DOI: 10.5176/2315-4330_WNC15.53
Authors: Mio Leng Au and Wan Cheong
Abstract:
Critical thinking has been found in nursing discipline all over the world for a long time. Especially, it has thirty years of history in the bachelor (BSN) nursing education area. And the requirement of critical thinking (CT) was transmitted from non-Asian to Asian countries. Hence, does the critical thinking ability of Asian nursing students equal to non-Asian during these 30 years? Aim: To explore the critical thinking ability of BSN students in Asian and non-Asian countries through review of literature. Method: Searching from 6 electronic databases with the terms as "nursing student, critical thinking, BSN, baccalaureate, undergraduate, Bachelor". Data extraction was conducted by two reviewers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Result: There were 44 studies included for review, but only 5 studies were conducted by Asian countries. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) were used in both Asian and non-Asian countries to assess the ability of critical thinking of BSN students. With the CCTST, the mean score of Asian year two students is higher than that in non-Asian countries, but not the same case for senior level students. For the WGCTA, the score of Asian senior level students is lower than non-Asian. Conclusion: There has been no evidence to show that critical thinking ability of BSN students in Asian countries is equal to the non-Asian countries. But obviously the critical thinking ability of non-Asian senior level students is better than Asian. Census / General survey of critical thinking ability of BSN students in Asian and non-Asian countries is recommended. On the other hand, the culture factor should be concerned. And Asian nursing educations may create a culture to promote critical thinking for BSN students.
Keywords: critical thinking ability; nursing students; BSN; Asian; non-Asian
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