In the health care profession, the skills, and abilities to think critically are an essential component of professional accountability and quality care. In order to manage the complexity of the work environment, and patient care issues, critical thinking will enable nurses think more effectively, and work through challenges to achieve the best possible results. There are many ways critical thinking can be used in nursing profession.
Critical thinkers in nursing, demonstrate habits of the mind include flexibility, creativity, inquisitiveness, intellectual integrity, intuition, open-mindedness, perseverance, and reflection to manage complex matters in the health care arena (Rubenfeld, Scheffer, 2010).
Nurses use creativity, one of the habits of mind in critical thinking to educate their patients. Example of creative thinking in Patient Education To provide safe care to the patients, nurses must utilize critical thinking abilities in the assessment of patient issues, the planning of care, and the implementation of care.
Careful examination of all the aspects of patient care helps the nurse to reach a better outcome imparting education for the patient. When providing education or information to a patient, the nurses apply creative thinking, by using the counseling dialogues help the patient raise questions of why, how, and who. The nurses guide patients through identifying, and exploring the problem, consider the patient’s choices, choose a plan of action, and evaluate the results (Ranklin, 2005).
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Nursing is a career that presents those in it with many opportunities. There are a variety of nurses and the field in which they choose to practice is just as varied. There are oncology nurses, school nurses, home health nurses, trauma nurses and nurse practitioners. They work in clinics, hospitals, schools, prisons, mental health hospitals, community health centers and even in law offices. The ...
For example, reducing falls in the inpatient unit.
fall risk assessment is a key safety issue in many inpatients. Identifying the risk for fall on patient admission, and implementing measures and reevaluate the patient is essential to prevent falls on the unit. Moreover educating the patient and families is a necessary step in preventing patient falls. Evaluation of an Example of Creative Thinking The presented example is a way of creative thinking to impart education to the patients. Firstly, visual observation of the at-risk patients helps the staff, patients, and families to prevent falls.
Identification tools on the doors, at the bedside, yellow socks, and falls band on the arms enable the health care professionals to target implementation of fall prevention to the patients. The sign at the bedside which says, “Please call, do not fall”, and the bed alarm reminds the patients and their families that, they are at risk for falling. Participating communication with other health care personals regarding fall risk in a regular shift report, and creating visual cues in the patients’ rooms, alarm the nurses and other health care professionals to prevent patients getting harm from falling.
Justification of Creativity in Critical Thinking Creative thinking helps the nursing professionals identify biological, behavioral and environmental risk factors. Patient fall is preventable by implementing effective, and creative fall prevention programs, and thus help the patients live better. Creative thinkers must have knowledge of the clinical problem. They should have the ability of assessing the present problem, and be knowledgeable about the underlying cause, and be able to overcome the situation.
Creativity in critical thinking boosts the nurse’s ability to modify, and expand the existing knowledge in patient related situations. In creative thinking, health care professionals take initiative, examine strategies to use, and recognize the consequences of strategies, and make the decision. Creative thinking remains a key ingredient for individualized client care. In that nurse identifies the specific need of each patient, and makes interventions specific to those needs.
The Essay on Documentation of Purposeful Rounding as a Tool to Reduce Patient Falls
Routine, purposeful rounding is when a nurse goes to a patient’s room every one to two hours to assess and meet patient needs; thus, emphasizing communication and nursing presence. Several publications recommend that purposeful rounding include documentation of the 4 Ps: 1. Pain/Comfort: Staff will be asking - Are you comfortable? Do you need pain medicine? What can we do to make you more ...
Without creative thinking, nursing care would become consistent and routine. There is a strong relationship between critical and creative thinking. In order to provide education to the needy clients, nurses’ needs to utilize critical intelligence and to be a critical thinker (Daniels, 2004).
Hence, hospitalized patients need an individual assessment when educating them. It is important that, nurse must learn to utilize critical thinking skills natural way when providing care to the patients.
