College of Nursing and Health Sciences DNP Defense - Elvira Minasyan
College of Nursing and Health Sciences DNP Defense - Elvira Minasyan
Title: Improving New to Practice Nurses’ Critical Thinking and Clinical Decision-Making Skills
Date: April 8, 2026
Time: 3:00 PM
ZOOM: Please contact dhoffman@umassd.edu for link
Committee:
Dr. Joyce Cadorette
Dr. Joanne Fucile
Dr. Christine Saba Rezendes
Abstract:
Critical thinking skills are essential for nursing practice, as they link patient information or presented conditions to relevant knowledge and guide clinical decisions. New-to-practice registered nurses (NPRNs) require additional training to strengthen their critical thinking skills. The literature presents critical thinking as essential for safe and effective nursing practice; however, novice nurses often struggle with the application of critical thinking as they transition from academic settings to clinical practice (Zainal et al ,2025). The scholarly project aims to determine if the implementation of a structured case study review incorporated as part of an established new graduate nurse residency program (NGNRP) will improve NPN self-rated critical thinking and readiness for practice using a pre- and post-intervention assessment format. The project took place at an urban long-term acute care hospital and included 39 participants. The project utilized the Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey (CFRPS) as a validated assessment tool before and after the intervention (Casey-Fink Surveys, 2024). Data analysis compared outcomes in the CFRPS means scores using a dependent paired t-test. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in clinical problem solving (p=0.001) and no statistically significant difference in preparedness for practice (p=0.164). These findings suggest that incorporating the group case study reviews in a residency program may offer a sustainable method to strengthen clinical decision-making skills among NPRNs. Future projects should investigate the longitudinal use of repeated case discussion sessions to assess the cumulative effect on readiness for practice.
ZOOM
Deanna Hoffman
dhoffman@umassd.edu