Critical Thinking Nursing

To become a professional nurse requires that one must learn to think like a nurse. To think like a nurse necessitates that we gain knowledge of the content of nursing; the philosophies, concepts and principles of nursing and cultivate our intellectual abilities and skills so that we become well-organized, self-directed, critical thinkers. In nursing, critical thinking for clinical decision-making is the skill to think in an efficient and rational manner with openness to enquiry and reflect on the thought process used to ensure safe nursing practice and quality care. The Student Learning Outcome (SLO) area I chose for this paper is Critical thinking. I will address how to reflect upon and critique the effectiveness of clinical decisions. Nursing …show more content…
According to our assessment, the highest priority family problem for this family was sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as the child slept between the parents. To provide the best interventions to prevent SIDS, we had to research and use the critical thinking skills to benefit the child and the family. The critical thinking skills employed during this project included, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating information gathered from, and generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, and communication. According to the research our main five interventions for this family included: 1) Educating caregivers to position the child in a supine position. Occurrence of SIDS is higher when child is placed in prone position. 2) Raising child’s head slightly when placed in bed or crib to reduce abdominal pressure on the diaphragm and allow better expansion of the lungs. 3) Encouraging separate sleep space for the child. Bed sharing is linked to an increased risk of suffocation, falls, overheating and crushing injuries. 4) Placing child on a steady surface to preclude her from sinking into the mattress or blanket. 5) Maintaining appropriate room temperature and avoid covering the child with heavy blankets. Extreme heat has been recognized as a possible risk factor for SIDS. After implementing these interventions, we noticed a huge improvement in family’s co-sleeping habits with the child upon the follow up. We noticed that the parents began placing their child in a crib next to their bed. Additionally, they also stopped wrapping their child in heavy blankets and started to position the 8-month old child in a supine position. Evidence- based research (EBR) during this project helped me sharpen my critical thinking skills. EBR supports nursing care and contribute positively to patient outcomes as it did in this

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Critical Thinking In Nursing