Ask students to compare and analyze readings, discuss differences in patient outcomes and evaluate multiple treatment and care protocols for the same illness or condition. Jumpstart students' critical thinking by asking questions:
"Patients x and y are of similar age, ethnicity and the same gender. Patient x received treatment A, while patient y received treatment B. Why did patient B recover faster, while patient A was hospitalized 12 days longer than patient B?" This prompts students to identify reasons accounting for the variance in patient care results. Continue asking questions and providing prompts until students identify potential reasons explaining the difference in the two cases presented.
Evaluate computer and online resources for their potential in engaging critical-thinking skills. Encourage students to compare and contrast readings with experiments, hypothesis and results, and medical literature with actual cases observed. Prompts for critical thinking encourage exploration of circumstances, information and patient care protocols for identifying differing factors in nursing literature, research-and patient care. Encourage students to analyze how patient care is impacted by financial factors, patient access to health care and patient health history. Develop case studies and classroom exercises reflecting diversity of patients,their conditions, health care venues, and available resources for patient care.
Use role-playing exercises with students alternately assuming roles of patients and nurses. Assign each patient a condition and provide prompts for "patients" and their "nurses." Ask each pair of students to use evaluate communication skills for determining patient information. Have students consider aspects of communication, including patient understanding of the discussion, the nurse's demeanor and patient body language for determining their patients' condition, needs and recovery progress. Discuss each patient and nurse's impressions of the exercise and discuss differences in perception and outcome of each pair's interaction.