NURSE EDUCATOR VIEWS AND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES REGARDING THE NURSING PROCESS, PATIENT CARE PLAN, AND CRITICAL THINKING.
by Penny Lee Marshall

About the Book

The nursing process and patient care plan have been used as thinking exercises in nursing education for over thirty years. This study queried nurse educators from across the United States regarding their views of the nursing process and care plan as frameworks for promoting critical thinking and problem solving. The extent to which educators assign critical thinking activities in relation to the care plan exercise was also examined. Data were collected from a randomly selected sample of associate and baccalaureate degree nurse educators using a survey design. Data were analyzed using descriptive and univariate F-statistics, and correlational procedures.

Significant mean differences between associate degree (ADN) and baccalaureate degree (BSN) educators were found on views of the nursing process and care plan. ADN respondents viewed both the nursing process and care plan more positively with regard to problem solving and critical thinking qualities. However, mean scores on both scales were neutral providing inclusive evidence supporting either as effective in promoting critical thinking. There was little support of the nursing process as a framework for ethical problem solving, or problem management when multiple viewpoints and alternatives are involved. Both respondent groups supported the use of other problem solving methods in conjunction with the nursing process for teaching critical thinking. Educators indicated they would not consider substituting the nursing process with other problem solving methods.

There were no significant mean differences between ADN and BSN educators on assignment of critical thinking activities related to the care plan. Mean scores for both respondent groups fell at the upper end of the occasionally assign range. Evaluation and reasoning types of activities were assigned more often than activities involving divergent thinking.

Pearson r correlation showed a significant positive relationship between views of the nursing process and care plan. Views of the patient care plan and assignment of critical thinking activities also correlated positively. Data suggested that conceptualization of the care plan may, in part, be contingent on how the exercise is operationalized with regard to assignment of critical thinking skills.

Neither years of teaching experience nor educational preparation yielded significant effects on the study variables.