A nurse is taking an admission history from a client who is easily dis

A nurse is taking an admission history from a client who is easily distracted and offers irrelevant information about his health and social history.

Although careful to document what the client relates, the nurse sorts out the relevant data to determine the best nursing care for this client. This nurse is practicing which attribute of critical thinking?
1. Reflection
2. Context
3. Dialogue
4. Time

ANSWER

Correct Answer: 1
Rationale 1: Reflection involves being able to determine what data are relevant and to make connections between that data and the decisions reached.
Rationale 2: Context is an essential consideration in nursing since care must always be individualized, taking knowledge and applying it to real people but that is not what is described in the stem.
Rationale 3: Dialogue, which need not involve other persons, refers to the process of serving as both teacher and student in learning from situations.
Rationale 4: Time emphasizes the value of using past learning in current situations that then guide future actions.