Final answer:
Critical thinking is crucial for nurses to enhance problem-solving skills and make informed decisions in healthcare. It aids in assessing facts and evidence to make clinical decisions and is a key component of quality patient care.
Step-by-step explanation:
The nurse must think critically in a healthcare setting for several reasons, such as enhancing problem-solving skills and making informed and effective decisions in patient care. Critical thinking is essential in this field because it involves the active application of a set of skills to information for the understanding and evaluation of that information. Problem-solving skills are improved as nurses apply logical thinking, assess the facts, and consider the evidence to make clinical decisions. Contrary to the statement "Only RNs require critical thinking in decision-making," all healthcare professionals can benefit from critical reflection to correct cognitive biases and make better decisions in complex, resource-limited situations. Finally, it's clear that critical thinking is far from irrelevant in healthcare, as it's a fundamental component of providing quality patient care.