Critical Thinking Process Case Study

Critical Thinking Process Case Study As Buckingham and Adams (2000) state, â€Å"getting a better understanding of their decision making processes has important benefits for nurses†, and for their employers and their patients (p 982). Critical thinking in nursing is related to the traditional nursing model of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation, a fundamental nursing process (Lee et al, 2006). Because of the universal application of the nursing process, and its efficacy, there is an assumption that â€Å"the process of clinical problem-solving is well understood† (Taylor, 2000 p 842-849). This essay explores the critical thinking process related to one client, and evaluates the quality of that process and its relationship to effective planning and implementation of nursing care. Some theorists link critical thinking in nursing to diagnostic practice, particularly in relation to advanced nursing practice, and cite this as a new phenomenon (Lee et al, 2006). This author however, would argue that this is a part of nursing practice in every case, and that critical thinking and diagnostic processes are very similar, except it has never been called diagnosis in nursing until recently. However, Lee et al (2006) do cite the means by which nursing judgements on which plans of care are based, including systems-processing type judgements and intuitive reasoning. One of the criticisms of nursing decision making, however, and a problem which continues to trouble the profession, is the reduction of this process to little more than intuitive processes rather than rational ones (Buckingham and Adams, 2000). This is partly because â€Å"nurses have struggled continually to articulate the nature of their expertise† Buckingham and Adams, 2000 p 982). But the literature demonstrates that intuitive processes tend to represent subconscious decision making combined with conscious decision making, and this author believes that both are of equal value and importance in coming to decisions and planning nursing actions and ongoing care. Aitken (2003) suggests that clinical decision making starts with the development of a hypothesis, which is then proved or disproved by further gathering of clinical data, objective and subjective, including objective tests and nursing-process related observations and questioning. â€Å"Hypotheses were used to summarize attributes that had already been acquired, describe the possible problem that existed and direct future attribute acquisition.† (Aitken, 2003 p 481). Offredy (1998) in research on nurse practitioners found that hypothesis generation as part of the decision making process occurred even before the client history had been taken, and that this kind of ‘hunch’ was one which they believed to be borne out in later more objective clinical evaluation. This is related to the level of experience of the nurse (Offredy, 1998). Lee et al (2006 p 61)) cite the following variables as affecting critical thinking processes: knowledge; experience; discipline specific training, which provides the diagnostic labels that can be used to ‘classify and explain the data’ involved ; and the task. Aitken (2003) suggests that the strategies which are applied to nursing decision making is not necessarily a conscious plan but could be a process which is more subconscious. This may be related to what Offredy (1998) describes as pattern recognition. In this case, the critical thinking process was based on Jaslyn’s symptoms and presentation in terms of physical and emotional state, which in turn were identified and informed by the nurse’s own knowledge, nursing and symptom related knowledge, and by the nurse’s experience gained from training and previous practice. There were key factors which highlighted Jaslyn’s state of health/illness and also flagged up the warning signs that signified Jaslyn’s immediate needs. These were identified both through objective data and subjective data, which in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, could be seen as safety and security needs, related to the patient’s expressed suicidal thoughts, and physiological needs, related to her physical condition, which, once met, would allow for interventions to support in meeting her self-esteem and other psychological and emotional needs. Prioritisation of safety and physiological needs may be derived from p revious nursing experience, as already suggested, because, as Aitken (2003) suggests, clinical decision making processes can be affected by the decision-making environment, and also by â€Å"the potential consequences of each of the [potential] alternative decisions† (p 477). Thus previous experience of nursing, combined with knowledge from my training, which is also affected by the socialisation process of nursing, and by the shared knowledge of colleagues, placed the greatest emphasis on the prevention of harm occurring, which led to the decision to provide close supervision of the patient to prevent self-harm. Another attribute of this decision making process, one which I had hitherto not recognised, was the use of what Aitken (2003) calls â€Å"a think aloud† method (p 483). This is very much evident in the kind of decision making I engage in, and critical reflection suggests that I have learned this process from colleagues, because the process seems to be a communal one, in which colleagues (including myself) verbalise their judgements on findings and gain confirmation from each other that their findings and actions are correct. This might also be a means of trying to reduce the potential for error which is inherent in the decision making proc ess, and constitutes the risk element of the process (Buckingham and Adams, 2000; Round, 2001). The application of the nursing process has shown me that processes of decision making are based on experience, but that some of this experience is derived from shared knowledge and experience with colleagues. Throughout the decision making process involved in this case, decision making was more collaborative than unilateral, signifying the fact that no clinical decision is made in isolation. The decision making process was borne out in the clinical progression of the case, and reflection demonstrates that decision making is both objective, and informed by intuition, but that what is called intuition is simply the bringing to bear of knowledge developed through experience. References Aitken, L.M. (2003) Critical care nurses’ use of decision-making strategies. Journal of Clinical Nursing 12 476-483. Buckingham, C.d. and Adams, A. (2000) Classifying clinical decision making: a unifying approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32 (4) 981-989. Lee, J, Chan, A.C.M. and Phillips, D.R. (2006) Diagnostic practise in nursing: a critical review of the literature. Nursing and Health Sciences 8 57-65. Offredy, M. (1998) The application of decision making concepts by nurse practitioners in general practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 28 (5) 988-1000. Round, A. (2001) Introduction to clinical reasoning. Journal of Evaluation in clinical practice7 (2) 109-117. Taylor, C. (2000) Clinical problem-solving in nursing: insights from the literature. Journal of Advanced Nursing 31 (4) 842-849.

