- Judy E Boychuk Duchscher: Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology Nursing Division, Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. duchscher@siast.sk.ca
Nursing education strives to develop critical thinking through emphasis on process, inquiry, and reasoning. Although North American nursing education programs have recommended integrating the critical thinking construct into the conceptual framework that supports undergraduate nursing programs, critical thinking is still ambiguously and inconsistently applied within the profession. The research described in this article explored the development of thinking in five newly graduated baccalaureate RNs by accompanying them on the conceptual, theoretical, and practical evolutionary journey of their first 6 months in nursing practice and explicating their knowledge development over time, offering insights into the role of undergraduate education in teaching, and fostering critical thinking as an approach to nursing practice.