Critical Thinking and Writing for Nursing Students (Transforming Nursing Practice)

159 Pages·2010·0.8 MB·English

by  Bob Price, Anne Harrington

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Critical Thinking
and Writing for
Nursing Students
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Transforming Nursing Practice series 1
Transforming Nursing Practice links theory with practice, in the context of the skills and 2
knowledge needed by student nurses to be fit for future healthcare delivery. Each book 3
has been designed to help students meet the requirements of the NMC Standards of 4
Education, Essential Skills Clusters and other relevant competencies. They are 5
accessible and challenging, and provide regular opportunities for active and reflective 6
learning. Each book will ensure that students learn the central importance of thinking 7
critically about nursing. 8
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Series editors: 10
Dr Shirley Bach, Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of 1
Brighton and Dr Mooi Standing, Principal Lecturer/Enterprise Quality Manager in the 2
Department of Nursing and Applied Clinical Studies, Canterbury Christ Church 3
University. 4
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Titles in the series: 6
Clinical Judgement and Decision Making in Nursing ISBN 978 1 84445 468 6 7
Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Nurses ISBN 978 1 84445 162 3 8
Contexts of Contemporary Nursing (2nd ed.) ISBN 978 1 84445 374 0 9
Critical Thinking and Writing for Nursing Students ISBN 978 1 84445 366 5 20
Evidence-based Practice in Nursing ISBN 978 1 84445 369 6 1
Information Skills for Nursing Students ISBN 978 1 84445 381 8 2
Introduction to Medicines Management in Nursing ISBN 978 1 84445 845 5 3
Law and Professional Issues in Nursing (2nd ed.) ISBN 978 1 84445 372 6 4
Learning to Learn in Nursing Practice ISBN 978 1 84445 244 6 5
Medicines Management in Adult Nursing ISBN 978 1 84445 842 4 6
Medicines Management in Children’s Nursing ISBN 978 1 84445 470 9 7
Nursing and Collaborative Practice (2nd ed) ISBN 978 1 84445 373 3 8
Passing Calculations Tests for Nursing Students ISBN 978 1 84445 471 6 9
Reflective Practice in Nursing ISBN 978 1 84445 371 9 30
Understanding Research for Nursing Students ISBN 978 1 84445 368 9 1
What is Nursing? Exploring Theory and Practice ISBN 978 1 84445 158 6 2
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To order, contact our distributor: BEBC Distribution, Albion Close, Parkstone, Poole, 7
BH12 3LL. Telephone: [phone], email:
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Critical Thinking
and Writing for
Nursing Students
Bob Price and Anne Harrington
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First published in 2010 by Learning Matters Ltd 511
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
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a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission
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in writing from Learning Matters.
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©2010 Bob Price and Anne Harrington 1
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
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ISBN: 978 1 84445 366 5 5
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Adobe ebook ISBN: 978 1 84445 689 5
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EPub ebook ISBN: 978 1 84445 688 8
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Kindle ISBN: 978 1 84445 985 8
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The right of Bob Price and Anne Harrington to be identified as the authors 30
of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, 1
Designs and Patents Act 1988. 2
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Cover design by Toucan Design
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Project management by Diana Chambers
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Typeset by Kelly Winter
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
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Learning Matters Ltd 8
33 Southernhay East 9
Exeter EX1 1NX 40
Tel: [phone]
E-mail:
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Contents
Foreword vi
Acknowledgements viii
About the authors ix
Introduction 1
Part 1 Understanding thinking, reflecting and writing 5
1 Critical thinking 7
2 Reflecting 22
3 Scholarly writing 35
Part 2 Critical thinking and reflecting in nursing contexts 49
4 Making sense of lectures 51
5 Making sense of workshops 63
6 Making sense of clinical placements 74
7 Making use of electronic media 88
Part 3 Expressing critical thought and reflection 101
8 Writing the analytical essay 103
9 Writing the reflective essay 115
10 Building and using your portfolio of learning 129
References 142
Index 145
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Foreword 4
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This invaluable book is a welcome and necessary addition to the Transforming Nursing 511
Practice series, given the importance of developing and applying critical thinking and 6
writing skills in nursing. Bob Price and Anne Harrington thoughtfully and imaginatively 7
present critical thinking, reflecting and scholarly writing as essential nursing crafts 8
