Development of critical thinking skills in nursing students: A longitudinal study

15^th Euro Nursing & Medicare Summit

October 17-19, 2016 Rome, Italy

Karadag A, Sengul T and Eroglu K

Ko�§ University School of Nursing, Turkey

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Objective: This longitudinal intervention study aimed to develop the critical thinking skills of nursing students. In this manuscript, we provide an evaluation of the first year data and results. Method: The study was performed during the 2014-2015 academic year of a foundation university. The study sample consisted of 22 undergraduate nursing students taking a critical thinking course for 3 hours a week. Data were collected during Spring 2015 using the Student Descriptive characteristics form and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). The CCTDI was administered twice to the students, in the first and last week of the course. Data were analyzed using numbers, percentages and calculated means, along with the Wilcoxon test and the McNemarâ��s significance test. Results: The study results indicated that the ratio of students exhibiting low- and moderate-level critical thinking was 90.6% and 9.1%, respectively, during the first application of the CCTDI; and 81.8% and 18.2%, respectively, during the second application of the CCTDI. The difference between these 2 applications was not significant (p>0.05). The mean total CCTDI scores of the students in the first and second application were X =210�±22.3 and X =221�±24.4, respectively; the difference between these scores was found to be significant (p<0.05). Furthermore, the difference between the mean CCTDI sub-scale scores for the first and second applications were significant for the truth-seeking, open-mindedness and analytical thinking sub-scales (p<0.05), and not significant for the systematicity, self-confidence and curiosity sub-scales (p>0.05). Conclusion: We determined that nursing students generally had low critical thinking disposition scores, and that the critical thinking course contributed to the development of their critical thinking skills. Based on these results, we recommend including courses on critical thinking into the curricula of nursing programs, and planning learning experiences that would help improve critical learning skills.

Biography :

Tuba Ã?Â?ENGÜL is currently working as a clinical instructor at Koç University School of Nursing, Turkey. She completed her BSN Uludag University, Nursing School and masters at Marmara University and currently pursuing her doctoral at Istanbul University, Turkey. She has published more than 3 papers and attended several international conferences.

Email: tsengul@ku.edu.tr