Development of critical thinking skills in nursing students

Critical thinking is an integral part of being a competent nurse. Critical thinking skills are required for safe practice and are mandated aspects of nursing curricula by state education guidelines and accrediting organization. Having sound critical thinking skills is important to protect, improve, and increase the quality of life. Nursing education is challenged to provide students with the resources to develop and practice the critical thinking skills needed by successful students and competent nurses. This project examined the effect of optional adaptive learning platform activities on the mid-term grades of senior level nursing students. Students were given eight weeks to complete optional National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) style questions, concept maps and interactive case studies. Students who completed the optional activities demonstrated higher mid-term grades than the students who did not complete optional activities. These findings may indicate the beneficial effect of including adaptive learning platform activities as required assignments in nursing courses.