Critical Thinking And Judgement Analysis

All day long a nurse will use critical thinking, reasoning and judgement. These three go hand in hand and are a constant process. One cannot accomplish a task without using all three together. To perform all three, the individual performing the task must be able to use thought process to be able to perform the task safely and efficiently. After critical thinking and reasoning have been accomplished, the final step is being able to make a judgement call based on the outcome. I have observed nurses use this process at every clinical experience that I have encountered in my educational experience at the hospital. From all those amazing nurses I have been able to slowly learn how to apply this knowledge. A situation where critical thinking, reasoning,

It took a while to settle him down before we could do our assessments. There were also University of South Dakota (USD) students working with the Doctors. While the USD was trying to assess him he kept getting fuzzier and fuzzier. That fact that he was being rocked and cuddled and still we were unable to settle him down alerted me and my nurse that something is wrong. The Dad was unable to provide us with any details if Mom fed him before she left the room. Nobody knew where she went or when she left. This was when we realized that our priority was to feed him and change his diaper first before we do our assessment on him. The Dad wanted nothing to do with the infant and did not try to hold or calm him. He just put the covers over his head and went back to sleep. That was hard for me to grasp, since every clinical shift, the parents have been so involved with their child. The nurse informed me that this is a common occurrence at times. We decided since we did not know when he was fed last or how much he ate, that we will give him a little to eat, since he was due for a medication called Culturelle. We decided to mix a little bit of the formula and the medication together, just in case he was not very hungry. While the nurse mixed the medication in with the formula, I changed his diaper. Once I started to feed him the bottle he calmed down. The nurse and I came to the conclusion that the Mom must have fed him

I made a bottle (2 oz.) and fed him. I did not want to give him too much, since he has a history of vomiting. After about an hour and a half, I learned the mistake I made. He was still hungry. When I went into the room the Dad was holding him and I asked if he wants a bottle for him, he said yes and I made him another bottle. This little guy ended up eating another full bottle for Dad. I should have made two bottles before I fed him. I could have easily discarded the second one if he did not want the bottle. What I should have done differently in this scenario would be to look back at the charting and see what his intake has been in the past. Based on the information that has been previously reported, would have helped guide me to how much I could give him at a time. This task could have been delegated to my preceptor, while I gather the supplies needed to mix the food or if this occurs in the future again, I can have the PCT gather the supplies while I look up this paramount information. This is something I will start to do in the future if the Mom or Dad is unable to provide me with any information. This is important to know, since part of his reason for still being at the hospital is due to weight loss. Mom returned later that afternoon after dealing with another sick kiddo at home. She did inform me that she breast fed around 0730 before she left for about 10 minutes on one