As critical thinking predicts nurses' job performance, managers of hospitals and nursing services should consider training programs or activities to increase nurses' essential thinking competencies, thus improving clinical nurses' performances.

Nursing management of the critical thinking and care quality of ICU nurses: A cross-sectional study

AIM

To explore the effectiveness of a digital learning management system in enhancing intensive care unit nurses' critical care knowledge and critical thinking tendency.

BACKGROUND

Learning intensive care unit knowledge and skills is essential for the continuing education of nurses, and impacts patient health outcomes. Enhancing intensive care unit nurses' critical care abilities is a medical care quality concern in clinical practice.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 212 participants to investigate the effects of a digital learning system on care quality.

RESULTS

After the implementation of the digital learning system, intensive care unit nurses' critical care knowledge and critical thinking skills increased significantly. High-level nurses had higher critical thinking scores. All participants associated critical care knowledge with improved quality of care.

CONCLUSION

The digital learning management system enhanced intensive care unit nurses' critical care knowledge. Optimizing nursing care safety and quality requires that nursing staff to be at an adequate level, which improves their critical care ability.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

A well-designed digital learning management system with structured classes may allow intensive care unit nurses to learn effectively and can be used for continuing education. These results are of interest to nursing management staff who want to invest in the continued professional development of intensive care unit nurses to improve critical care knowledge, critical thinking skills, care quality, and health care value.