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Nursing scripts and the organizational influences on critical thinking: report of a study of neonatal nurses’ clinical reasoning
Author(s) -
Greenwood Jennifer,
Sullivan Jennifer,
Spence Kaye,
McDonald Margaret
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.01378.x
Subject(s) - scripting language , schema (genetic algorithms) , psychology , think aloud protocol , nursing practice , nursing , critical thinking , promotion (chess) , medical education , medicine , pedagogy , computer science , usability , human–computer interaction , machine learning , politics , political science , law , operating system
Nursing scripts and the organizational influences on critical thinking: report of a study of neonatal nurses’ clinical reasoning During 1995–1997 a study was undertaken to explore the extent to which theoretical knowledge acquired through a distance education programme in neonatal nursing was brought to bear in the real‐world clinical reasoning of course participants. The study utilized a think aloud technique and included both concurrent (on‐the‐job) and retrospective verbal reports at 0, 6 and 12 months into the programme. Participants ( n =4) were also interviewed individually on completion of the study. Results indicated that important inconsistencies existed between participants’ theoretical knowledge and their practice; they also pointed to some organizational influences on these theory–practice inconsistencies. Script (or schema) theory provided a useful explanatory framework for these results. The paper includes a brief description of data collection and analysis techniques; its main emphasis, however, is on these theory–practice inconsistencies and their explanation in terms of the nature and acquisition of nursing practice scripts. The implications of nursing scripts for the promotion of critical thinking and evidence‐based practice are discussed.