Critical thinking

• Critical thinking


  An active organized, cognitive process used to carefully examine one's thinking and the thinking of others
• Critical thinking


  Thinking about thinking
• Critical thinking


  • Recognizing that an issue exists
  • Evaluating information (reviewing assumptions and evidence)
  • Analyzing information
  • Making conclusions
• Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking.
• Critical thinker


  Able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of information to inform himself
• The critical thinker considers what is important in a situation, imagines and explores alternatives, considers ethical principles and then makes an informed decision
• Critical thinking


  The ability to think clearly and rationally, including the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking
• Someone with critical thinking skills

  • Understands the logical connections between ideas
  • Identifies, constructs and evaluates arguments
  • Detects inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
  • Solves problems systematically
  • Identifies the relevance and importance of ideas
  • Reflects on the justification of one's own beliefs and values
• Critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment


  Critical thinking is a broad term that includes reasoning both outside and inside of the clinical setting. Clinical reasoning and clinical judgment are key pieces of critical thinking in nursing.
• Clinical reasoning


  Ways of thinking about patient care issues (determining, preventing, and managing patient problems)
• Clinical judgment


  The conclusion, decision, or opinion you make as the result of critical thinking or clinical reasoning
• Nursing is both a thinking and doing profession. It is more than just memorizing facts and information. Nurses use facts and information to make decisions, generate new ideas and solve problems. In order to transfer nursing knowledge into nursing practice, nurses must use critical thinking.
• Why critical thinking is important for nurses

  • Nurses deal with changes in stressful environments
  • Treatment, medication and technology change constantly, and a patient's condition may change from minute to minute
  • Nurses must base their decisions on knowledge and rational thinking in order to respond appropriately under stress
• Personal critical thinking indicators (CTIs)


  • Self-aware
  • Genuine/authentic
  • Effective communicator
  • Curious and inquisitive
  • Alert to context
  • Analytical and insightful
  • Logical and intuitive
  • Confident and resilient
  • Reflective and self-corrective
  • Proactive
  • Courageous
  • Patient and persistent
  • Flexible
  • Improvement-oriented (self, patients, systems)
• Critical thinking traits


  • Confidence
  • Contextual perspective
  • Creativity
  • Flexibility
  • Inquisitiveness
  • Intellectual integrity
  • Intuition
  • Open-mindedness
  • Perseverance
  • Reflection
• Facione's critical thinking dispositions

  • Truthseeking
  • Open-mindedness
  • Analyticity
  • Systematicity
  • Critical thinking
  • Self-confidence
  • Inquisitiveness
  • Maturity
• Paul and Elder's intellectual traits

  • Intellectual humility
  • Intellectual courage
  • Intellectual empathy
  • Intellectual autonomy
  • Intellectual integrity
  • Confidence in reason
  • Fair-mindedness
• The problem-solving process


  1. Identify the problem accurately

  2. Define the problem

  3. Analyze the problem

  4. Brainstorm possible solutions

  5. Explore each solution

  6. Choose and implement the solution

  7. Refine the solution
• Brainstorming


  A crucial element of problem solving where you approach a problem by letting your mind free-associate, coming up with as many possible ideas, examples, or solutions as you can without immediately evaluating them as good or bad
• Brainstorming is also referred to as divergent thinking, where you start with the issue or problem and then let your mind diverge, or go in many different directions, in search of ideas or solutions.
• Guidelines for creative and successful brainstorming

  • Don't evaluate or criticize an idea right away
  • Focus on quantity, don't worry about quality until later
  • Let yourself play
  • Use analogy
  • Don't fear failure
• Problem solving process


  • Defining the problem/gathering the information
  • Analyze the information – develop solutions
  • Making decisions/implementation of decisions
  • Evaluate the decision
• Nursing process

  • Encounter problem
  • Assess
  • Collect data
  • Diagnosis
  • Analyze data to specific problem
  • Outcome identification
  • Determine plan of action to resolve problem
  • Plan
  • Execute action plan
  • Implement
  • Evaluate plan for effectiveness in problem resolution
  • Evaluate
• The problem-solving process and nursing process are compared and contrasted.