Measure of Clinical Decision-Making Abilities of Nurse Practitioner Students

This study reports the validity and reliability of using unfolding case studies to measure the clinical decision-making abilities of nurse practitioner students.

Two unfolding case studies were developed to assess students' ability to collect, interpret, and evaluate data. Content validity was assessed through percent agreement from three expert clinicians. Reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha, test-retest, and interrater reliability.

Fifty-two participants, primarily from family, acute care, and adult nurse practitioner programs, completed both unfolding cases. Content validation was nearly 100% for most items; other items were revised or deleted. A significant correlation was found between total mean scores at initial testing and at 1 month after both cases. High inter-rater reliability of the scored tool was noted, as measured with intraclass correlation coefficient.

The use of case studies is a learner-centric method to measure the development and transition of clinical decision making.