In my profession, we often refer to critical decision making, which would imply that a person in our profession is thinking critically (and because we work in health care, thinking ethically) before making a judgment call about how to help a person reach their health goals. This requires that we not only make decisions based on our previous knowledge and training, but also seek out the most current information based on various levels of research and study. This allows us to base our decisions on fact and not rely so much on the potentila short-comings of our current knowledge and experience. It also allows for an objective analysis prior to making decisions, rather than relying on emotion. It is this process that we try to weave into teaching the students and future professionals in our field of practice. This is typically accomplished by noting a real-life problem and seeking to find the most effective solution based upon research and evidence and then following up with outcome measures to determine if the solution was actually effective in improving people's lives.