Balancing work, school and family life

Balancing career demands, family responsibilities, and college studies has never been an easy feat. Since time as a resource, has been and probably will always be scarce, we have to manage it as efficiently as possible. Seemingly, your time Is already being stretched too thin, with work and family obligations, so taking on the added responsibility of a college education, makes It even more daunting. But looking across the board of any spectrum of middle Income earners, one thing that we find common among them is a college degree. With that being said, many people find it an uphill task to obtain a degree.This is because they already have work and family obligations to contend with. However, with higher education being the way out of poverty for most people, they decide later in life to go to college, to pursue tertiary education. Even though pursuing a college education can be an uphill task, its benefits, outweighs any challenges it may present. In the end, it affords you and your f amily, the chance of getting ahead in life. One of the problems most people in this situation face is how much time they spend at the workplace. Whichever way you look at It, there are only twenty four hours In any given day.So more often than not, you will find yourself out of time, running late, trying to get from one particular engagement to the other, or turning In overdue writing assignments. Most people spend between eight to ten hours on the Job on a dally basis. In spite of the added responsibility of college work, you are still expected to meet productivity levels and even in some cases, exceed them. You have deadlines to meet, meetings to attend, and bosses to answer to. Now that you are a college student, the boss has found a way to give you more responsibilities. Of course this comes with some remuneration or your troubles.Brace yourself. Nobody said it was going to be easy. If it is easy, it probably wouldn't be worth much, anyway. There may be times when you will be so overwhelmed with this ‘balancing act' that, you will begin to second guess your decision. But rest assured, nothing could be further from the truth. Most times, by the time you get home you are completely exhausted. You still have a home to run, kids to take care of and a spouse to attend to. You settle In to cook dinner, to feed the family. Listen to how everybody day went. You Inspect their homework, scold where accessory, and praise where praise is due.At this juncture, you send everybody off to bed. You finally get some ‘me' time to yourself, only to be called upon to attend to some spousal duties. Oh lord when is this going to end? By the time you wiggle your way out of that, it is eleven pm. You need a ‘shut eye' badly, but one more thing. There is a writing assignment over due, so you decide to sacrifice a couple hours to get that paper done. You are awoken by your alarm clock at six in morning, still sitting at the desk in your attempt to complete your ass ignment. Another day is upon you, and the cycle continues.You somehow manage to get yourself up and waking everyone, you begin the process of getting them ready for school. It turned out you were able to complete the assignment, before sleep took over. In an hour or so, breakfast In the bellies, lunch boxes packed and backpacks strapped on, you file out ready to begin yet another day. You say a prayer to yourself. Slowly but surely, you are trekking on. You will get through this. In order to accomplish this task of strategies and prioritize. It is imperative to brainstorm. List all your daily engagements in a chronological order.Determining what tasks will be tackled first, which ones will be dealt with second, what will be third, and so forth, is the objective. The idea is to be able to free up some time in your regular schedule. Since all these tasks are of equal importance, you will have to make sure that none of them is ignored. It is always prudent to ask for help if you need o ne. A good way is to ask family and friends to help you out with the personal and family side of things. Let us face it. No one can study for you, that is, if you want to maintain the integrity of your education. Neither can anyone perform your duties at the office for you.This leaves he third option, family demands. Asking a family member to help out with picking up the kids from school, and help with the supervision of their homework, will go a long way to free up a few hours of your night, which you may then devote to your studies. You will be well advised to teach your kids to do some of the chores at home. Chores like the doing the dishes, the laundry, and the cleaning of the house can be undertaken by children. Asking your spouse to chip in where he or she hasn't previously. He or she can take up the cooking for three days of the week, or accommodate with leftovers in the refrigerator.Every little bit counts. Since things does not always go according to plan, having the abilit y to improvise in your arsenal, will serve you well. The act or art, of balancing a college education, work obligations, and family demands, maybe a very challenging ordeal. With that being said, it is not an impossible task. The pursuit of a college education, and all the problems associated with it, pales in comparison to its benefits. With perseverance, and great resolve, at the end of the day, will be worth the effort. You will be better off. It can be done, and has been done. With the wind, in your sail, Godspeed.

