Comparing Critical Thinking Disposition in Baccalaureate Nursing Students at Different Grades and Its Relationship with State Anxiety

Introduction: Development of students' critical thinking abilities is one of the greatest challenges for nursing educators. Identifying its barriers and resolving them can help to improve critical thinking. The aim of this research was to assess and compare Critical Thinking Disposition (CTD) and its relationship with State Anxiety (SA) in baccalaureate nursing students of Islamic Azad University of Yazd. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study performed on a census sample of 188 nursing students of Islamic Azad University of Yazd. Data was collected with questionnaire the questionnaire consisted of three parts: demographic characteristics, the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), and Spielberg State Anxiety Inventory. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive and inferential (ANOVA and Pearson).statistics. Results: There was no significant difference in critical thinking disposition score by academic year. However results showed that critical thinking is negatively correlated with SA (r= -0.426, p=0.0001). Conclusion: Students with lower anxiety had a more favorable disposition to critical thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to improve stressful environment of clinical education, and methods of coping with the stresses should be taught to students in order to develop critical thinking in nursing students and achieve educational objectives.