Bloom’s taxonomy comprises cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains, which form the basis of curriculum development in learning institutions. As one of the domains of Bloom’s taxonomy, the cognitive domain has become the gold standard of curriculum development because it measures six aspects of cognitive variables that determine the ability of a person to acquire knowledge and skills, as well as utilize them. According to Calhoun, Rowney, Eng, and Hoffman (2008), Bloom’s taxonomy is effective in curriculum development because it has six cognitive variables, namely “knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation” (p. 93). Since the cognitive domain has six cognitive variables, it provides a comprehensive view of the learning process and assessment of students. Furthermore, the six cognitive variables exist in a hierarchy of acquiring knowledge and skills. The hierarchy of the six cognitive variables classifies educational objectives from the least to the most complex instructional activities (Callister, 2010). Thus, instructors have to tailor their instructional activities to fit into a specific cognitive hierarchy. Thus, the diversity and hierarchy of cognitive variables make Bloom’s theory a gold standard in the development of curriculum.
The affective domain of Bloom’s taxonomy is very important in nursing because it enables nurses to acquire humane knowledge and skills. Fundamentally, the affective domain focuses on how people respond to various circumstances that they encounter in terms of feelings and emotions. Miller (2010) argues that the affective domain is very essential among nurses because it enables them to comprehend attributions that patients undergo and provide effective healthcare services. Without the affective domain, nurses would not be able to interact effectively with patients and respond to their needs efficiently. Beliefs, feelings, and attitudes are factors that influence the effective status of nurses and their ability to provide quality care (Cazzell & Rodriguez, 2011). Hence, the addition of the affective domain into nursing promotes the delivery of quality care and the interaction between nurses and patients in a healthcare environment.
Nursing diagnosis is a field of knowledge in nursing that requires nurses to acquire cognitive knowledge and skills, which enable them to examine the health conditions of a person, family, or community. For nurses to conduct accurate nursing diagnoses, they must have appropriate knowledge and skills. Hence, it means that nurses should acquire extensive knowledge and skills so that they can conduct nursing diagnoses competently. The application of reasoning and critical thinking enhances the accuracy of nursing diagnosis (Paan, Sermeus, Nieweg, Krijnen, & Schans, 2012). Reasoning enables nurses to view healthcare issues rationally without undue bias, while critical thinking enables nurses to view healthcare issues in a detailed manner. Given that the nursing diagnosis of individuals, families, and communities is a complex health issue, it requires critical analysis and evaluation for one to come up with robust diagnostic results. Therefore, rational, critical, and analytical knowledge and skills play a central role in nursing diagnosis.
Bloom’s taxonomy is applicable in nursing diagnosis because it elucidates cognitive variables that are essential in acquisition of essential knowledge and skills. From Bloom’s taxonomy, knowledge is the lowest level of the cognitive domain, which nurses need to acquire so that they can understand the principles and methodologies of nursing diagnosis. The second level of the cognitive domain that is applicable in nursing diagnosis is the comprehension of nursing practices. Comprehension enables nurses to understand different phenomena that relate to nursing diagnosis. The application of the acquired knowledge and skills is the next level of the cognitive domain, which enables nurses to apply theories and models in real life situations. Analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels of the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy depict how nurses should acquire and apply knowledge in a robust manner.
In nursing diagnosis, nurses should be in a position to keep abreast with emerging technologies so that they can adopt and apply them in their routine practices. Hence, in the education of nurses regarding nursing diagnosis, the overall goal is to enable them to adopt and apply evidence-based practices in nursing diagnosis. Viegas, Turrini, Bastos, and Cerullo (2010) argue that poor adoption and application of evidence-based practices hinders effective nursing diagnosis of a person, families, and communities. In the aspect of nursing diagnosis, application of Bloom’s taxonomy aids in the attainment of the goal. Thus, the first objective that learners need to attain is the acquisition of nursing diagnosis knowledge and skills. The second objective is that learners should comprehend diverse variables that relate to nursing diagnosis. Since the adoption and application of knowledge are central in promoting nursing diagnosis, learners should aim at applying knowledge and skills gained in nursing diagnosis, as the third objective. The fourth objective entails acquisition of analytical and evaluative knowledge and skills of nursing diagnosis.
The objectives of nursing diagnosis relate to the goal of adopting and applying evidence-based practices in nursing diagnosis because they contribute to its attainment. The application of evidence-based practices is an issue in nursing that influences the quality of care that patients receive. In this view, the first objective of acquiring knowledge and skills relates to the goal of adoption and application of evidence-based practices, according to the first level of cognitive domains. Comprehension, as the second level of cognitive domain, also supports the attainment of the goal because it enables nurses to understand the interplay of diverse variables in nursing diagnosis. Regarding the aspect of the application of evidence-based practices, Tofade, Elsner, and Haines 2013) state that empirical application of evidence-based practices has significant influence on nursing care. Likewise, nurses require analytical and evaluative skills, which represent the fourth and the sixth levels of cognitive domain.
References
Calhoun, J., Rowney, R., Eng, E., & Hoffman, Y. (2008). Competency Mapping and Analysis for Public Health Preparedness Training Initiatives. Public Health Reports, 120(1), 91-99.
Callister, P. (2010). Time to Blossom: An Inquiry into Bloom’s Taxonomy as a Hierarchy and Means for Teaching Legal Research Skills. Law Library Journal, 102(2), 191-219.
Cazzell, M., & Rodriguez, A. (2011). Qualitative analysis of student beliefs and attitudes after an objective structured clinical evaluation: implications for affective domain learning in undergraduate nursing education. The Journal of Nursing Education, 50(12), 711-714.
Miller, C. (2010). Improving and enhancing performance in the affective domain of nursing students: insights from the literature for clinical educators. Contemporary Nurse, 3(1), 2-17.
Paan, W., Sermeus, W., Nieweg, M., Krijnen, P., & Schans, P. (2012). Do knowledge, knowledge sources and reasoning skills affect the accuracy of nursing diagnoses? A randomized study. Biomed Central Nursing, 11(11), 1-12.
Su, W., & Osisek, J. (2011). The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy: implications for educating nurses. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 42(7), 321-327.
Tofade, T., Elsner J., & Haines, S. (2013). Best Practice Strategies for Effective Use of Questions as a Teaching Tool. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 77(5), 155.
Viegas, S., Turrini, N., Bastos, S., & Cerullo, J. (2010). An analysis of nursing diagnoses for patients undergoing procedures in a Brazilian interventional radiology suite. Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses, 91(5), 544-557.