Critical Thinking and Evidence-Based Practice Guide
The marks are printed on the prompt and the definitions must be in your own words. The third part carries the same three points and takes ten times the thought.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 16, 2026
Three parts, three points each, and a no-quotes rule
This prompt is unusually transparent about how it is marked: three points for defining critical thinking and saying why it matters, three for defining evidence-based practice, and three for relating both to patient outcomes. It also attaches a rule that decides whether the first six points are available at all — a direct quote will not meet the definition requirement. That is not a stylistic preference. Quoting a definition demonstrates that you found one; paraphrasing demonstrates that you understood it, and the instructor has said which is being assessed. So write both definitions in your own sentences and cite the source after them. For critical thinking, resist the circular version where it means thinking carefully. Something more useful: the disciplined process of examining assumptions, weighing evidence and reasoning to a clinical judgement, which in nursing shows up as noticing that a stable-looking patient's trend is wrong even though each individual value is within range.
Evidence-based practice has a definition with structure worth preserving. It is the integration of the best available evidence with clinical expertise and patient values and preferences — three components, and dropping either of the last two turns it into 'following the research', which is the misunderstanding this question exists to catch. Say what happens when they conflict, because that is where the concept earns its keep. The third part is where the marks are hardest to get and the instructor flags it as such. Avoid asserting that both improve outcomes; show the mechanism. Evidence-based practice supplies the protocol that works on average; critical thinking decides whether this patient is the average one, and recognises when the protocol should be questioned. Give one concrete example where following evidence uncritically would have harmed a patient, and one where clinical intuition without evidence would have. That pairing answers the question properly.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Define critical thinking in your own words, without circularity.
- 02State the three components of evidence-based practice.
- 03Explain how the two concepts interact rather than merely coexist.
- 04Illustrate the link to patient outcomes with a concrete mechanism.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argumentBelow are the references from the units assigned readings in correct APA format. You shold all score wel on APA on your papers and discussion if you use these. Be sure to read my announcment for the week as well.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A paraphrased definition of critical thinking, cited.
- 02An account of what critical thinking entails in nursing practice.
- 03A paraphrased definition of evidence-based practice with its three components.
- 04A discussion of how both relate to patient outcomes.
- 05At least one reference and one in-text citation, in APA format.
Define, define, then connect the two to outcomes
Critical thinking, defined
Give a non-circular definition and cite it.
What it entails in nursing practice
Describe critical thinking as it appears at the bedside.
Evidence-based practice, defined
State the three components and give an example.
Where the three components conflict
Show what EBP requires when evidence and patient preference disagree.
How both reach patient outcomes
Explain the mechanism connecting the two concepts to results.
Using the assigned readings as the main references
Recommended databases
- The assigned unit readings
- American Nurses Association
- NCBI Bookshelf
- PubMed Central
Search sequence
- 1.Use the assigned readings as your main references, as the prompt instructs.
- 2.Find a definitional source for EBP that names all three components.
- 3.Look for one study connecting EBP adoption to a measured outcome.
- 4.Keep additional sources under five years old, as specified.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Nursing Professional Development Evidence-Based Practice
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
Evidence-based practice defined with its three components and its process.
- 02
QSEN: Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes Associated With Evidence-Based Practice (Table 9.4)
Nursing Management and Professional Concepts, Chippewa Valley Technical College (NCBI Bookshelf) · 2022
The QSEN competencies that link clinical judgement to evidence use.
- 03
Nursing Management and Professional Concepts
Open RN, NCBI Bookshelf · 2022
An open nursing concepts text covering clinical judgement and the nursing process.
- 04
Turning knowledge into action at the point-of-care: the collective experience of nurses facilitating the implementation of evidence-based practice
Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing · 2013
Nurses implementing evidence at the point of care — the mechanism your third part needs.
- 05
Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice
American Nurses Association · 2021
The professional scope within which clinical judgement is exercised.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Quoting either definition, which the prompt says will not meet the requirement.
- Defining critical thinking circularly as thinking critically or carefully.
- Reducing evidence-based practice to following the research and dropping patient values.
- Asserting that both improve outcomes without giving a mechanism or an example.
Submission checklist
- Are both definitions in your own words?
- Have you named all three components of EBP?
- Does part three contain a mechanism, not just an assertion?
- Are the assigned readings your main references?
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Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.
Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.