Critical Thinking and the Standards of Nursing Education

Abstract

Critical thinking is the basis of professional nursing practice and is essential in the current complex health care delivery system. A major goal of baccalaureate nursing education is the development and promotion of students' ability to think critically. In America, the National League for nursing outcome-oriented accreditation process challenged nursing faculty to think about teaching and evaluating critical thinking. Based on nursing literature, the findings were inconsistent because of a lack of consensus on a definition of critical thinking and the measurement of critical thinking utilizing critical thinking instruments non-specific for nursing. However, a variety of teaching-learning strategies in nursing education were effective in the development of critical thinking dispositions and skills among nursing students. The author provides insight and ideas for nursing faculty as follows: 1) nursing programs must define critical thinking operationally in relation to their curricula; 2)nursing faculty must be knowledgeable concerning evaluation of critical thinking disposition and skills and construct a standardized critical-thinking instrument that is specific to the discipline of nursing; 3) nursing faculty must develop teaching-learning strategy in nursing education for improving students' critical thinking abilities. These are prerequisite for critical thinking which should be considered as a criterion in The Standards of Nursing Education in Korea.