IMPACT OF THE CRITICAL THINKING COMPONENT IN THE HEALTH EDUCATION MANAGEMENT OF NURSES
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Date
2008-06
Authors
NG, YOON MOOI
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to study the impact of the critical thinking
component in the health education curriculum of nurses for patients with different
health needs. This impact can be seen when the scores of the student nurses in
the experiment group are compared with those of the control group which is
determined by pre and post tests given to them. This research is also aimed at
establishing the effectiveness of a critical thinking module that was given to the
experiment group.
Data for this research was gathered from 2 approaches, namely; the
quantitative and qualitative approaches. For the quantitative approach 84 student
nurses were selected to represent the experiment and control groups in a private
medical college in Perak. The 2 groups of students had been exposed to health
education and clinical training in the wards as determined by the nursing
curriculum. Following that, a treatment in the form of a critical thinking mO,dule
which consisted of critical thinking - related activities, was only given to the
experiment group. At the end of this session, a post test was given to the two
groups.
Following the quantitative session, the qualitative approach was used. In
this session, 5 student nurses were selected and they were interviewed for 2
times, the first session was after the treatment was given and the second session
was after clinical training with the patients. Besides these interviews, the patients
concerned were also interviewed.
All data obtained from the respondents for the quantitative approach was
analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 13.0
programme. Descriptive statistics, t-test and ANCOVA were used to test the hypothesis
while data obtained through interviews were transcribed before it was analyzed and
interpreted in accordance to the research questions. Findings from t-test and ANCOVA
showed significant difference in the achievement between the experiment and control
groups. In other words, these findings showed that there was a significant impact of the
critical thinking component in the health education curriculum of nurses.
Qualitative data findings showed that the 5 students demonstrated thinking skills
during their clinical training. Their patients too voiced individual views and perceptions.
The students also felt that their thinking had improved after their induction to the critical
thinking module.
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Keywords
CRITICAL THINKING , HEALTH EDUCATION