White: Foundations of Nursing, Second Edition

CHAPTER 1 Student Nurse Skills for Success Case Study At this point in subsequent chapters, you will be given a client scenario or case study. This activity is designed to give you an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you have gained. This means that you will be expected to use critical-thinking skills as you explore selected nursing situations. For this chapter, the scenario is to be written by you and about you. 1. Review the four basic skills of critical thinking: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. 2. Identify specifically the precise skills you want to improve. Write in your own words what you want to accomplish in terms of positive skills you will possess when you have implemented your plan and accomplished your goal. This means that you will identify both specific performance measures for your reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, and time frames for points at which you will evaluate your performance. For example, if you set a goal of being able to identify the main points of an assigned reading, how would you measure that? In comparison with others in your study group? By your test performance? Write down your evaluation criteria and the time frames for evaluation. 3. When you have clearly stated in writing which basic skills you will work on, review the material in this chapter or from other resources to identify possible ways to work on those skills. Choose the most appropriate methods for you. Write down your plan. Be precise and specific. 4. Your next step is to actually put your plan into action by doing what you have planned to do. 5. Evaluate your actions to see whether they have resulted in the desired outcome. In order to perform a valid evaluation, you must evaluate your performance based on the evaluation criteria and goals you outlined in number 2. 6. Realize that you must know yourself well. If the processes of critical thinking and reasoning are new to you, select only one or two things on which to work. If you feel more adventurous, use the suggested process to explore your thinking in relation to the universal standards of thought and to the traits of a thoughtful person. Assess your problem-solving style in relation to the elements of thought in reasoning. Review Questions 1. A kinesthetic learner: a. learns by using the senses and visual images. b. learns by movement and imitation. c. learns by hearing and listening. d. learns by example. 2. Fundamental to quality thinking is the ability to think: a. clearly. b. effectively. c. quantitatively. d. with ambiguity.