Employers' descriptive experiences of new employees' critical thinking skills

The patient population has escalated causing a need to hire qualified frontline employees who have strong critical thinking abilities. The focus of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions of medical practice managers about the abilities of frontline and mid-level new employees to think critically and make independent decisions in northeastern Ohio medical workplaces. Fifteen medical managers who had direct experience working with frontline and mid-level employees interviewed for the study. The research was useful for collecting employers' statements of their shared experiences regarding the skills essential in the medical environment to provide the best care for patients. The significance of the research was to expand existing knowledge regarding the development of critical thinking skills for new employees and the impact these skills had on patient care. The four emergent themes centered on participant's experiences in regard to critical thinking ability were (a) frontline employees and patients' needs; (b) appointments and scheduling; (c) employee training; and (d) higher education's influence on new employees. The findings from this study emphasized the increased need for trained frontline employees to improve patient care. Additional implications for healthcare leaders are to provide training and educational programs for frontline employees to meet the demands of the profession. Recommendations for providing effective programs for developing critical thinking ability are to build a better alliance with leaders in higher education and healthcare.