The publication by Watts, C.S. (2016). Preparing nursing graduates for the future: Adding informatics education to entry-level programs by Watts, C.S. (2016) shows the importance of informatics in the nursing practice. Critical thinking is an important skill in the application of informatics to integrate the knowledge and information in nursing with the information and technologies in promoting the health of the patient, families, and societies worldwide. The paper discusses some of the areas which involve the application of critical thinking skills and states whether the skill is offered in specific schools.
I strongly feel that the base of nursing knowledge is something that takes time to grow. It is something that is not built in a day and in my opinion nurses should continue cultivating for wisdom even after completing their studies. The process of wisdom development goes hand in hand with the nurse’s judgment which requires the skill of critical thinking. One of the key areas which develop a nurse is nursing informatics which requires the application of wisdom and critical thinking skill. According to American Nurses Association, all nurses should be well educated in nursing informatics to execute the nursing activities safely (Watts, 2016). It seems that knowledge of nursing informatics and a strong set of nursing skills are essential components for success in nursing. Today’s nurses are limited in their critical thinking skills as evidenced by the difficulties in following the orders provided by the physicians and administration of new medications. In my opinion, there are no specific schools that offer undergraduate nursing programs focusing on critical thinking as evidenced by the wavering displayed by nurses in situations that require the application of the skill.
I see that we are in an evolving world where the role of nurses in the new digital space changes every day. Therefore, nurses should team up and work hard toward improving their profession (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal, 2016). Application of nursing informatics knowledge and incorporating the knowledge in nursing judgment is crucial for achieving success. I think that the synthesis of informatics knowledge and making decisions requires critical thinking skills that most of the nurses in the modern-day world do not possess. Thus, there are no specific schools that offer undergraduate nursing course programs focusing on critical thinking. In my opinion, good critical thinking skills enable one to apply DIKW (2016) properly. The DIKW is an acronym for data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. In conclusion, it is important to incorporate some programs in nursing skills that will teach students how to apply and advance their critical thinking skills in the nursing practice.
