HEALTH POLICY AND SYSTEMS Critical Thinking of Nurse Managers Related to Staff RNs’ Perceptions of the Practice Environment

Background Information and Significance: Critical thinking (CT) skills and the inclination to engage in critical thinking are essential for nurse man-agers to function as transformational leaders capable of influencing staff to align with organizational goals. In an extensive literature review, numerous studies were found examining the concept of CT in students and no studies were found exploring CT in nurse managers. Identifying the attributes, such as CT, that lead to success in the nurse manager role is useful when preparing nurse managers to lead effectively in the current healthcare climate. Research Question: Is there a difference between nurse managers ’ CT dispositions and their respective staff nurses ’ perceptions of the practice environment? Design: A convenience sample of 12 nurse managers and a random sample of 132 of their respective staff registered nurses (RNs) participated in this de-scriptive study. CT in nurse managers was measured by the California Critica