Abstract
D.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science )
The nursing practice needs critical thinkers because of diverse and rapidly changing
developments and desired outcomes in health care. These developments are based on health
and informational changes, organisational and cultural change sin nursing education, changes
in the scope o fpractice, and increasing patient acuity and the movement of patient care from
acute care facility to community selling have increased demands for nurses to think critically,
evaluate and quickly choose patient strategy. a need for effective clinical decision making and
a need for clinical judgement (Sedlack, 1997:11). Old standards of simply being able to score
well on standardized test of basic skills, though still appropriate. cannot be the sole means by
which we judge the academic success or failure students.
The implication of SAQA Act (/995) and the Education White Paper(1997) on transformation of higher education bring with them challenges for reaching and assessment of tertiary
education graduates. The white paper stressed the importance of the development of the
ability to think independently and with innovation. The South African Nursing Council (SANe,
1984:3) states explicitly in the philosophy about nursing education, that the development of
critical analytically thinking is imperative. Therefore it is imperative for nurse educators to use
specific assessment strategies that will assess if students have acquired critical thinking skills.
The purpose of this study is to explore and describe strategies to assess critical thinking in a
four year program leading to registration as a nurse (General, Psychiatry and Community)
and Midwifery in South Africa)