Critical Thinking Skills of Basic Baccalaureate and Accelerated Second-Degree Nursing Students

CT data are needed across the nursing curriculum from basic‐BSN and ASD students in order for nurse educators to develop cohort‐specific pedagogical approaches that facilitate critical thinking in nursing and produce nurses with good CT skills for the future.

Abstract

AIM: The purpose of this study was to describe the critical thinking (CT) skills of basic baccalaureate (basic-BSN) and accelerated second-degree (ASD) nursing students at nursing program entry. BACKGROUND: Many authors propose that CT in nursing should be viewed as a developmental process that increases as students' experiences with it change. However, there is a dearth of literature that describes basic-BSN and ASD students' CT skills from an evolutionary perspective. METHOD: The study design was exploratory descriptive. RESULTS: The results indicated thatASD students had higher CT scores on a quantitative critical thinking assessment at program entry than basic-BSN students. CONCLUSION: CT data are needed across the nursing curriculum from basic-BSN and ASD students in order for nurse educators to develop cohort-specific pedagogical approaches that facilitate critical thinking in nursing and produce nurses with good CT skills for the future.