Allied Healthcare: Critical Thinking and Application
Allied Healthcare
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As a member of a medical team, sharpening
your critical thinking skills is essential. What
exactly does this mean?
It is essential that you can make connections
between a variety of facts and information,
and use your knowledge base to make
informed decisions.
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asks relevant questions
assesses facts and examine situations carefully
admits a lack of understanding and seek assistance
defines a set of standards for analyzing information
listens carefully to others and give appropriate feedback
defers drawing conclusions until all facts have been gathered
and well-thought-out
disallows information that is incorrect or irrelevant
is able to solve problems by applying facts to actual situations
adapted from Ferrett, S. Peak Performance (1997).
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Graphics and visuals are extremely important in the
healthcare fields.
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Whether you take an anatomy or pharmaceutical class, you
are going to find some sort of graphic in your textbook and
your instructors are going to expect that you can use this
information.
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Additionally, certification exams will require your
understanding charts, figures, or diagrams.
As visual learners, diagrams and charts help us to better understand
and apply information. Graphics are often more important than the
paragraphs that surround them.
Graphics most often:
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Condense pages of detailed information which can be organized
into a clear chart or map.
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Clarify processes and relationships which can be more clearly
understood visually than through pages of written information.
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Provide excellent study tools.
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In the field of healthcare, it is essential that you can think
critically.
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It isn’t enough just to memorize facts; you need to know
how to apply these facts to new situations, evaluate their
significance and make well-thought out decisions.
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Someone’s life may be in your hands
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Don’t skip over maps, charts, graphs,
diagrams or pictures when reading your
textbooks.
These visuals are used in medical records –
understand how to get the most information
from them.
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See how well you can understand the
diagram on the structure of the
human ear.
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1. You are looking at one diagram of the ear canal.
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2. Sound enters the ear through the auditory canal.
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3. Sound enters through the auditory nerve to the cochlea.
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4. Hearing problems are the result of damage to the eardrum.
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5. If punctured, the eardrum cannot be repaired.
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6. It can be assumed from the diagram that the malleus, incus and stapes are
positioned to conduct sound from the eardrum to the oval window.
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7. The basilar membrane is contained in the oval window.
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8. The cochlea might be described as resembling a snail.
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False, two diagrams. The inner ear and the cochlea
2.
True
3.
False, goes through the eardrum and oval window. It
comes out through the auditory nerve
4.
Can’t Tell
5.
Can’t Tell
6.
True
7.
False, in the cochlea
8.
True
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Work with your group members as you apply
your critical thinking skills to the exercises
given in class.
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1. The Clavicle and Scapula are not components of the skeletal system.
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2. The metatarsals and phalanges are bones in the hands.
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3. The vertebral column starts at the pelvis.
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4. The ilium is part of which skeletal structure? ________________
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5. The humerus is attached directly to the ribs.
Which are the shortest bones? ___________________________
2. What shape are most of the cranial bones? _______________________
3. The most regular shaped bones in the body are the vertebrae.
4. In comparing the table with the diagram, it is easy to see why the skull and rib bones are
considered flat.
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How many main layers of skin is there? __________
Which layer contains the pore opening? __________
Which layer houses the glands? _________________________
In which section does the hair follicle initiate? _________________
Nerve endings are found in which layer? _______________
ALLIED HEALTHCARE: APPLICATION AND CRITICAL THINKING READING A CHART
GRAPHIC D: Use the table that follows to answer questions about patient care.
Emergency Care, Chapter 12 Vital Signs and Monitoring Devices, 293
A patient has lost a lot of blood, what would you expect the quality of his heart rate to be?
2. An adult’s pulse has slowed down greatly, what are some possible causes for this?
3. What is a normal pulse rate of an infant in contrast to an adult’s?
4. A child who is 12 months old has a pulse rate of 155; should you be concerned with this
situation?
5. A preschooler was climbing up a tree and fell. His pulse rate was 72 what might be the cause of
this?
1.
NORMAL PULSE RATES (BEATS PER MINUTE, AT REST)
Adult
60 to 100
Infants and Children
Adolescent 11 to 14 years
60 to 105
School age 6 to 10 years
70 to 110
Preschooler 3 to 5 years
80 to 120
Toddler 1 to 3 years
80 to 130
Infant 6 to 12 months
80 to 140
Infant 0 to 5 months
90 to 140
Newborn
120 to 160
PULSE QUALITY
SIGNIFICANCE/POSSIBLE CAUSES
Rapid, regular and full
Exertion, fright, fever, high blood pressure, first stage
of blood loss
Rapid, regular and thready
Shock, later stages of blood loss
Slow
Head injury, drugs, some poisons, some heart
problems, lack of oxygen in children
No pulse
Cardiac arrest (clinical death)
Infants and Children: A high pulse in an infant or child is not as great a concern as a low pulse. A low
pulse may indicate imminent cardiac arrest.