Abortion Essay Topics Guide

Abortion Essay Topics Guide The continuing debate is the perfect subject for a course or term paper. Bearing that in mind, based on the lengths you are ready to go when writing an abortion essays, you should begin with research. Based on whether you're arguing for pro-choice or pro-life you may want to concentrate on another spectrum or engage with your writing in a different method. A lot of people also feel that abstinence-only sex education shouldn't be the sole kind of sex education taught. Abortion Essay Topics - the Conspiracy The cost of an essay rides on the quantity of effort the writer has to exert. You need to pick words that will guarantee that the reader may wish to keep on reading that essay. There are four key components to each argumentative essay, and you're likely to have to include them should you need your essay to convince your readers. Consult with our argumentative essay example at a better understanding. An argumentative essay aim is to take one specific viewpoint out of the other viewpoints. An argumentative essays aim is to convince your reader to strengthen your side of the argument. Abortion, and any healthcare decisions women make, are extremely private and ought to never be available for debate. A woman might not be in a position to fund an alley-way, black market abortion and would need to deliver. So, although lots of people want abortion, and others do not want it, it's not a crystal clear line and nobody has been in a position to locate a decisive definition of when abortion becomes murder and when it ought to be allowed. Although some people today see abortion as murder, others feel that abortion ought to be allowed in the event of unwanted' pregnancy. Some people believe abortion is quite bad and that it should not be permitted whatsoever. Lots of people are continuously debating whether abortion ought to be allowed or not. Using Abortion Essay Topics The consequent pregnancy is her responsibility and is an immediate consequence of her actions though the pregnancy might be unwanted. Knowing the consequences of abortion enables women to make informed choices. In many instances of pregnancy there are distinct circumstances that might have led to that pregnancy, sometimes including rape. The many aspects impacting the issue will likewise be analyzed. Gossip, Decepti on and Abortion Essay Topics Really, for almost all of us it doesn't really matter in addition to the standard and services information provided via the webhost is a good deal more important. Selecting a topic might be the most challenging issue to do. Writing with pros and cons on the topic, you might discover yourself in a closed cycle, being not able to discover the proper information which you will need. If you are only prone to create a typical site then either Linux or Home home windows will likely be fine. The Downside Risk of Abortion Essay Topics The ideal way to engage the reader from the very first few lines is to bring a hook sentence. Mind a thesis proposal as a distinct assignment is a lengthy, doctoral-level project. A superb method to tell if your topics is an argument topic is to see whether you can debate your topic working with the info you find. As noted, it's no ordinary subject. Furthermore, in the instance of rape, abortion is among the options a wom an can employ to ensure she doesn't get an unplanned child. For one, consider the method by which the life of a teenager could possibly be ruined if an abortion isn't offered. Inside my opinion, as soon as a woman chooses to have sex, she's taking an opportunity. If it's in the very early stage, then it's not murder. New Step by Step Roadmap for Abortion Essay Topics If people consider the function of men in abortion, it appears that they usually consider the stereotype of the guy who forces the abortion or the male who abandons. You're against abortions, and you want to have more people to strengthen your idea. Sure, it may make her life more difficult to manage it, and she may need to endure a great deal of sacrifice, but in the majority of countries, especially developed countries that I assume the audience you're speaking to resides in, I have not ever heard of babies dying due to absence of sufficient ways. Lots of people that support women's rights might be personally against abortions. Other cases happen every time a mother involuntarily aborts as a result of starvation or malnutrition. It's wrong to suppose that a fetus isn't a human being since it doesn't talk, or isn't a social entity. In numerous countries and states, abortion is legalized in the example of rape. Thus, abortions are arguably the most popular medical procedures in the USA annually. The Debate Over Abortion Essay Topics The advantages and disadvantages of the debate surrounding abortion is going to be analyzed to present a concise analysis of the problem. To prove the fact that it is a social issue, we have to look at the components of a social issue. There are many points of abortion to review from other perspectives. Consequently, before embarking on the abortion essay, you are going to have to conduct extensive research to set up all constructive and negative elements of abortion.

