Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
Discuss the differences between critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical decision-making.
Provide examples of each from your personal experience. I am a nurse
Seperarelty make responses to Two postings
Posting 1:
Critical thinking is a kind of thinking where you question, analyze, interpret, evaluate and make an educated judgement about what you have just read, heard, or wrote.
Clinical reasoning is a complex process that is essential to evaluate and manage a patient’s medical problems, including diagnosis, and estimating the prognosis.
Clinical decision making is knowing the best practice based on the evidence and research and being aware of the current situation and environment and knowledge of the patient.
All three process are used in the nursing practice for the best patient outcomes.
While working as a nurse care manager I am using all three while interacting with my patients. I have to use my critical thinking when I am sifting through medical records and past medical histories or reading through hospital discharges. I have to take what I have read and educate my patients on their conditions.
While education my patients I am using my clinical reasoning, taking into account all of their medical problems and them as a whole person, and thinking of how best their providers can treat them.
Continuing my learning and education is my way of always using clinical decision making and knowing and using evidence-based practice.
Posting 2:
Critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical decision making are three crucial processes essential to healthcare professionals. These three processes influence our patient outcomes, allowing nurses to provide higher quality of care.
Critical thinking involves interpretation and analysis, helping nurses evaluate patients condition and treatment to identify potential problems. On our unit, we have a 6:1 patient ratio, so it is important to be able to manage time effectively and assess for potential issues. Sometimes I feel that people are just checking off boxes of what is done and not thinking about the patient or how comorbidities can play a role in their interventions. I once had a nurse give report on a patient reporting low blood pressure all day, administering boluses, but also administered blood pressure medications because the doctor didn’t write an order to discontinue. This patient also had congestive heart failure, upon assessment he was short of breath, had rhonchi throughout, and I had to transfer them to another unit.
Clinical reasoning is a process that allows us to evaluate and manage a patients medical problem. As we assess our patient throughout the shift we are able to determine when there is a change or decline, this information gives us the ability to notify the physician in a timely manner for the most effective treatment. When doing bedside shift report, I like to discuss what happened during the previous shift and the plan for the day, giving the patient the opportunity to express any changes or concerns. Before we started doing bedside shift report, I walked into some rooms wondering what was going on!
Clinical decision making is a balance based on evidence and research. It is important to have knowledge of your patient, the situation, and combining your previous experience to provide the best care for the patient. We have a new grad program, so many new nurses come to our hospital because they have a twelve- week program that offers additional classes and training. As new nurses, it is hard for some to think about the whole picture.
