The impact of an educational intervention on nursing students' critical thinking skills: A quasi-experimental study

Aim: In this study, we identified the impact of educational activities that focused on improving the competence and critical thinking skills of university nursing students. Design: A prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted, and assessments were conducted before and after the educational intervention, which consisted of seminars, lectures, case studies, and problem-solving activities. Methods: The Critical Thinking Questionnaire was used to collect data before and after the educational intervention between September 2017 and May 2018. The sample consisted of 112 first-year undergraduate students. To examine the data that were collected as a part of this quasi-experimental study, inferential statistics were used, and the results were tested against a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: The students obtained higher scores on the substantive dimension than on the dialogic one, and women scored higher than men. The educational intervention led to an improvement in every critical thinking skill across both dimensions, except listening and speaking skills, whereby men demonstrated a greater change in average scores for critical thinking skills. Conclusions: The educational intervention improved the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students and had a greater impact on men than on women. This finding underscores the need for educational interventions that can enhance critical thinking skills. Developing these skills will improve future nurses' ability to make health care management decisions in a reflective, agile, and evidence-based manner.