Critical Thinking Disposition of Nurse Practitioners in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: Critical thinking disposition (CTD) is crucial for nurse practitioners who face complex patient care scenarios. This study explored the CTD of nurse practitioners and related factors. METHOD: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive design. A purposive sample was recruited from a medical center and its hospital branches in central Taiwan. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 210 nurse practitioners. RESULTS: The participants obtained the highest average score on systematicity and analyticity. CTD had a significant positive correlation with fundamental knowledge readiness, professional knowledge readiness, and confidence in making clinical decisions. Professional knowledge readiness, education level, and on-the-job training predicted the score of the participants on overall CTD. CONCLUSION: On-the-job training and education level may influence the CTD of nurse practitioners. Providing formal or on-the-job continuing education training to nurse practitioners may help enhance their CTD. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(9):425-430.