Critical Thinking and Clinical Decision Making Skills in Pediatric Nursing Students

Nursing educators are aware of the necessity to improve the students' critical thinking ability and clinical decision making skills. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate efficacy of teaching methodologies on critical thinking or decision making skills among Iranian nursing students and registered nurses. This study aimed at finding the relationship between nursing students' critical thinking ability and clinical decision making in pediatric care. We enrolled 34 female nursing students into this study. They were undergoing their training course at the neonatal ward of Besat hospital in Sanandaj, Iran. The Watson and Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test were used to measure the students' level of critical thinking. Decision making was assessed using the computerized patient management problem (PMP). No significant differences were found between different critical thinking skills and the overall critical thinking scores between the different groups. However, there was a statistical difference in clinical decision making between the two groups. Nursing educators are required to develop their critical thinking, modulate their traditional teaching methods, and try various approaches to improve critical thinking and decision making of their nursing students who become future nurses.