Abstract:
Background: Critical thinking skill is one of the basic competencies of nursing practice and is
associated with the provision of quality nursing care. Even though nurses are required to learn
and implement critical thinking skills to conduct their work effectively and efficiently, a
significant proportion of nurses still lack the required level of critical thinking skills.
Objective: To assess nurses' level of critical thinking skills and associated factors at tertiary
hospitals in the Southwestern part of Ethiopia, in 2022.
Method: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among nurses
working at three tertiary hospitals in the Southwest part of Ethiopia from July, 20 to August 20,
2022. About 422 nurses were included in the study using a simple random sampling technique.
Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Multivariable linear
regression analysis was used to determine factors significantly associated with critical thinking
skills and a p-value of less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. The results were
presented with text, tables, and graphs.
Result: Out of the 422 participants, 406 (96.2% response rate) of them returned distributed
questionnaires and 399 questionnaires were analyzed while seven questionnaires were excluded
because of missing data. Nearly half 196(49.1%) of the participants have a moderate level and
73 (18.3%) have a high level of critical thinking skills. Being a BSc degree holder (β=0.230,
p=0.000) or MSc degree holder (β=0.303, p=0.001), following scientific publications (β=0.298,
p=0.000), participating in scientific activities (β=0.305, p=0.000), working at outpatient
department (β=0.105, p=0.025), being nurse manager (β =0.201, p=0.000), and taking capacity
building training (β= 0.158, p=0.000) were associated with critical thinking skills of nurses.
Conclusion: The majority of nurses demonstrated a low and moderate level of critical thinking
skills. Educational level, following scientific publications to update oneself on clinical practice,
participation in scientific activities, working department/unit, working position, and taking
capacity-building training were significantly associated with the level of critical thinking skills.
It is necessary to arrange in-service training and educational opportunities for nurses to
improve their critical thinking skills
