About Critical Thinking for Healthcare Education

A collaborative approach to developing the thinking behind clinical judgment.

CTHE brings together critical thinking methodology, nursing education expertise, and experiential learning to help educators and learners examine how they think and apply knowledge in clinical situations.

Explore the CTHE Approach →

Our Purpose

Making Critical Thinking Visible and Teachable

Critical thinking is frequently identified as an essential nursing capability. However, developing it requires more than asking learners to think critically.

CTHE was developed around the idea that these processes can be taught more intentionally when the underlying analysis skills are made explicit. The program provides a structured approach to developing those skills through clinical application, guided discussion, and feedback.

Educators need ways to help learners:

Examine information
Recognize assumptions
Consider alternative explanations
Understand how they arrive at conclusions

Bringing Complementary Expertise Together

CTHE emerged through collaboration between professionals whose work addresses different dimensions of learning and performance.

Dr. Elaine M. Lloyd

Ne'Muse®

Dr. Lloyd brings extensive nursing education experience, clinical expertise, and doctoral research examining the use of unfolding case studies to support critical thinking development among prelicensure nursing students.

Her instructional methods emphasize engagement, memorable learning experiences, and opportunities for students to apply their knowledge.

Aireal Taylor

Rare Air Academy

Aireal brings expertise in organizational learning, leadership capability, program development, and the application of structured thinking methodologies.

Her contributions include healthcare-specific curriculum development and the educational interpretation connecting B STATE's six analysis skills with clinical judgment operations.

B STATE®

Critical Thinking for Business Results

B STATE's Critical Thinking for Business Results methodology provides the six foundational analysis skills used throughout CTHE.

The methodology offers a structured way to examine information, challenge assumptions, and integrate findings before reaching conclusions.

Developing Thinking Through Experience

CTHE is grounded in the view that learners benefit from opportunities to examine their reasoning rather than focusing exclusively on whether an answer is correct.

Clinical scenarios provide a setting for practicing the analysis skills.

Purposeful questions encourage participants to explain their interpretations and consider additional information.

Facilitated feedback helps identify where reasoning may be incomplete.

Photo placeholder: student writing in a clinical scenario workbook

Built on Established Methodology and Scholarship

CTHE draws on established critical thinking methodology, nursing education scholarship, and contemporary expectations for clinical judgment development.

Dr. Lloyd's doctoral research examined unfolding case studies in prelicensure nursing education. The study found no statistically significant overall between-group improvement on its critical thinking measure, while qualitative findings suggested perceived benefits for engagement and opportunities to practice reasoning.
The research informs CTHE's instructional rationale. It does not establish CTHE-specific effectiveness.
CTHE also incorporates an original educational interpretation relating its six analysis skills to the cognitive operations represented in the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model. This interpretation is not an NCSBN-approved framework or endorsement.