NCM 2

• Critical Thinking


  The process of intentional higher level of thinking to define a client's problem, examine the evidence-based practice in caring for the client and make choices in the delivery of care
• Critical Thinking


  • Purposeful, outcome-oriented thinking
  • Driven by patient, family and community
  • Based on nursing process, evidenced-based thinking and scientific method
  • Requires specific knowledge, skills, experience
  • Guided by professional standards and code of ethics
  • Constantly reevaluating, self-correcting, and striving to improve
• Clinical Reasoning


  The cognitive process that uses thinking strategies to gather and analyze client information, evaluate the relevance of the information and decide on possible nursing actions to improve the client's physiological and psychological outcomes
• Integration of Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning


  • Decisions in client care
  • Logical reasoning in planning
  • Accurate implementation
• Components of Clinical Reasoning

  1. Setting Priorities

  2. Developing Rationales

  3. Learning How to Act

  4. Clinical Reasoning-in-Transition

  5. Responding to changes in the Client's condition

  6. Reflection
• Habits of the Mind / Affective Components

  • Confidence
  • Contextual perspective
  • Creativity
  • Flexibility
  • Inquisitiveness
  • Intellectual integrity
  • Intuition
  • Open-mindedness
  • Perseverance
  • Reflection
• Skills / Cognitive Components

  • Analyzing
  • Applying standards
  • Discriminating
  • Information seeking
  • Logical reasoning
  • Predicting
  • Transforming knowledge
• Techniques in Critical Thinking

  • Critical Analysis
  • Inductive and deductive reasoning
  • Making valid Inferences
  • Differentiating facts from opinions
  • Evaluating the credibility of information sources
  • Clarifying concepts
  • Recognizing assumptions
• Applying Critical Thinking to Nursing Practice

  1. Problem Solving

  2. Trial and Error

  3. Intuition

  4. Research Process
• Concept Mapping


  • A technique that uses a graphic description of nonlinear and linear relationships to represent critical thinking
  • Also known as mind mapping, concept maps are context dependent and can be used to develop analytical skills
  • Provides an opportunity to visualize things in your own way
• Types of Concept Mapping

  • Hierarchical Maps
  • Spider Maps
  • Flow Chart Maps
  • Systems Maps