Critical Thinking in Nursing PRACTICE QUESTIONS

A new graduate nurse explains a new approach in the positioning of patients with chronic low back pain. The nurse preceptor responds, "That is not the way we do it here." The preceptor's response illustrates which error in critical thinking? a. Lack of information b. Erroneous assumptions c. Illogical thinking d. Bias - C (Illogical thinking is often characterized by hasty generalizations and assumptions that do not consider the evidence. Another trait associated with this type of thinking is related to following tradition and uses the argument that "we have always done it this way." When illogical thinking is used, creativity in thinking can be limited, and new ideas and approaches do not evolve. In nursing, illogical thinking can occur if nurses do not stay current, and care can be compromised.) During the assessment of a patient admitted for a total hip replacement, the nurse asks the patient to explain prior hospital experiences and, more specifically, any operative experiences. These questions reflect the nurse's use of which intellectual standard of critical thinking? a. Clarity b. Logic c. Precision d. Significance - A (Patient information must first meet the intellectual standard of clarity before it is evaluated for precision, logic, or significance.) During the postoperative assessment on a patient, the nurse has a "hunch" that the patient has a postoperative complication based upon a. intuition. b. interpretation. c. information processing. d. inference. - A (Knowing or feeling that you know something without specific evidence is one explanation of intuition. Intuition is a valid characteristic of expert clinical judgment acquired through knowledge, practice, and experience. It is described as how expert nurses use intuition to facilitate problem solving because this "hunch" (most likely intuition) is based upon experiential knowledge.)