disposition of the undergraduate university nursing students toward critical thinking

ABSTRACT

Thinking is essential to a safe, competent, skillful nursing practice. It helps nurses to identify options from which to choose solutions in client care situations. The disposition toward critical thinking was considered to be crucial to a good critical thinker. Accordingly, the seven critical thinking dispositional characteristics, which are constituents of an overall disposition toward critical thinking were identified, namely Truth seeking, Open-mindedness, Analyticity, Systematicity, Self-confidence, Inquisitiveness and Maturity. The aim of this study was to determine critical thinking disposition among Alexandria University undergraduate nursing students. The study was carried out in all the four academic year at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University. The sample comprised all undergraduate nursing students of the four academic years [N= 752]. The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory [CCTDI] developed by Facione P. and Facione N. [1990] was used to collect data concerning the disposition of the undergraduate nursing students towards critical thinking. It consists of two parts the first part, included the demographic data of the students. The second part, consisted of 75 items grouped into the previously mentioned seven dispositional characteristics. All items of the seven dispositional characteristics were scrambled. Students responded using a 6-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". Undergraduate nursing students of the four academic years got the highest mean scores in the dispositional characteristic of Inquisitiveness and Analyticity. Meanwhile, they got the lowest mean scores in the dispositional characteristics of Truth seeking and Open-mindedness. The mean scores of the first year students were the highest in all of the dispositional characteristics except in Truth seeking. A statistical significant difference was found in relation to mean scores of the undergraduate nursing students of the four academic years in relation to all of the dispositional characteristics except for the dispositional characteristic of Self-confidence. The study showed that the majority of the undergraduate nursing students at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alexandria regardless of their academic year showed ambivalent disposition towards most of the dispositional characteristics and the overall CCTDI. They got the highest mean scores in Inquisitiveness and Analyticity. Meanwhile, they got the lowest mean scores in Truth seeking and Open-mindedness