Value Chain Analysis For Costco - 1000 Words

The purpose of this paper is to do a value chain analysis of Costco, identify their resources and capabilities, to conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the opportunities in which they are lagging and to form a strategy to move forward using the recourses and capabilities in the direction of utilizing those opportunities. Value Chain Analysis for Costco Conducting a value chain analysis provides a snapshot for identifying a firm’s relative competitive performance, core competencies, and for focusing on customer centric activities. Costco’s customer driven focus allows primary and support business activities to work in unity creating a stronger competitive advantage and thereby increasing profitability. Profitability and shareholder value rely on coordination of both sets of business activities to create a firm’s competitive advantage. Costco’s infrastructure skills and capabilities support operations for achieving low cost global leadership in warehouse retail sales and better than industry average. Costco’s culture strives to provide a limited variety of quality merchandise goods from private label and some well established brands. Costco’s value chain provides a diversified product base to a large globally diverse consumer base. Costco is industry leader to Target, and sometimes loses positioning to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club. Costco’s culture type is at Level 3, and positions the company for short-term and long-term success (see Table). Table Value Chain Analysis BusinessShow MoreRelatedValue Chain Essay752 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Value Chain Analysis-Costco Corporation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brief on the Organization Costco is among the leading global retailers which provide customers a wide range of merchandise, ranging from small to well-known brands. The company began operations in 1983. Over the years, Costco has been a retailer in low cost membership-only leader, in warehouse club of merchandise. Moreover, Costco does not offer frills warehouse business models as its competitors do.   Costco’s major competitorsRead MoreCompettive Analysis Costco Wholesale Company1630 Words   |  7 PagesCompetitive Analysis SWOT analysis of Costco Wholesale Co. Costco Wholesale Corporation is the world’s largest membership warehouse club chain based on sales volume. 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The company’s business model was to generate highRead MoreTarget Marketing Strategy Of Walmart993 Words   |  4 Pagesfirms† (Kim S.Nash). Target was the company recently outsourced a big portion of its technologic development to India and other U.S firms concerning outsourcing. In the past years, Target’s strategic use of technology made it possible to run supply chain more effectively and gained a competitive advantage. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, â€Å"Target Corp. plans to reduce technology outsourcing as it looks to hire 500 software engineers and others to focus on mobile and online using open-source