Think Like a Nurse: A Critical Thinking Initiative

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Clinical Reasoning
• Pedagogy in Healthcare

Background:

• Critical thinking is a core competency for generalist nurses.
• Nursing faculty seek effective teaching strategies to promote critical thinking and active learning.
• A gap exists between developing critical thinking skills and achieving student success in nursing programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate the "think like a nurse initiative" for junior nursing students.
• To identify and adopt fundamental nursing concepts supporting the development of critical thinking.
• To enhance active learning and bridge the gap between critical thinking and student success.

Main Methods:

• A nursing school in the southeastern United States implemented the "think like a nurse initiative".
• Faculty collaborated to define and integrate essential nursing concepts into the curriculum.
• The initiative targeted incoming junior nursing students.

Main Results:

• The initiative aimed to foster critical thinking in nursing students.
• Collaboration focused on adopting fundamental nursing concepts to support "thinking like a nurse".
• The program sought to improve active learning and student success.

Conclusions:

• The "think like a nurse initiative" represents a faculty-driven effort to enhance critical thinking.
• Integrating core nursing concepts is key to developing clinical reasoning skills.
• This approach seeks to improve nursing student preparedness and success.