Blending teaching strategies to improve nursing students’ clinical judgment abilities

Abstract

Background: Nursing educators need to determine educational strategies that will enable nursing students to reach effective and timely clinical judgments. Aim: This study documents how a combination of the constructivist approaches of concept-based learning and concept mapping impacts nursing students’ clinical judgment skills.

Methods: The study utilized a pretest post-test design to collect data from a convenient sample of all students who commenced adult health nursing courses at a private university in Jordan (N = 40). An observation of the performance aspects of clinical judgment of engagement, background, process, and representation utilizing a four-point Students Performance Aspects of Clinical Judgment Scale (SPACJS) was performed.

Results: Except for the engagement aspect, all other aspects of clinical judgment showed significant improvements by the end of the courses. Moreover, overall clinical judgment ability significantly improved as the courses concluded.

Conclusion: When the SPACJS and the constructivist approaches are respectively institutionalized as a clinical evaluation tool and as teaching strategies, students will receive specific feedback that will subsequently improve their engagement, background, process, and representation of future clinical judgment encounters. This feedback is relevant to specific concepts and cognitive maps will help students synthesize mental criteria against which future clinical encounters are reflected. As a result, students contextual clinical judgment maturity will be enhanced.