Critical thinking integration into nursing education and practice in Japan: Views on its reception from foreign-trained Japanese nursing educators

Abstract

The development of critical thinking (CT) abilities for clinical practices is a current emphasis in nursing education and practice in Japan.Through informal discussion with foreign educated Japanese nurses who had learnt CT, the expressed concern was that the educational concepts focusing on the development of CT skills do not appear to be successfully implemented into nursing curriculum of many faculties in Japan.The main focus of this study is to explore the views of foreign educated Japanese nursing educators on the receptivity of an alternative approach to integrate CT into nursing education and practice in Japan.Relevant literature on Japanese nursing practice and education is reviewed as it provides a background for the study and highlights potential influences concerning the participants. Heideggerian phenomenology and interpretive methods to analyse semi-structured interviews provided the analytic basis for the study. Analysis of data revealed that participants’ main concerns were the lack of integration of CT teaching and learning approaches for the development of CT abilities into the current milieu of Japanese nursing education and practice.The reasons for the participants’ concerns have been related to the influence of cultural and educational values shaping contemporary nursing education approaches and practices.The outcomes of this study propose how these values reverberate through teaching, learning and practice methods.