Reference: Kozier et al.’s (2004a) Fundamentals of Nursing

The job of a nurse requires considerable critical thinking.According toKozier et al.’s (2004a) Fundamentals of Nursing, it is “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualizing, applying, analysing, synthesizing, and /or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action”

In nursing, critical thinking is often required during the nursing process of assessing, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating.For instance, in the procedure of assessing the physical and psychosocial needs of a client, you then need to determine

*an appropriate nursing diagnosis (infer),

* plan and implement an appropriate intervention (apply), and

* evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention (evaluate).

 

In your nursing studies, it is important to be able to read critically, to understand a reading within its broader context, and to recognize the influences of culture and context on the reading and its meaning.

Evaluation is also used in the sense of critiquing or challenging information in a reading.

Evaluation means the ability to recognisean author’s bias in the selection, presentation, and analysis of information and in a research study, to recogniseweaknesses in the data analysis or in the design of the study.It may also means you are required to present your own opinion regarding a particular issue.

Some of the questions you should ask when reading are:

• When was the article published? Is the information outdated? Or is it still relevant?
• Do the authors have a particular perspective or bias in their approach to the topic? If so, did they make their perspective clear or is it hidden?\
• Who are the authors?
• What are their credentials?
• Do they have experience in the area they are writing about?