title: Critical thinking skills of basic baccalaureate and Accelerated second-degree nursing students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to describe the critical thinking (CT) skills of basic baccalaureate (basic-BSN) and accelerated second-degree (ASD) nursing students at nursing program entry.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Many authors propose that CT in nursing should be viewed as a developmental process that increases as students' experiences with it change. However, there is a dearth of literature that describes basic-BSN and ASD students' CT skills from an evolutionary perspective.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study design was exploratory descriptive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated thatASD students had higher CT scores on a quantitative critical thinking assessment at program entry than basic-BSN students.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT data are needed across the nursing curriculum from basic-BSN and ASD students in order for nurse educators to develop cohort-specific pedagogical approaches that facilitate critical thinking in nursing and produce nurses with good CT skills for the future.
authors.affiliation: Oakland University School of Nursing, Rochester, Michigan, USA. newton@oakland.edu
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000379:methods*; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013850:Thinking