27.4: Summary
27.1 Clinical Judgment within the Nursing Process
Nurses use the nursing process when providing patient care. Clinical judgment is the thinking the nurse performs when carrying out the steps of the nursing process. Clinical judgment is essential for providing safe and effective nursing care that enhances the achievement of patient outcomes.
27.2 Measuring Clinical Judgment within Nursing Practice
The measurement of clinical judgment is essential to demonstrate that a new graduate nurse is prepared to provide safe and competent patient care. Understanding how clinical judgment is measured prepares the new graduate for the Next Generation of NCLEX-RN question formats.
To recap, we have met Toni, been with her through the early days of her pregnancy, supported her in preterm labor, followed her newborn, Drew, into the nursery, and helped Toni make decisions about the care of her newborn as Drew transitions to extrauterine life. You have been able to use your skills of recognizing, analyzing, prioritizing, generating a solution, taking action, and evaluating outcomes. Awareness of the steps of the Clinical Judgment Measurement Model used on the NCLEX-RN exam will assist you to be successful on the NCLEX-RN and to be a safe and competent beginning generalist nurse.