ASSOCIATION AMONG CRITICAL THINKING, CLINICAL DECISION-MAKING, AND SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF GENERIC BACCALAUREATE NURSING STUDENTS.
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 128
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills are accepted attributes of practicing nurses. Demographic statistics indicate that the description of the university student is changing. There is evidence that students in schools of nursing are changing.

An exploratory, descriptive design was used to examine the association among critical thinking, clinical decision-making, and selected demographic characteristics in generic baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample (n = 195) in four nursing schools in three states participated in the study. Knowles' theory of adult learning and Taba and Bevis' theories of curriculum development formed the conceptual framework for this study.

Critical thinking skills were assessed using the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. Clinical decision-making abilities were assessed with Jenkins' Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale. Demographic data, RNEE score, and GPA were collected with an investigator-designed Demographic Data Form. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Findings indicate that academic and demographic characteristics differentiate beginning baccalaureate nursing students. Two groups, traditional and non-traditional, emerged from analysis of the data. Significant differences found between the groups indicated that the non-traditional group was older, had worked longer prior to beginning nursing school, had a longer time lapse between high school and college, had more children, and scored higher on the clinical decision-making scale than their younger counterparts.

Recommendations for further research include replication with random selection and a longitudinal study to determine whether the differences in clinical decision-making continue to the end of the program. Further studies to develop a complete profile of traditional and non-traditional students, studies which would develop and/or refine tools for the assessment of critical thinking and clinical decision-making in nursing students, and studies of strategies for teaching critical thinking and clinical decision-making are recommended.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-12, Section: B, page: 6219.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1992.

School code: 0005.