NursingCase studyClinical judgment

Critical Thinking in Healthcare Practice Case Study

Each question asks you to name a concept, not describe an action. Answering in ordinary language is the way this case study quietly loses marks.

Aug 16, 2026

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 16, 2026

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Name the skill, not the action — the questions ask for terms

Every question in this set asks for a term from the course vocabulary, and answering in plain description is the standard failure. Question one asks which critical thinking skill Tonya is demonstrating when she anticipates bleeding risk from anticoagulation plus a recent surgical wound — the answer is a named skill such as inference or prediction, not a restatement of what she did. Question two asks for three intellectual standards, which is a specific list: accuracy, precision, relevance, clarity, depth, breadth, logic, significance and fairness are the standard set, and a note describing the incision's appearance and length and recording a loose suture without drainage demonstrates precision, accuracy and completeness rather than 'good documentation'. Read each question for the noun it is asking for and supply that noun with a one-line justification from the case. Underline the term in your draft if it helps you check that every answer contains one.

The delegation question at the end runs on different rules and is the one most likely to be answered by instinct. The five rights of delegation give you the framework: the right task, the right circumstance, the right person, the right direction and communication, and the right supervision and evaluation. Apply them in order to what Tony actually said. Delegating an observation and a chart entry to Sonya may be the right task and the right person depending on Sonya's role and competence; the direction is where the problem usually lies, because a direction that does not specify what to report, when, and to whom is incomplete however friendly it sounds. And 'I'll check with you when you're finished to see how she did' is supervision after the fact rather than a stated reporting threshold. Say which of the five rights was met and which was not, since naming the failing right beats saying the direction was vague.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

01
Name critical thinking skills using the course's own terminology.
02
Identify intellectual standards from a documented example.
03
Apply the five rights of delegation as an ordered framework.
04
Justify each answer from specific case detail.

Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Assignment Critical Thinking In Healthcare Practice Critical Thinking In Healthcare Practice Medical treatment stabilized Mr. Lawson’s condition. He had a pulmonary embolus, but he is now on anticoagulants, medications that will reduce likelihood of more clot formation. Knowing that Mr. Lawson is on anticoagulants and has had recent surgery and the processes of normal wound healing (see Chapter 48 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), Tonya believes that the patient is at risk for bleeding from his surgical wound. She acts by increasing assessments of the wound and teaching Mr. Lawson how to avoid placing stress on the wound 1. Describe the critical thinking skill that Tonya is demonstrating. After Tonya assesses the wound, she enters a note in the medical record. She describes the appearance of the incision in detail, reports on the length of the incision, and notes that one suture is loose but there is no drainage. 2. Identify the three intellectual standards that Tonya uses in making a note in the record. 3. Mr. Lawson complains of more discomfort after lying on his right side for 30 minutes. Tonya asks him to describe the pain; it is focused more on his right shoulder and ribs. Tonya sees that the drainage tubing exiting the surgical wound is caught underneath the patient. She moves it, questions the patient further to find out that he has a history of arthritis in the shoulder, and then repositions and aligns him. This is an example of which critical thinking competencies? Nursing Assessment Tonya is planning to return to Mr. Lawson’s room and spend more time discussing his concerns about going home and what to expect. She knows that Mrs. Lawson usually comes to visit around 11 AM, just before lunchtime. Tonya believes that Mrs. Lawson will be an important source of support in providing Mr. Lawson’s ongoing home care. The surgeon has ordered directions for wound care and standard activity restrictions. 1. Tonya goes to Mr. Lawson’s room and asks the patient, “What concerns do you and your wife have about cleaning the wound?” Which type of assessment question is this and why has Tonya asked it? 2. Tonya and Mr. Lawson have the following interaction: Tonya: Mr. Lawson, What do you understand about the reason for the activity restrictions your doctor ordered? Mr. Lawson: I think it will prevent me from not hurting myself.Tonya: Uh huh … go on Mr. Lawson: I think the doctor said I could pull my stitches. Tonya’s phrase “uh huh … go on” is an example of which interviewing technique? Explain why it is useful. 3. Tonya returns to Mr. Lawson’s room to discuss his discharge instructions, but she notes as she enters the room that the patient is grimacing. She asks him, “Tell me where the pain is.” Mr. Lawson is asked to rate the pain on a scale of 0 to 10 and rates it a 6. Tonya looks at the patient’s surgical wound and notes that the area of separation is still inflamed. Match the assessment technique on the left with the type of measurement on the right. Assignment Critical Thinking In Healthcare Practice 1. Patient rates pain 6 on a 0 to 10 scale. ___ A. Determining location of a symptom 2. Tell me where the pain is. ___ B. Observation 3. Patient is seen grimacing. ___ C. Inspection 4. Nurse looks at condition of wound. ___ D. Determining severity of a symptom Managing Patient Care You are a staff nurse on a 32-bed cardiac step-down unit. You are assigned as the preceptor for Tony, RN, a new graduate nurse, who just started his nursing career on your floor. 1. You and Tony just received morning shift report on your patients. You are assigned the following patients. Which patient do you and Tony need to see first? Explain your answer. 1. Mr. Dodson, a 52-year-old patient who was admitted yesterday with a diagnosis of angina pectoris. He is scheduled for a cardiac stress test at 0900. 2. Mrs. Wallace, a 60-year-old patient who was transferred out of intensive care at 0630 today. She had uncomplicated coronary artery bypass surgery yesterday. 3. Mr. Workman, a 45-year-old patient who experienced a myocardial infarction 2 days ago. He is complaining of chest pain rated as 6 on a scale of 0 to 10. 4. Mrs. Harris, a 76-year-old patient who had a permanent pacemaker inserted yesterday. She is complaining of incision pain rated as a 5 on a scale of 0 to 10. 2. As you work with Tony on your unit, you notice that he has trouble with time-management skills when providing patient care. Which strategies will you suggest to Tony to help him improve organization of his delivery of patient care? 3. Sonya, a nursing assistive personnel (NAP), is paired to work with you and Tony. You overhear Tony giving Sonya directions for what she needs to do. Tony says, “Sonya, assist Mrs. Harris in room 418 with her afternoon walk. Take her pulse before and after she walks and record it in her chart. I’ll check with you when you’re finished to see how she did.” On the basis of what you know about delegation, did Tony give appropriate or inappropriate directions to Sonya? Provide rationale for your answer. Critical Thinking In Healthcare Practice

