Comparison of Critical Thinking and Clinical Decision Making Skills Among the Last-Semester Nursing Students and Practicing Nurses in Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences

Critical thinking and clinical decision making skills lead to care improvement and the application of nursing process. Previous studies have indicated that critical thinking and clinical decision making skills among nurses and students are low and studies comparing nurses and students in this regard have yielded inconsistent results. Thus this survey aimed to compare critical thinking and clinical decision making skills in the last-semester students and nurses in Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences in 2010. In this cross-sectional study, all 35 senior (last-semester) students and a random sample of 35 nurses with above 2 years of work experience were selected. California Critical Thinking questionnaire (Form B) and Lauri’s clinical decision making questionnaire were used for data gathering. Data were analyzed using t-test, paired t-test, analysis of variance, chi square, and non-parametric tests. Mean of critical thinking scores for students was 10.49±2.6 and for nurses 10.33±4.6. Mean score of clinical decision making for students was 68.05±4.46 and for nurses 63.70±10.01. Comparison of students and nurses in terms of the mean scores of critical thinking and clinical decision making showed a statistically meaningful difference (p<0.001). Low levels of critical thinking and clinical decision making skills among nursing students and nurses indicates the necessity of the skill improvement by embedding them in students’ curriculum and continuous education for nurses.