An Investigation of the Critical Thinking Abilities of nurses In Generation-X and -Y: the Example of Elazıg

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the critical thinking skills of working nurses in generation-X and -Y. Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between 10.01.2019-01.03.2019 in a hospital in Elazıg province, and 107 nurses from different generations participated in the study. Generation-X was selected from nurses born between 1965 and 1979 and Generation-Y was selected from nurses born between 1980 and 1999. "Personal Data Form" and “California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory” were used in the collection of data. Number, percentage, average, and t-test were employed to evaluate the data. Results: The average age of the nurses participating in the study was 33.42±7.45 and the average of their professional working duration was 10.86±7.65 years. Also, 58.9% of nurses were female, 74.8% were married, 68.2% had undergraduate and graduate degrees. Forty-three percent of the nurses in the study stated that they knew the concept of critical thinking also 57% of the nurses in the study were in generation-Y. The mean California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory scores of the nurses were 224.64±20.83 and their critical thinking skills were found to be low. Nurses received the highest score from the sub-dimension of analyticity (45.75±5.64) and the lowest score from the sub-dimension of open-mindedness (29.41±6.41) among the sub-dimension of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory scale. The critical thinking tendencies of Generation-Y nurses were higher than those of generation-X and a significant difference was found (p