Critical Thinking In Nursing: Thinking Like A Nurse

Critical Thinking:
Tanner (2006), had introduce the term ‘thinking like a nurse’. When I read this article I was wondering what it means and takes to think like a nurse, I am a nurse by profession and yet I don’t even know what it means. In order to be a professional nurse, nurses are required to learn to think like a nurse. To my surprise, to be able think like a nurse, a nurse got to clearly defined and understands what is critical thinking and clinical reasoning. Both terms are powerful terms and these terms explain the mental processes nurses use to make certain that they are doing their most excellent thinking and decision making for their patient’s better outcomes.

Nursing practice requires both critical thinking and clinical reasoning. Critical thinking is the process of deliberate higher level thinking to define a patient’s problem, examine the evidence-based practice in caring for the patient’s, and make options in the delivery of optimal care. Critical thinking involves the demarcation of statements of fact, judgment, and opinion. The progression of critical thinking requires the nurse to think imaginatively, use reflection, and engage in logical thinking (Alfaro-LeFevre, 2013). Critical thinking is a vital skill needed for the recognition of patient’s problems and the execution of interventions to endorse effectual care outcomes (Bittencourt & Crossetti, 2012).

For more than 50 years, nursing professions had emphasized critical thinking as an essential