The Importance of Critical Thinking in the Nursing Profession - Term Paper Example

Literature Review Name Institution Introduction Some of the important skills for solving problems and generating new ideas are critical thinking and creativity. In the health care sector, nursing is one of the professions that require creativity (Simpson & Courtney, 2015). This is because a nurse usually encounters unexpected situations and is also required to provide care to patients with different health conditions and backgrounds. These factors make it imperative for a nurse to embrace critical and creative thinking to ensure that all the decisions made are beneficial to the patient. Creativity in the nursing profession is meant to compliment critical thinking (Chan, 2013). The need for critical thinking in the nursing profession has been precipitated by the rapid changes in the health care environment. As the health care systems become more complex than before, nurses must think critically to ensure that they provide effective care. Socratic questioning is the backbone of critical thinking. Socratic questioning requires one to identify and examine assumptions, search for any inconsistencies and differentiate what is known from that which is not known in order to make a critical decision (Simpson & Courtney, 2015). It is such questioning that nurses should employ when providing care to patients as a way to ensure that they think critically before implementing a health care decision. This literature review focuses on the importance of critical thinking in the nursing profession. Specifically, the literature review expounds on the applicability of Socratic questioning to advanced nurse practice as a way to promote critical thinking. The literature review, however, does not extend its scope to the need for critical thinking for other health care providers. The literature used in the entire paper was chosen by ensuring that each of the articles used was peer reviewed. The literature was screened through the use of websites such as PubMed and NCBI to ensure that the journal articles used were peer reviewed. Socratic Questioning in Advanced Nursing Practice Advanced nursing practice is a general term used to refer to an advanced level of clinical nursing practice that maximizes on in-depth nursing knowledge as well as expertise in providing care or meeting the health needs of patients, families and communities (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). Advanced nursing practice involves the analysis of knowledge, understanding, interpreting and applying nursing research and theory and advancing nursing knowledge. Advanced practice nurses build on their expertise in a specific area and ensure that effective and efficient care is delivered to patients. Health care needs are always evolving and new challenges arise in the sector such as shortage of professionals, the introduction of new technology and rising costs. These challenges have increased the demand for innovative clinical practitioners to offer leadership in health care. Advanced practice nurses are called upon to fill this gap by advancing the nursing profession and contributing to an effective health care system (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016). For these nurses to be equipped to handle the challenges that emerge every day in the health care sector they have to embrace critical thinking skills. These skills can be acquired by probing their thoughts through Socratic questioning. Socratic questioning is a learning-centered technique that challenges an individual to develop critical thinking skills to enable them to engage in an analytic discussion which helps promote independent thinking and learning (Simpson & Courtney, 2015). It probes beneath the surface of things to allow a person to evaluate their thinking. Socratic questioning can be used to get to the root of things, explore ideas and analyse complex concepts. This sort of questioning is based on the idea that all thinking has logic and, therefore, it is applied to highlight the logic in a person’s thoughts (Simpson & Courtney, 2015). \ There are six types of Socratic questions that can help explain the importance of Socratic questioning in nursing practice (Simpson & Courtney, 2015). These questions include clarification questions, questions to probe reason and evidence, questions that probe assumptions, questions about viewpoints and perspectives, questions about a question and questions that probe implications and consequences. These questions, when used, ensure that every thought is thoroughly probed before one can make a decision (Edwards, 2007). For advanced practice nurses, these questions ensure that a nurse evaluates the evidence available, weighs the different perspectives available in order to find a suitable one and also examines the possible consequences of certain decisions. Socratic questioning, as stated above, is the backbone of critical thinking. Socratic questioning enables a person to develop critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is defined as a process that allows one to reflect, assess and judge our ideas and actions. The health care sector is prone to rapid changes that bring new challenges for health practitioners. It is, therefore, imperative that nurses become skilled in high-level thinking as well as reasoning (Edwards, 2007). Critical thinking is important to nurses because where a problem arises where there is no definitive solution, a nurse can apply the skills to find solutions. Sometimes theoretical evidence may not be available to support a certain practice and in such a situation incorporating critical thinking skills may help a nurse to provide new answers. Critical thinking in nursing means thinking that is guided by standards, policies, codes of conduct and laws. The nursing profession has standards of practice set out for all nurses to ensure uniform practice and also to promote delivery of quality care to patients (Edwards, 2007). There are also policies, codes of conduct and laws put in place to guide nurses and other health providers in discharging their responsibilities. Critical thinking means thinking that is guided by the regulatory framework put in place to ensure that patients receive the best care possible. Critical thinking in nursing also means thinking that focuses on safety and quality. Nurses have to constantly re-evaluate and strive to improve their thinking and practice for the well-being of the patients (Simpson & Courtney, 2015). As the health care sector evolves, nurses must utilise their critical thinking skills to ensure that the decisions made in response to emerging challenges do not negate the provision of quality care. Such decision-making should also not affect the safety of the patients. Critical thinking also means applying logic and creativity in the delivery of care to patients. Nurses should not only apply the knowledge and skills they have to offer solutions but should also be creative enough to develop solutions to emerging challenges. Advanced practice nurses have to be creative in discharging their responsibilities (Anderson et al., 2012). Other than providing quality care to patients, they also have a responsibility to expand the knowledge in the profession. This can only happen through creativity especially in the face of emerging health care challenges. Clinical reasoning and clinical judgment are important elements of critical thinking. Clinical judgment refers to the outcome of critical thinking or clinical reasoning (LeFevre, 2010). Clinical reasoning is a cognitive process