Critical thinking skills are highly sought after today and are actively taught. With the constant influx of information from TV news and the Internet, it’s crucial to develop critical thinking skills to discern the truth. This is especially vital for Trauma Registry Professionals who handle abstracted information and processes within trauma services.
Critical thinking is defined as the “objective analysis and evaluation of an issue to form a judgment.” Key terms in this definition include objective analysis, evaluation, and judgment, which are essential components of the process. Critical thinking fosters effective problem-solving and creativity, and it underpins rational decision-making.
Below are realistic examples of how critical thinking resolved an issue for trauma registry professionals. The process of critical thinking involves five distinct phases.
5 Phases of Critical Thinking
- Problem identification: clarifying the problem and determining the root causes between the current situation and the ideal outcome.
- In the trauma service, a Trauma Registry Professional was tasked to find the missing EMS run sheets, often taking as long as 4 hours on Mondays.
- EMS were not leaving the run sheets, causing delays in keeping concurrent.
- Creative thinking: looking at the problem using outside the box thinking. Looking at possible solutions to the root causes through brainstorming, generating ideas.
- The Trauma Registry Professional started brainstorming to figure out how to decrease the time a registrar must look for and request run sheets from EMS services.
- Looking at if the trauma registry program can help.
- Logical Analysis: testing assumptions, thoroughly evaluating options without bias, and ensure conclusions are not from incorrect beliefs and mistaken observation.
- The registrars began to think outside the box. They reviewed EMS state regulations and found a regulation that said that EMS agencies must leave written documentation in the ED when dropping off the patient.
- The registrars looked at how the trauma registry program can help.
- Decision Making: criteria for deciding the path forward and done through team consensus that takes advantage of the knowledge and experience that assess risk and the chance of success and builds commitment to the proposed solution.
- They found they can customize a single page report that they can send back to the EMS providers by secure email/fax within 24 hours of receiving the patient.
- The report would be sent to the EMS agencies providing feedback for them. It would allow them to add a section for comments that could provide extra feedback like break out the Glasgow Coma Scale.
- Coordination/Implementation: timeframes are set, assignments are assigned, and expectations are established.
- The registrars worked with the PI nurses to create the report template that would pull the data from the registry and put it on the document for EMS feedback.
- The Trauma Registry Professionals set a date when they would start to send out the reports initially, including the EMS regulation that reminds them to leave written documentation in the ED.
By employing critical thinking techniques, the trauma service was able to quickly obtain EMS trip sheets. Initially, when the trauma service began distributing custom reports, it took some time for EMS agencies to recognize their value. However, once they did, they eagerly incorporated the reports into their performance improvement processes.
Over time, EMS agencies began contacting the Trauma Registry Professionals within 24 hours of patient drop-off to inquire about their reports. If they hadn’t left a trip sheet, the registrar would inform them, and the EMS agency would promptly send it over within five minutes. This change significantly reduced the time the Trauma Registry Professional spent on Mondays calling for trip sheets, from up to four hours to just 30 minutes. As a result, the trauma service received the trip sheets immediately and could promptly deliver reports back to the EMS agencies, enhancing communication between the two parties.
While no one is perfect at critical thinking, consistent practice offers a significant advantage. Strong critical thinking skills enable us to understand ourselves and our opinions better, and to examine diverse perspectives without fear or bias. These skills are invaluable tools for proactively addressing problems in both personal and professional contexts.
