CRITICAL

THINKING
Critical thinking
is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which
attempts to reason at the highest level of
quality in a fair-minded way.
People who think critically consistently attempt
to live rationally, reasonably, empathically.
They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed
nature of human thinking when left unchecked.
They strive to diminish the power of their
egocentric and sociocentric tendencies.
They use the intellectual tools that critical
thinking offers concepts and principles that
enable them to analyze, assess, and improve
thinking.
 It is also a multi-dimensional skill, a
cognitive or mental process or a set of
procedures
It involves reasoning and purposeful,
systematic, reflective, rational, outcome-
directed thinking based on a body of
knowledge, as well as examination and
analysis of all available information and
ideas.
It leads to the formulation of
conclusions, and the most appropriate,
 Critical Thinking is:
Systematic and Organized
Skills involved here are developed over time
through effort, practice and experience
Critical thinking requires interpretation, analysis,
evaluation, inference, explanation & self-regulation
Reflective
It involves metacognition, active evaluation and
refinement of the thinking process
 Components of Critical
Thinking
When thinking critically, a person will do the
following:
Ask questions to determine the reason why

certain developments have occurred and to see

whether more information is needed to
understand the situation accurately
Gather as much relevant information as possible

to consider as many factors as possible

Validate the information presented to make sure

that it is accurate (not just supposition or

opinion), that it makes sense, and that it is
based on fact and evidence
 Analyze the information to determine what it means
and to se whether it forms clusters or patterns that
point to certain conclusions
Draw on past clinical experiences and knowledge to
explain what is happening and to anticipate what
might happen next, acknowledging personal bias and
cultural differences
Maintain a flexible attitude that allows the facts to
guide thinking and takes into account all possibilities
Consider available options and examine each in
terms of its advantages and disadvantages
Formulate decisions that reflect creativity and
independent decision making
A well-cultivated critical
thinker:
Raises vital questions and problems, formulating
them clearly and precisely
Gathers and assesses relevant information,
using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively
Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and
solutions, testing them against relevant criteria
and standards
Thinks open-mindedly within alternative
systems of thought, recognizing and assessing,
as needs be, their assumptions, implications,
and practical consequences
Communicates effectively with others in figuring
out solutions to complex problems
Critical Thinking in Nursing
Practice
Using critical thinking to develop a plan
of nursing care requires considering the
human factors that might influence the
plan
The nurse interacts with the patient,
family, and other health care providers
in the process of providing appropriate
and individualized nursing care
* Nurses must use critical thinking skills
in all settings
 Fonteyn (1998) identified 12 predominant
thinking strategies used by nurses

Recognizing a pattern Drawing conclusions

Setting priorities Providing explanations
Searching for information
Generating hypothesis
Making predictions
Forming relationships
Stating a proposition
Asserting a practice rule
Making choices
Judging the value
The Inquiring Mind: Critical Thinking
in Action

When faced with a patient situation, it is often

helpful to seek answers to some or all of the
following questions in an attempt to
determine those actions that are most
appropriate:
What relevant assessment information do I

need, and ho do I interpret this information?

What does this information tell me?
To what problem does this information

point? Have I identified the most important

ones? Does the information point to any
other problems that I should consider?
 Have I gathered all the information I
need? Is anything missing?
Is there anything that needs to be
reported immediately? Do I need to seek
additional assistance?
Does this patient have any special risk
factors? Which ones are the most
significant? What must I do to minimize
these risks?
What possible complications I must
anticipate
 What are the most important problems in this
situation? Do the patient and his family
recognize the same problems?
What are the desired outcomes for this patient?
Which have the highest priority? Does the
patient see eye to eye with me on this points?
What is going to be my first action in this
situation?
How can I construct a plan of care to achieve the
goals?
Are there any age-related factors involved, and
will they require some special approach? Will I
need to make some change in the plan of care?
 How do the family dynamics affect this
situation, and will this have an effect on
my actions or the plan of care?
Are there any cultural factors that I must
address and consider?
Am I dealing with an ethical problem
here? If so, how am I going to resolve it?
Has any nursing research been
conducted on this subject?
Self-directed decision-making skills

