Funda Lec

• Critical Thinking


  A mental process that involves activities such as decision making and reasoning
• Components of Critical Thinking

  • Mental Operations
  • Knowledge
  • Attitudes
• Mental Operations


  • Activities such as decision making and reasoning
  • Nurses engage in such activities whenever they search for solutions based on sound rationale and develop outcomes accordingly
• Knowledge

  • Critical thinking calls for a knowledge base that includes declarative knowledge (specific facts or information) and operative knowledge (an understanding of the nature of that knowledge)
• Attitudes of Critical Thinkers

  • Tolerance, open-mindedness, nonjudgmental mind-set
  • Curiosity
  • Persistence, intellectual courage
  • Respect for others' perspectives
  • Comfort dealing with ambiguity, uncertainty
  • Intellectual humility
  • Self-confidence
  • Flexible
  • Organized
• Critical Thinking Skills

  • Interpretation – categorize, decode sentences and clarify meanings
  • Analysis – examine ideas, identify and analyze arguments
  • Influence – query evidence, conjecture alternatives and draw conclusions
  • Explanation – state results, justify procedures and present arguments
  • Self-regulation – self-examination and self-correction
• Problem Solving

  A mental process and part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping
• Problem solving is considered the most complex of all intellectual functions
• Problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills
• Problem solving occurs when an organism or an artificial intelligence system needs to move from a given state to a desired goal state
• Methods of studying problem solving

  • Introspection
  • Behaviorism
  • Simulation
  • Computer modeling
  • Experiment
• Early experimental work on problem solving used relatively simple, laboratory tasks that appeared novel to participants
• Researchers made the underlying assumption that simple tasks captured the main properties of "real world" problems, and that the cognitive processes underlying participants' attempts to solve simple problems were representative of the processes engaged in when solving "real world" problems
• Simple laboratory-based tasks can be useful in explicating the steps of logic and reasoning that underlie problem solving; however, they omit the complexity and emotional valence of "real-world" problems
• Problem orientation


  The motivational/attitudinal/affective approach to problematic situations
• Problem-solving skills


  The actual cognitive-behavioral steps, which, if successfully implemented, lead to effective problem resolution
• Characteristics of Difficult Problems

  • Intransparency (lack of clarity of the situation)
  • Polytely (multiple goals)
  • Complexity (large numbers of items, interrelations and decisions)
  • Dynamics (time considerations)
• The resolution of difficult problems requires a direct attack on each of the characteristics that are encountered
• In reform mathematics, greater emphasis is placed on problem solving relative to basic skills, where basic operations can be done with calculators
• Problem-solving Techniques

  • Abstraction
  • Analogy
  • Brainstorming
  • Divide and conquer
  • Hypothesis testing
  • Lateral thinking
  • Means-ends analysis
  • Method of focal objects
  • Morphological analysis
  • Reduction
  • Research
  • Root cause analysis
  • Trial-and-error
• Problem-solving Methodologies

  • Eight Disciplines Problem Solving
  • GROW model
  • How to solve it
  • Kepner-Tregoe
  • Southbeach Notation
  • PDCA
  • RPR Problem Diagnosis
  • TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch, "theory of solving inventor's problems")
• Scientific method


  A body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge
• To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning
• A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses
• Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses
• The scientific process must be objective to reduce biased interpretations of the results
• Truth is sought for its own sake in the scientific process
• Nursing Process


  A systematic, organized method of planning, and providing quality and individualized nursing care
• The nursing process is synonymous with the PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH that directs the nurse and the client to determine the need for nursing care, to plan and implement the care and evaluate the result
• Characteristics of Nursing Process

  • Cyclic and dynamic rather than static
  • Client centered
  • Interpersonal and collaborative
  • Universally applicable
  • Employs the use of critical thinking, adaptation of problem solving techniques, and system theory based on the scientific method
  • Parallel to but separate from the medical process
• Assessment


  The process of systematically collecting, organizing, validating and recording data about a client's health status
• Activities Done During Assessment

  • Collection of data
  • Validation of data
  • Organization of data
  • Analyzing of data
  • Recording/documentation of data
• Types of Data

  • Subjective data
  • Objective Data
• Sources of Data

  • Primary source
  • Secondary source
• Pre-requisites to Assessment

  • Beliefs
  • Knowledge
  • Skills (Psychomotor and Interpersonal)
• Secondary source

  Data gathered from client's family members, significant others, client's medical records/chart, other members of health team, and related care literature/journals
• Example

  • Review clients records
  • Observe the patient using your five senses
• Pre-requisites to Assessment

  • Beliefs- The nurse beliefs encompasses a caring philosophy about the client's right, responsibilities and health and illness, and the role of nursing in health care
  • Knowledge- Nurses are required to use information from the fields of sciences (nursing anatomy, physiology, psychology, microbiology, pharmacology, chemistry and nutrition)
  • Skills- Psychomotor, Interpersonal, Communication/listening
• Psychomotor skills


  Technical skills required in many phases of nursing diagnosis (e.g. the use of stethoscope, allows the nurse to assess lung sounds and bowel sounds)
• Interpersonal skills


  Important component in all phases of the nurse-client but are a critical component of the assessment phase. It allows the nurse to assess the client's perception of the disorder or current complaint to recognize the client's priorities. "Therapeutic relationship" techniques that allow the client and family to share views and feelings openly