Measuring Critical Thinking Ability of Respiratory Therapists Working in Critical Areas in King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital, King Abdulaziz City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the critical thinking ability of respiratory therapists working in critical care areas from King Abdullah Specialized Children Hospital (KASCH), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
 Methods: The study's design was cross-sectional. Prior to the start of the research, the protocol was reviewed and given the approval by King Abdullah International Medical Research Center in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the King Abdullah Specialized Children's Hospital (KASCH). The research included all the 45 respiratory therapy ICU staff members. The critical thinking skills of the respiratory therapy staff were evaluated using the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) short form. The evaluation consisted of a total of 40 questions broken down into five distinct categories: assumptions, arguments, deductions, inferences, and information interpretation. Excel was used to enter the acquired data before it was exported to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 22).
 Results: The results showed that most RTs (77.42%) were male and (22.58%) were female. Regarding educational level, it shows that (87.09%) had bachelor's degree. Additionally, it shows that majority (58.06%) had 3-6 years of experience. Nearly two thirds (64.52%) of RTs aged between 26 to 30 years. The critical thinking skills level among respiratory therapists in the screened hospital was average.
 Conclusion: This study revealed no correlation between respiratory therapists' critical thinking abilities and age, gender, experience, or education.
 Recommendations: ICU respiratory therapists should continuously improve their critical thinking skills. This research will help managers and supervisors understand respiratory therapists' critical thinking and build programs to improve staff skills and prepare them to manage ICU situations. The study also recommends conducting further studies to accurately measure the staff's critical thinking skills. These recommendations aim to foster a culture of critical thinking and contribute to informed decision-making within the organization.