We use our decision making skills to

solve problems by selecting one course
of action from several possible
alternatives.
Decision making skills are also a key
component of time management skills.
Decision making can be hard. Almost
any decision involves some conflicts or
dissatisfaction.
The difficult part is to pick one solution
where the positive outcome can
 Avoiding decisions
often seems easier.
Yet, making your
own decisions and
accepting the
consequences is
the only way to
stay in control of
your time, your
success, and your
life.
A significant part of decision making skills
is in knowing and practicing good decision
making techniques. One of the most
practical decision making techniques can
be summarized in those simple decision
making steps:
Identify the purpose of your

decision. What is exactly the problem

to be solved? Why it should be solved?
Gather information. What factors does

the problem involve?

 Identify the principles to judge the
alternatives. What standards and judgement
criteria should the solution meet?
Brainstorm and list different possible
choices. Generate ideas for possible solutions.
See more on extending your options for your
decisions on my brainstorming tips page.
Evaluate each choice in terms of its
consequences. Use your standards and
judgement criteria to determine the cons and
pros of each alternative.
 Determine the best alternative. This
is much easier after you go through the
above preparation steps.
Put the decision into action.
Transform your decision into specific
plan of action steps. Execute your plan.
Evaluate the outcome of your
decision and action steps. What
lessons can be learnt? This is an
important step for further development
of your decision making skills and
 In everyday life we often have to make
decisions fast, without enough time to
systematically go through the above action
and thinking steps.
In such situations the most effective
decision making strategy is to keep an eye
on your goals and then let your intuition
suggest you the right choice.
 critical thinking skills
The list of core critical thinking skills includes
observation, interpretation, analysis, inference,
evaluation, explanation, and meta-cognition.
There is a reasonable level of consensus among
experts that an individual or group engaged in strong
critical thinking gives due consideration to:
Evidence through observation

Context

Relevant criteria for making the judgment well

Applicable methods or techniques for forming the

judgment
Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the

problem and the question at hand

 In addition to possessing strong critical-
thinking skills, one must be disposed to
engage problems and decisions using
those skills.
Critical thinking employs not only logic
but broad intellectual criteria such as
clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision,
relevance, depth, breadth, significance,
and fairness.
Observation
It is either an activity of a living being,
such as a human, consisting of receiving
knowledge of the outside world through
the senses, or the recording of data
using scientific instruments.
The term may also refer to any data
collected during this activity.
An observation can also be the way you
look at things or when you look at
something.
Interpretation
An interpretation is an assignment of
meaning to the symbols of a formal
language
An interpretation often (but not always)
provides a way to determine the truth
values of sentences in a language.
If a given interpretation assigns the
value True to a sentence or theory, the
interpretation is called a model of that
sentence or theory.
Analysis
Analysis is the process of breaking a complex
topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a
better understanding of it.
The technique has been applied in the study of
mathematics and logic since before Aristotle
(384322 B.C.), though analysis as a formal
concept is a relatively recent development.
The word is a transcription of the ancient Greek
(analusis, "a breaking up", from ana-
"up, throughout" and lysis "a loosening").
Evaluation
Evaluation is systematic determination
of merit, worth, and significance of
something or someone using criteria
against a set of standards.
Evaluation is the comparison of actual
impacts against strategic plans. It looks
at original objectives, at what was
accomplished and how it was
accomplished.
Inference
Inference is the act or process of
deriving logical conclusions from
premises known or assumed to be true.
The conclusion drawn is also called an
inference.
The laws of valid inference are studied in
the field of logic.
Explanation
An explanation is a set of statements
constructed to describe a set of facts which
clarifies the causes, context, and
consequences of those facts.
This description may establish rules or laws,
and may clarify the existing ones in relation
to any objects, or phenomena examined.
The components of an explanation can be
implicit, and be interwoven with one
another.
Metacognition
Metacognition is defined as "cognition
about cognition", or "knowing about
knowing.
It can take many forms; it includes
knowledge about when and how to use
particular strategies for learning or for
problem solving