Critical thinking is a skill required by nurses in order for sound clinical decisions to be made with optimal patient outcomes. Previous nursing education specific strategies, aimed at developing critical thinking, include high-fidelity simulation, case study discussions, concept-mapping, and reflective writing. Post-graduation nurse residency programs have had some success in preparing the new graduate nurse to take on the challenges and demands of the profession. These strategies have had varied success in developing critical thinking skills and are, at times, costly. The purpose of this article is to explore Strategic Management Simulations (SMS) as an educational strategy for enhancing the development of critical thinking skills among undergraduate nursing students. SMS includes assessment, feedback, and training, which are not included in other strategies.
Background: Current baseline measures-primarily cognitive-do not select the best nurses. We hypothesized that a validated test of thinking skills, Strategic Management Simulations (SMS), will predict the nurses the faculty deemed the best at graduation. Methods: A total of 37 RNs in the last semester of an Associate Degree program voluntarily took the SMS. At graduation, faculty ranked them on "who would best take care of your loved one?" Faculty rank was correlated with SMS scores, admission rank and graduation end points. Results: Faculty rank did not correlate with admission rank or cumulative grade but did with the final nursing module rank and with three SMS measures: crisis response, breadth of approach, and focused activity. Conclusions: Traditional selection methods, e.g., admission rank, do not predict outcomes of nursing graduates, e.g., final nursing module rank. Measures of thinking, e.g., SMS crisis response, correlate with desired outcomes and could be used during the selection process to improve outcomes.
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