Critical Thinking The Patient - 1621 Words

Critical Thinking: During the first scenario, the patient was a 39-year-old female admitted to a med-surg unit following an abdominal hysterectomy. She had no known allergies and had a Foley catheter in place. Also the physician’s orders included, sequential compression devices and pain medication. While receiving report about my patient, I was beginning to think, as a nurse what my priority would be when first entering the patient’s room, which would be performing an assessment, monitoring vitals, assessing pain and inspecting the surgical site and dressing for signs and symptoms of infection, and assessing for potential post-op complications such as respiratory and cardiac problems; however, that didn’t go as planned. I was too focused on being reactive and thinking about what I was going to do next instead of being proactive, that I forgot simple steps such as introducing myself to the patient. Moreover, in the second scenario, my colleagues and I were placed in the emergency department to care for a 34-year-old patient with complaints of difficulty breathing due to asthma. In this scenario, the physician’s order consisted of administering oxygen via nasal cannula as needed in addition to administering albuterol via the nebulizer. Once again, before entering the patient’s room, I knew my first priority was going to be to assess the patient’s respiratory status by auscultating breath sounds, examining the quality and rate of respirations, the shape and configuration of theShow MoreRelatedCritical Thinking : Quality Patient Care969 Words   |  4 PagesCritical thinking is a skill that many nurses learn alongside experiences. Situations requiring critical thinking will arise, and whether or not one is familiar with it, it cannot be ignored. Critical thinking helps to determine an appropriate course of action to attain the best possible outcome for the patient and the situation. There are many descriptions of critical thinking, but what it really boils down to is quality patient care (Kearney-Nunnery, 2012). By utilizing critical thinking an actionRead MoreCritical Thinking And Clinical Reasoning1163 Words   |  5 PagesCritical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning Critical thinking and clinical reasoning are terms often used interchangeably throughout the history of nursing. However, they are not the same, and distinguishing the difference amongst them is important. The purpose of this paper is to define critical thinking and clinical reasoning, discuss each concepts similarities and differences, as well as share this author’s perspective on how critical thinking and clinical reasoning have developed and evolved throughoutRead MoreWhat Are Critical Thinking?1189 Words   |  5 Pages†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦What is critical thinking, critical thinking is -------it helps a nurse --------and all of these steps contribute to good patient outcomes. Anyone is capable of learning and improving critical thinking skills. Critical thinking makes one look at a situation and weighs all possible solutions before coming up with a conclusion. It may require input from different coworkers, for example ------critical thinking helped my priority During my early years in nursing, and especially as a licensed vocationalRead MoreCritical Thinking Skills For Nursing School Essay953 Words   |  4 Pageshave and maintain critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills often evolve over time with past experiences. This is why there must be a nice blend of new and old employees within a unit to make the organization effective and to keep the patients safe. However, critical thinking skills must being in nursing school. Institutions must help facilitate higher level of thinking to help evolve critical thinking skills in order to have the best outcomes for their patients. Better outcomes equalRead MoreEssay Critical Thinking: Beneficial in Nursing Education519 Words   |  3 PagesAssociation (ANA) recognizes that critical thinking (CT) is an integral part of each step in the nursing process (ANA, 2010). Educating nurses in critical thinking begins during nursing school. National League for Nursing‘s (NLN) expectations for nursing students is that they are capable of incorporating CT into their practice (Roberts Petersen, 2013). Nursing students who successfully learn to critically think are better prepared to function in a dynamic patient care setting. Complex situationsRead MoreEssay about Critical Thinking: A Necessary Tool for Decision Making1296 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract This paper will define the meaning of critical thinking. I will provide an example of a personal experience when critical thinking had to be used. This paper will also examin the benefits and importance of using critical thinking during the decision-making process. What is Critical Thinking? Critical thinking is an essential tool to good decision-making. Everyone has biases or prejudices which can hinder good decision making. Critical thinking varies depending on the underlying motivationRead MoreCritical Thinking: A Key for Nurses Essay687 Words   |  3 PagesCritical thinking is a nursing process that includes reflective practice, problem solving and decision making which are connected to one another. The definition of critical thinking is transferring and applying knowledge and skills in a new situation. The critical thinking is needed in a lot of aspects of the nurses’ job such as when the nurses need to provide the precise identification in the specific problems had by the patients. They need to be in detail and also critical to themselves in everyRead MoreDifference in competencies between ADN and BSN Essay1113 Words   |  5 Pagesworking as a registered nurse in Washington.† (Nursing Education, 2008, para. 1). Difference in education, critical thi nking, communication and problem solving skill, quality of care and scope of practice makes BSN more competent. Education ADN is a two year program mainly provided by community colleges. It is more focused on clinical and technical skills rather than critical thinking, communication and problem solving skills. Hence they are fit for bedside nursing care which is more task orientedRead MoreCritical Thinking1125 Words   |  5 PagesCritical Thinking Article Review Over the last thirty years, the health care system has incurred dramatic changes, resulting in new advances in technology and medical theories. Greater demand for quality care by consumers, more knowledgeable patients, remarkable disease processes, shorter hospitalizations, and the continuing pressure to lower health care costs are all contributing factors in the necessary changes to the nursing practice. In order for nurses to deliver optimum care, they must developRead MoreA Nursing Process Approach to Malignant Melanoma1155 Words   |  5 Pagesspecial ways of think are applied in order to efficiently maximums patient care. The base of nursing is patient care, thus the nursing process is the foundation for nursing practice and key to ensuring the needs of the patient are met. History What is nursing? Florence Nightingale, first nursing theorist, defined nursing as having â€Å"charge of the personal health of somebody †¦ and what nursing has to do †¦ is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him† (Nightingale, 1946