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Sunday, November 1, 2009: 11:20 AM
Learning Objective 1: describe how an organizational model was developed to teach and mentor clinical thinking skills.
Learning Objective 2: describe how the model has created enthusiasm among recipients and other nurses to return to school for a BSN.
This presentation will describe how a Midwestern community hospital and local university collaborated and were awarded a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant # D66HP05408. An organizational model was developed to identify, teach and mentor enhanced critical thinking skills and nutritional and spiritual assessment using cultural sensitivity. The grant provided funding for at least 90 Associate Degree or Diploma prepared nurses to earn a Certificate in Clinical Reasoning and to continue course work at the local University. The program consisted of 5 courses totaling 12 credit hours that were transferable into the University’s BSN program. Course titles included Foundations Of Nursing Knowledge (2 Credits), Health And Physical Assessment (3 Credits), Nursing And The Older Adult and Research Utilization (4 Integrated Credits), and Spirituality and Health (3 Credits).The program incorporated the Pesut and Herman model (1999), “Clinical reasoning: The art and science of critical thinking and creative thinking” and utilized critical thinking assessment tools from Alfaro-LaFevre’s Critical Thinking Indicators Model (CTI). The participants were recruited from all patient care areas of the hospital with priority given to nurses employed in the critical care and cardio-pulmonary step-down units identified in the grant. To date, ninety-three nurses were enrolled in the grant certificate program. More than 95% of the RNs completed course work and 50% have transferred the credits to continue the pursuit of a Bachelors degree in nursing.