that involves gathering and analysing client information while evaluating the relevance of such information and deciding on the possible actions that can be taken to improve the patient’s physiological and psychosocial outcomes. It is the process that involves thinking about patient care issues such as identifying, preventing and managing patient conditions or problems (Sedgwick et al., 2014). Nurses need to develop clinical reasoning especially in the current context of increasingly complex care. Clinical reasoning requires the nurses to apply both cognitive and metacognitive processes. The cognitive processes involve thinking based on the knowledge of the aspects of patient care. A nurse can gain cognitive skills through reading and applying health-related literature. Metacognitive processes involve reflecting the status of the client and determining the most appropriate care plan through the use of critical thinking skills. Clinical reasoning requires the nurse to reason about a clinical situation as it happens. Sedgwick et al. (2014) argue that as the patient’s condition changes, the nurse must assess the patient and identify the interventions that will boost the patient’s health-related outcomes. The nurse must assess the changes in the patients and implement nursing interventions. Clinical reasoning is, therefore, an important element in critical thinking because it enables the nurse to identify different ways to respond to the condition of a patient as changes occur (Crampton, 2013). Emotional Intelligence as an Important Concept for Nursing Practice Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise and regulate one’s emotions. According to Codier et al. (2010), an emotionally intelligent nurse can work in harmony with his/her thoughts and feelings. Emotional intelligence helps nurses to build therapeutic relationships with the patients and their families and also it enables them to manage stress better. There are two types of emotional intelligence namely interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional intelligence (Landa & Lopez-Safra, 2010). Interpersonal emotional intelligence is the ability to understand other people’s emotions and to work well with them. Intrapersonal emotional intelligence involves understanding and appreciating other people’s emotions while making efforts to build relationships with them. Intrapersonal emotional intelligence, on the other hand, focuses on self-awareness. Intrapersonal emotional intelligence enables one to recognise their emotions and how they may affect others. It is this type of emotional intelligence that requires the nurse to regulate his/her emotions for the sake of the safety and well-being of the patient. (Codier et al., 2010) Emotional intelligence has three components namely attention, clarity and repair. Two of these components, that is, clarity and emotional repair are regarded as important factors in preventing stress, burn out and also contribute to improved job satisfaction. Cornell et al. (2011) argue that one of the barriers to critical thinking is the lack of the necessary conditions for such thinking. The lack of the conditions for critical thinking could be caused by factors such as stress and exhaustion (Cornell et al., 2011). This means that with emotional intelligence a nurse is able to apply critical thinking skills effectively since their thinking is not hampered by emotions resulting from stress among others. A nurse with high clarity and emotional repair is less anxious even when faced with challenges in the course of treating a patient (Beauvais et al., 2011). The other component of emotional intelligence is attention. Attention for a nurse means the ability to concentrate on that which is important. Emotional intelligence helps to regulate emotions that may impede critical decision-making and, therefore, enables the nurse to pay attention to important things such as the condition of the patient (Beauvais et al., 2011). Conclusion Socratic questioning is an important technique to be used in the development of critical thinking skills in advanced nursing practice. Advanced practice nurses encounter different challenges each day whose solutions may not be supported by theory or practice. This means that they have to assess the situation and make a decision for the benefit and safety of the patient. Socratic question is meant to help them probe such decisions to ensure that they are water tight and that they promote the safety and well-being of the clients. Socratic questioning is the backbone or the foundation for critical thinking. It is through the application of Socratic questioning that a nurse can develop critical thinking skills. In a society where health care is evolving and introducing new challenges to health care providers, nurses with critical thinking skills are able to rise to the task and offer solutions to existing challenges. Critical thinking is closely linked to clinical reasoning. Clinical reasoning involves the application of critical thinking in assessing and identifying ways to respond to issues that may arise as the condition of the patient changes. Clinical reasoning is concerned with the care provided to the patient. Another important concept is emotional intelligence which ensures that the nurse can regulate their emotions to eliminate any likelihood of such emotions affecting the decision-making process. Critical thinking is an important concept for advanced practice nurses. It enables them to rise to the occasion and provide direction in the health care environment. Based on this research, it would be important to conduct a case study of how nursing students in Australian College of Nursing develop critical thinking skills. References Anderson N., Klang B., & Peterson G. (2012) Differences in clinical reasoning among nurses working in highly specialised paediatric care. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 21; 870-879. Beauvais A., Brady N., O’Shea E., & Quinn Griffin, M. (2011) Emotional Intelligence and nursing performance among nursing students, Nurse Education Today, 31; 396-401. Chan Z. (2013) A systematic review of critical thinking in nursing education. Nurse Education Today. 33; 236-240. Codier E., Muneno L. Franey K., & Matsuura F. (2010). Is emotional intelligence an important concept for nursing practice?, Research in brief Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 17, 940-948. Cornell, P., Riordan, M., Townsend-Gervis, M., & Mobley, R. (2011). Barriers to critical thinking: workflow interruptions and task switching among nurses. Journal of Nursing Administration, 41(10), 407-414. Crampton J. (2013) Why nurses should use clinical reasoning to diagnose a cough. Primary Healthcare. 23(7); 18 -24. Edwards, S. (2007). Critical thinking: A two-phase framework. Nurse Education in Practice, 7, 303-314. Landa, J. & Lopez-Zfra, E. (2010). The impact of emotional intelligence in nursing: An overview. Psychology, 1, 50-58. LeFevre, R. (2010) Critical Thinking, Clinical Reasoning, and Clinical Judgement: A practical approach, Elsevier, USA. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2016). Advanced nursing practice and specialty areas within nursing. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Sedgwick M., Grigg L. & Dersch S. (2014) Deepening the quality of clinical reasoning and decision-making in rural hospital nursing practice. Rural and Remote Health. 14(3);1-12 Simpson, E. & Courtney, M. (2015). Critical thinking in nursing education: A literature review. School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology. Read More