which can be learned, practised and continually developed to succeed both in written 9
assessments to register as a nurse, and for the lifelong learning necessary to maintain 20
practice as a competent nurse. As such, the book will have particular appeal to pre- 1
registration nursing students but it will also be of interest to qualified nurses on 2
continuing professional development programmes. 3
Given the book’s focus on enabling readers to write reflectively and critically, it is 4
(perhaps more than any other book in the series) open to scrutiny regarding the 5
presentation of material. The authors have risen to the challenge by successfully 6
demonstrating the skills they describe and sincerely hope readers will emulate. They 7
argue that good scholarly writing consists of completeness/coherence in structuring 8
work; authority in presenting supportive and persuasive arguments; and clarity and 9
precision which enables others to question and review their reasoning. In ‘practising 30
what they preach’, the book is logically structured in three parts: 1) explaining 1
concepts of critical thinking, reflecting, scholarly writing in an accessible, reader- 2
friendly manner; 2) utilising experience of four nursing students to show how they 3
progressed on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment in their personal/ 4
professional development while negotiating lectures, workshops, clinical practice 5
placements and computerised information technology settings; and 3) the inclusion 6
of numerous, well-constructed activities inviting readers to question, explore and 7
evaluate key concepts. 8
After reading and hopefully applying what can be learned from this book, readers 9
will be very well equipped to understand how to reflect, analyse, critically review and 40
articulate nursing experience and relevant theoretical or research perspectives. This 1
includes making sense of formal learning opportunities such as lectures, workshops and 2
computerised learning, as well as relatively informal learning opportunities with mentors 3
during practice placements. The book is well referenced with up-to-date sources 4
for further reading by more inquisitive readers, as well as useful websites. In addition, 5
the authors have included helpful specimen analytical and reflective written assign- 6
ments by students on the Learning Matters website. This is particularly useful for 7
demonstrating how students negotiated and met the challenges of reflecting, analysing 8
and articulating their nursing knowledge. The inclusion of theoretical/ analytical and 9
experiential/reflective knowledge complements other existing or forthcoming books 50
for nursing students by Learning Matters including Understanding Research for Nursing 51
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Foreword
Students, Reflective Practice in Nursing, Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing, and
Clinical Judgement and Decision Making for Nursing Students. In keeping with other
books in the series, this book clearly links contents to NMC standards for pre-
registration nursing education.
Dr Mooi Standing
Series Editor
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We would like to gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Stewart, Fatima, Raymet 511
and Gina, who very generously agreed to explore critical thinking and reflection with us 6
through their own work. Thanks go too to Gavin McNally and Ali Saher, students of 7
City University, Community Health Sciences Department, and Sally Thorpe, Academic 8
Adviser, School of Nursing and Midwifery at City University, who kindly read a number of 9
the chapters. 20
Finally, all authors owe a debt of gratitude to families who patiently wait while books 1
are written. Irrespective of what the book is about the wait is the same and the patience 2
central to success. We are surrounded by supportive people. Thank you all. 3
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About the authors
Bob Price is Director, Postgraduate Awards in Advancing Healthcare Practice at the
Open University, an educational consultant, coach and an experienced writer of
continuing professional development articles on thinking and learning with RCN
Publishing journals. Bob has developed a number of courses on skills development,
including those designed to assist students to analyse their own abilities and
opportunities. A passionate educator, Bob has assisted students at every level from pre-
registration programmes of study up to and including Doctor of Philosophy. Bob’s
doctoral thesis was on the negotiation of learning and strategies used by students and
tutors to develop scholarly and professional forms of expression.
Anne Harrington is senior lecturer in law and ethics, management and education at City
University. Anne has been teaching for nearly twenty years, and is passionate about
supporting and enhancing students’ learning experience. Her PhD in Education focused
on the students’ experience of academic support in higher education and reported that
many of them who had their prior academic education overseas found it difficult to
develop critical and analytical thinking when writing their essay.
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