Critical Thinking for Nurses
Learn how to think through what’s happening with your patient, instead of waiting for someone else to connect the dots.
Critical Thinking for Nurses helps you understand how nurses build clinical judgment over time, what experienced nurses are actually paying attention to, and how to make more intentional decisions around assessment, prioritization, time management, and communication.
Available exclusively inside FreshRN All-Access
“Use your critical thinking” is not particularly helpful when nobody explains what that actually means.
Newer nurses are constantly told to think critically, trust their gut, prioritize, and put the pieces together.
Okay... but how?
How do experienced nurses notice that something feels off? How do they decide what deserves attention first? How do you know when your “gut feeling” is worth acting on, especially when you don’t have years of experience yet?
Critical thinking isn’t something you either magically have or don’t.
It’s a skill you build.
Inside Critical Thinking for Nurses:
- 17 modules
- 13 videos with closed captioning
- Self-paced learning
- Practical lessons on assessment, prioritization, time management, communication, clinical judgment, and patient scenarios
In this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Understand what nurses actually mean when they talk about critical thinking
- Recognize the difference between intuition, experience, and guessing
- Understand why experienced nurses can make some decisions look effortless
- Build stronger clinical judgment through deliberate practice
- Think more intentionally during patient assessments
- Approach prioritization and time management with more structure
- Communicate and collaborate when you’re concerned about what you’re seeing
- Work through realistic patient scenarios and practice putting the pieces together
What nurses say about Critical Thinking for Nurses
“It gives a balanced perspective of critical thinking and the components of critical thinking that can be improved by individuals, rather than presenting CT as something you are born with or not born with.”
— Anonymous RN
“It was helpful that factors that can contribute to developing critical thinking skills were tackled separately and then pulled together in actual examples. I found it helpful that there was a video and an audio file so I could hear the same key points twice, which helps me with retention.”
— Anonymous
“Great course, very informative, easy to follow and listen to! Katie, you rock. I wish I had a preceptor and a professor like you! Glad to have found you now! This course lays a great foundation of critical thinking to build upon for new nurses, struggling nurses, or nurses that are new to bedside.”
— Nikki RN, BA, ADN, RN, (BSN in progress)
Your Instructor
Meet Kati 👋
Kati Kleber, MSN, RN is a nurse educator and the founder of FreshRN.
She’s been a nurse since 2010, with experience in med-surg, stepdown, and neurocritical care, and has worked as a preceptor, mentor, charge nurse, and nurse educator.
Over the years, she’s helped newer nurses understand the parts of bedside nursing that are difficult to learn from a textbook: including prioritization, clinical judgment, communication, and learning how to recognize what matters when several things are happening at once.
Kati is also a published author with the American Nurses Association and has been speaking and creating education for nurses since 2013.
Critical Thinking is now available exclusively inside FreshRN All-Access
One membership. Our ENTIRE library of FreshRN courses.
SEE EVERYTHING INCLUDED + JOIN ALL-ACCESSFrequently Asked Questions
“I am a student in my last semester, and I wish I had taken this course in my first semester. It would have clarified a lot of questions and unknowns for clinical rotations and likely would have lessened my anxiety and fear... You also learn the pitfalls when assumptions are made instead of taking the time to properly use your critical thinking skills - valuable lessons. Great time-management tips as well!”
— W. Martin
“I appreciated all of it! The time management and prioritization were very helpful, I love the cognitive ease/relaxation suggestions. I also appreciate the honesty and all of the shared experiences. Great recommendations on communication with the docs, patients, family, and teammates. It was a really great class and think every new or struggling nurse can benefit from it! Wish I had this when I was still officially a new grad, but I am so grateful to have it now. Thanks a lot! :)”
— Anonymous RN
“I am new to the ortho-neuro unit and haven't been in the hospital in 10+ years, though I have been a nurse for 19 years. I am relearning many things I used to know, and this course has definitely helped me as I regain my footing in the hospital. Thank you.”
— Anonymous
Critical Thinking is now available exclusively inside FreshRN All-Access
One membership. Our ENTIRE library of FreshRN courses.
SEE EVERYTHING INCLUDED + JOIN ALL-ACCESS