Please respond to the following post with a paragraph.

Critical thinking is defined as “the disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action” (Norris & Ellis, 1989). Critical thinking in nursing is “the ability to think in a systematic and logical manner with openness to question and reflect on the reasoning process used to ensure safe nursing practice and quality care” (The Foundation for Critical Thinking [TFCT], 2008). This is very important because as nurses, we need to be aware of and thinking about all the possible effects of our patients’ disease processes. For example, if we are taking care of a patient who hasn’t had a bowel movement in multiple days. We can’t just sit by idly and wait for him to have a bowel movement. We need to be thinking: Is he showing signs of a bowel obstruction? Or what has his food intake been? What are his vital signs and how could they be affecting anything, etc.?

As nurses, we use critical thinking to care for our patient and be proactive about preventing certain negative side effects or things from happening. In my opinion, the better critical thinker you are, the better nurse you are. This has a direct effect on patient outcomes as the patient will be better taken care of if their nurse is anticipating things that could go wrong and be ready with a solution or prevent effects or symptoms from happening in the first place.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is described as “the integration of clinical expertise, the most up-to-date research, and patient’s preference to care” (Grand Canyon University, 2018). Basically, it involves nurses using the most up to date scientific research and outcomes to help guide their care of patients. EBP has a direct relationship with patient outcomes because if used properly it saves lives. EBP as shown to be effective throughout its research, so why would we not use that to our advantage when taking care of our patients?

References

Grand Canyon University. (Ed.). (2018). Dynamics in nursing: Art and science of professional practice.

Norris, S. P. & Ennis, R.H. (1989). Evaluating critical thinking. Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications,

Critical Thinking Press

The Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2008). Critical thinking and nursing. Retrieved from

https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-th…