Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgment: A Practical Approach to Outcome - Focused Thinking

This book is excellent for the concepts and ideas discussed in this book can be applied not only to nursing but to any profession in which is required a higher level of though. I liked reading this book a lot for critical thinking is the most important skill a health care professional can possess in order to be successful. I highly recommend this book to anyone preparing to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX)or any other certification test for critical thinking skills are essential for demonstrating a candidate has the knowledge to pass. This book teaches step by step how to develop critical thinking which will enable a person to pass any test based on this specific way of reasoning out information in order to make an educated judgment based on in-depth thinking. I am totally impressed the book and its author, Rosalinda Alfaro-LeFevre, made an outstanding job on researching and supporting her views and recommendations for developing critical thinking skills.

I am a hospital nurse educator, and was recently challenged by my medical director (not a nurse but a huge team player) to gear all my programs to strengthen critical thinking in nurses. We as nurses can be so task oriented as a result of being so busy and gearing our strengths to meet our immense immediate demands. This book was outstanding in giving me ideas to use as I teach nurses (and myself) to reach that part of the brain that "really thinks", synthesizes and applies. I personally have felt a "new" part of my brain stimulated. For me, a nurse with 30 years in the field, this approach feels fresh and relevant.

This book recieved a 2003 AJN Book of the Year Award. Now that I have digested it, I understand why my mentor gave it to me. I am an MSN student, but this book is a must read for all those involved in nursing education. That includes both faculty and students. The writing style holds one's interest. The topic of critical thinking can be so incredibly dry. This book is anything but dry. It's fabulous."

People keep redesigning health care delivery systems when they should be helping nurses to gain the thinking skills needed to succeed in today's workplace. This is definitely the best, applied book on critical thinking in nursing. Grabs your attention and helps you connect with natural talents. Also gives strategies to maximize your potential to think critically. Should be on every students'and nurses'must read list.

Alfaro-LeFevre's 2nd Edition of Critical Thinking in Nursing takes the reader from the meaning and importance of critical thinking to specific exercises for developing critical thinking skills. Throughout the book, she has added helpful features such as the "want to know more" feature that guides the reader to web sites and other sources of information. She alerts the reader about changes in health care delivery and presents valuable information about the move towards consumer-driven outcome based care. The addition of the new chapter on mastery of workplace skills gives specific, clear strategies for managing conflict. This chapter is ideal for students in leadership courses . Besides providing information about library resources, it provides strategies for school papers and essays. Critical Thinking in Nursing is everything the author teaches the reader about critical thinking. It presents the reader with precisely stated information that is accompanied by clearly detailed evidence. This book is a valuable tool for educators and practitioners at all levels, in all specialties.