Developing critical thinking skills for delivering optimal care

Abstract

Healthcare systems across the world are challenged with problems of misdiagnosis, non‐beneficial care, unwarranted practice variation and inefficient or unsafe practice. In countering these shortcomings, clinicians must be able to think critically, interpret and assimilate new knowledge, deal with uncertainty and change behaviour in response to compelling new evidence. Three critical thinking skills underpin effective care: clinical reasoning, evidence‐informed decision‐making and systems thinking. It is important to define these skills explicitly, explain their rationales, describe methods of instruction and provide examples of optimal application. Educational methods for developing and refining these skills must be embedded within all levels of clinician training and continuing professional development.

Cognitive competence and curriculum content in nurse anesthesia training: a small-scale comparative study

“…A longer DNP program of study permitted effective curricular expansion, with the development of skills necessary for superior performance on the examination, including both critical thinking abilities and mental processing related to effective articulation of answers. Such cognitive competence represents an essential component of clinical competence [23], and similar expansion of the course of study in other APRN DNP programs has been suggested to improve safe patient care compared with MN-prepared graduates [2].…”

Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning in Undergraduate Medical Course: A Mixed-Methods Study in a Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

“…2 When encountering an ill-defined emergency, one of the primary reasons for difficulties is the inability to think critically. 3 Healthcare is prone to diagnostic and management errors. 3 Knowledge and cognitive processing skills are interrelated and interdependent, which in turn are associated with conceptual understanding and metacognition.…”

“… 3 Healthcare is prone to diagnostic and management errors. 3 Knowledge and cognitive processing skills are interrelated and interdependent, which in turn are associated with conceptual understanding and metacognition. 3 These skills, commonly referred as clinical reasoning skills, help in problem-solving based on the principles during unfamiliar and novel scenarios.…”

“… 3 Knowledge and cognitive processing skills are interrelated and interdependent, which in turn are associated with conceptual understanding and metacognition. 3 These skills, commonly referred as clinical reasoning skills, help in problem-solving based on the principles during unfamiliar and novel scenarios. 3 Strict adherence to standard operating procedures will help minimize errors in data collection and decision making in well-defined medical problems, but is not an effective strategy to stimulate critical thinking and creativity in undefined, resource-constrained settings.…”

A Paradigm Shift in Assessment of Scientific Skills in Undergraduate Medical Education

“…[8][9][10] These are important skills to foster in future doctors as they are integral to accurate clinical decision making, potentially reducing diagnostic errors and improving patient safety. 11,12 Taking an active approach to learning has shown to improve academic outcomes for students across scientific disciplines, and there is a large pedagogical literature base (including a meta-analysis of 225 studies) supporting improved assessment scores, reduced failure rates and reductions in attainment gaps. 8,10,13,14 Cognitive psychology research has demonstrated that active learning tasks should be designed to specifically practise the skills that students need to learn, as this leads to development of expertise in those areas.…”