Discussion: Critical Thinking

Recall your early clinical nursing experiences—what guided your decisions? Did you practice nursing ‘by the book’? Now, consider how you make decisions today. How have your clinical experiences fostered a greater depth of knowledge and critical thinking?

This week’s Learning Resources explore skill development and levels of knowledge acquisition based on clinical experience. For example, Benner suggests that as a nurse gains more experience, knowledge and skill level increases. Nurses move from novices—making decisions based on rules—to experts who are able to see connections between actions and outcomes using critical thinking. This Discussion focuses on the role of critical thinking in nursing practice and the connection between critical thinking, clinical competence, and scholarship.

To prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources focusing on critical thinking and Benner’s interpretation of the Novice to Expert theory.
• Reflect on how critical thinking is used in clinical practice. How does critical thinking relate to, or support, clinical competence?
• What critical thinking strategies do you use to improve your clinical competence and thus move from novice to expert?
• Consider the connection between critical thinking, nursing practice, and scholarship.

BY DAY 3

Post your observations on how critical thinking is used in clinical practice (provide examples); how you employ critical thinking strategies to improve clinical competence; and your thoughts on the connections between critical thinking, scholarship, and practice.

Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course

 

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Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice

In your practice as a nurse, you may use procedures and methods that did not necessarily originate in evidence, but instead were derived from informal and unwritten conventions, traditions, and observations. While these techniques may have merit, practices are constantly being updated and contradicted by information from scholarly research studies and professional guidelines. This new information serves as “evidence” for revising practices to improve outcomes across health care.

Based on this evidence, you can formulate a question. In this Discussion, you consider the use of evidence-based practice in your own organization and formulate a question that you will need to answer for your portfolio project. This is called a PICOT question. You will also investigate strategies for overcoming barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP).

To prepare:

Consider a recent clinical experience in which you were providing care for a patient.
Determine the extent to which the care that you provided was based on evidence and research findings or supported only by your organization’s standard procedures. How do you know if the tasks were based on research?
What questions have you thought about in a particular area of care such as a procedure or policy?
Review Chapter 2, pages 36—39 on “Asking Well worded Clinical Questions” in Polit & Beck and consult the resource from the Walden Student Center for Success: Clinical Question Anatomy & examples of PICOT questions (found in this week’s Learning Resources). Formulate your background questions and PICOT question.
Reflect on the barriers that might inhibit the implementation of evidence-based practice in your clinical environment.
Review the article “Adopting Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Decision Making” in this week’s Learning Resources. Select one of the barriers described that is evident in your organization and formulate a plan for overcoming this barrier.

 

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Write a paper (1,250-1,750 words) describing the approach to care of cancer. In addition, include the following in your paper:

1. Describe the diagnosis and staging of cancer.
2. Describe at least three complications of cancer, the side effects of treatment, and methods to lessen physical and psychological effects.
3. Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines.

 

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Assignment: Disorders of the Veins and Arteries

Advanced practice nurses often treat patients with vein and artery disorders such as chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT). While the symptoms of both disorders are noticeable, these symptoms are sometimes mistaken for signs of other conditions, making the disorders difficult to diagnose. Nurses must examine all symptoms and rule out other potential disorders before diagnosing and prescribing treatment for patients. In this Assignment, you explore the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical presentation of CVI and DVT.

To Prepare

• Review the section “Diseases of the Veins” (pp. 585–587) in Chapter 23 of the Huether and McCance text. Identify the pathophysiology of chronic venous insufficiency and deep venous thrombosis. Consider the similarities and differences between these disorders.
• Select a patient factor different from the one you selected in this week’s Discussion: genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, or behavior. Think about how the factor you selected might impact the pathophysiology of CVI and DVT. Reflect on how you would diagnose and prescribe treatment of these disorders for a patient based on the factor you selected.
• Review the “Mind Maps—Dementia, Endocarditis, and Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)” media in the Week 2 Learning Resources. Use the examples in the media as a guide to construct two mind maps—one for chronic venous insufficiency and one for venous thrombosis. Consider the epidemiology and clinical presentation of both chronic venous insufficiency and deep venous thrombosis.

To Complete

Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:

• Compare the pathophysiology of chronic venous insufficiency and deep venous thrombosis. Describe how venous thrombosis is different from arterial thrombosis.
• Explain how the patient factor you selected might impact the pathophysiology of CVI and DVT. Describe how you would diagnose and prescribe treatment of these disorders for a patient based on the factor you selected.
• Construct two mind maps—one for chronic venous insufficiency and one for deep venous thrombosis. Include the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical presentation, as well as the diagnosis and treatment you explained in your paper.

 

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