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation Hi Class, Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts. Contact me if you have any questions. Important information on Writing a Discussion Question Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references) There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article. Include in-text citations in your response Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information Follow APA-7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week. Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references) Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count. Follow APA 7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points. Here are some helpful links Student paper example Citing Sources The Writing Center is a great resource Welcome to class Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to. I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you. Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations. Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements. Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week. I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Turn the brief into deliverables

01
The named critical thinking skill Tonya demonstrates.
02
Three named intellectual standards evident in her note.
03
A verdict on the delegation, with a rationale.
04
The five rights applied in order.
05
Justification from case detail for each answer.
06
APA citations where the course requires them.

Each numbered question, in the vocabulary it expects

The critical thinking skill

Name the skill Tonya demonstrates and justify it from her reasoning.

The three intellectual standards

Identify standards evident in the documented note.

Why standards matter in documentation

Explain what a note lacking each standard would fail to do.

The five rights of delegation

State the framework before applying it.

Applying them to Tony and Sonya

Work each right against what was actually said.

The verdict

Give a judgement with the rationale the question asks for.

Where the intellectual standards and delegation rules are defined

Recommended databases

NCBI Bookshelf
OpenStax Fundamentals of Nursing
National Council of State Boards of Nursing
The assigned textbook chapters

Search sequence

1.
Get the intellectual standards list from a source rather than from memory.
2.
Read the five rights of delegation before answering the last question.
3.
Check the scope of the role you are delegating to in your own state.
4.
Look up anticoagulation and wound healing to justify the first answer clinically.

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
Five Rights of Nursing Delegation
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
The five rights of delegation, set out as the framework the last question expects.
02
15.4 Nursing Standards of Delegation
Fundamentals of Nursing, OpenStax · 2024
Delegation standards with worked examples of adequate and inadequate direction.
03
Nursing Management and Professional Concepts
Open RN, NCBI Bookshelf · 2022
Nursing process and clinical judgement concepts, for the critical thinking vocabulary.
04
SOAP Notes
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
Documentation structure, for what precision and completeness look like in a note.
05
National Council of State Boards of Nursing
NCSBN · 2025
The regulatory source for what may be delegated and to whom.

Review before submission

Common mistakes

Describing what the nurse did instead of naming the skill.
Giving fewer than three intellectual standards, or inventing them.
Judging the delegation on instinct without applying a framework.
Deciding the delegation was fine because the task itself was appropriate.

Submission checklist

Does every answer contain the term the question asks for?
Are all three intellectual standards named from the standard list?
Have you applied all five rights of delegation?
Is each answer tied to a specific detail from the case?

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.