Descripción

Evolutionary changes in the educational system have significantly impacted higher education, especially in professional nursing education, driving the transcendental search for meaningful learning that motivates students to reflect and transform their thinking. For this reason, critical thinking in professional training becomes one of the essential elements in the care and attention to health, especially to the pregnant woman and the future newborn. In order to facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking skills and to achieve a high level of competence, the implementation of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) strategy was essential, as it allows students to be interested, motivated and more actively involved in the construction of their own knowledge. The research was developed in the Nursing Program of the Universidad Mariana, with the objective of implementing PBL and developing critical thinking in 38 sixth semester students through Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM), over a period of three months. A mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative methods) was used to deepen the analysis and interpretation of the results from different perspectives. It was possible to demonstrate that PBL is an effective strategy to strengthen critical thinking in higher education from the pedagogical component. In addition, it contributes to the professional development of nursing, in the formation of critical, reflective and autonomous professionals, as evidenced by the outstanding performance during the development of this research.