An Integrative Review of the Concealed Connection: Nurse Educators' Critical Thinking

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Professional Development

Background:

• The critical thinking development of nursing students is essential.
• The role of nurse educators in fostering critical thinking is under-researched.
• Effective teaching strategies in nursing education require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine research on nurse educators' critical thinking.
• To identify factors influencing nurse educators' critical thinking.
• To synthesize findings on critical thinking in nursing education.

Main Methods:

• Integrative review of quantitative and qualitative studies.
• Literature search from 2000 to 2015.
• Analysis of research on nurse educators' critical thinking.

Main Results:

• Individual, interpersonal, and contextual factors impact nurse educators' critical thinking.
• Diverse tools are used to measure critical thinking in this population.
• A lack of consensus on critical thinking definitions and limited conceptual models exist.

Conclusions:

• Further research is necessary to understand nurse educators' critical thinking.
• Conceptualizations of critical thinking require further exploration.
• Emerging themes in critical thinking research need confirmation.