Abstract:
Critical thinking is an essential component of baccalaureate nursing education today. Nursing programs are required to provide evidence that graduating students possess essential critical thinking skills. Consequently, educators are increasingly challenged to promote strategies that develop the critical thinking skills and dispositions of students. The purpose of this study is to determine if there are significant differences in the critical thinking skills and dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students upon entry to a nursing program compared with the same students' critical thinking skills and dispositions at completion of the program. A convenience sample comprised of 125 nursing students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program at one public university in the Midwestern United States will be utilized. Participation in the research study will be voluntary and confidentiality will be assured. The significance of the study lies in an increased awareness of the extent to which critical thinking skills and dispositions change during a baccalaureate nursing curriculum and the level at which new graduates demonstrate critical thinking skills and dispositions.