Abstract
Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses must think critically in order to identify and deal with patients problems and thus provide better care. Currently, however, no existing research has explored ICU nurses’ critical thinking skills and caring behaviors. Purpose: To investigate the associations among the personal characteristics, critical thinking skills, and caring behaviors of ICU nurses in Taiwan. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted. A convenience sample of 352 ICU nurses was recruited from three hospitals in southern Taiwan. Data were collected using self‐report measures including a Personal Characteristics Questionnaire, the Critical Thinking Skills Scale, and the Caring Behaviors Scale. Results: (a) The critical thinking skills and caring behaviors of the ICU nurses were found to be “moderate”, with index scores of 52.5 and 65.6, respectively. (b) The nurses’ overall critical thinking skills were associated by their clinical ladder, with their “Inference skills” being affected by their seniority and their “Interpretation skills” being affected by their position titles. (c) Their caring behaviors were affected by their age, marital status, clinical ladder, hospital work seniority, and ICU work seniority. (d) Their critical thinking skills and caring behaviors were not associated. Conclusions: In the healthcare sector, managers should seek to enhance ICU nurses’ critical thinking skills and teach them specific behaviors to help them better care for ICU patients.
Highlights
Literature ReviewIntensive care unit (ICU) nurses are direct caregivers for critically ill patients
In the healthcare sector, managers should seek to enhance ICU nurses’ critical thinking skills and teach them specific behaviors to help them better care for ICU patients
Previous reports have advocated the view that more satisfactory caring behaviors indicated better critical thinking skills in nursing students [6,8,26], but the results of this study indicated that the critical thinking skills of the ICU nurses and their caring behaviors were not significantly correlated
Summary
Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses are direct caregivers for critically ill patients. They must be capable of assessing all of the relevant forms of information presented, making decisions, and providing appropriate and feasible treatments in a timely manner during patient care [1]. ICU nurses must make prompt decisions when caring for critically ill patients, whose disease conditions often change unexpectedly [1]. Such nurses must have both the professional clinical knowledge and the critical thinking skills to make appropriate decisions and provide the highest quality care for patients
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Nursing & Clinical Practices
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
