Use of the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory in Critical Care Orientation

Abstract

In the current health care environment it is imperative that orientation programs be effective and efficient in the preparation of nurses entering critical care nursing. Institutions strive to develop orientation programs that use the least amount of resources necessary to achieve the desired outcome. The desired outcome of the critical care orientation process is for nurses to use critical thinking skills to make sound clinical judgments based on scientific knowledge of critical care nursing. Identifying areas of strengths and deficits in critical thinking could prove beneficial in assisting educators to individualize nursing orientation programs using critical thinking skills in practice. The purpose of this article is to describe a method used to measure nurses' dispositions toward critical thinking and the application of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) in critical care orientation programs.

Research utilisation and critical thinking among newly graduated nurses: predictors for research use. A quantitative cross‐sectional study

“…The reliability of the CCTDI has been measured in different populations such as graduate nurses, where the alpha values for the CCTDI total score are reported to be 0·87 (Smith‐Blair & Neighbors 2000) and lower than 0·80 (Profetto‐McGrath et al. 2003).…”

Critical thinking dispositions in baccalaureate nursing students

“…Colucciello (1999) reported that confidence was emerging as an important aspect of students' educational experiences and offered suggestions to build selfconfidence and reduce students' self-doubt. Smith-Blair and Neighbors (2000) suggested that nurses who are weak in systematicity may have problems with organization and prioritization of patient care, may make hasty, ineffective decisions, and are easily distracted. Ambivalence towards systematicity raises doubts about the quality of the decisionmaking process.…”

Critical thinking dispositions among newly graduated nurses

“…Critical thinking competence has thus been designated as an outcome for judging the quality of nursing programmes (Facione et al. 1994, Maynard 1996, Leppa 1997, Thorpe & Loo 2003) and for the development of clinical judgement (Facione & Facione 1997, Smith‐Blair & Neighbors 2000, Stone et al. 2001).…”

“…The CCTDI is designed to measure seven aspects of critical thinking: Truth‐seeking, Open‐mindedness, Analyticity, Systematicity, Self‐confidence, Inquisitiveness and Maturity (Facione 1990). The cross‐disciplinary conceptual definition in the Delphi report seems suitable for nursing research (Smith‐Blair & Neighbors 2000), although the use of the CCTDI in nursing is limited to date. Stone et al.…”