Predictors of Nursing Clinical Judgment in Simulation

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Clinical Judgment Research
• Human Factors in Healthcare

Background:

• Novice and expert nurses' clinical judgment varies significantly.
• Simulation offers a controlled environment to assess nursing skills.
• Stress can impact clinical decision-making in healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify predictors of clinical judgment in nurses.
• To explore the relationship between experience, stress, and clinical judgment.
• To evaluate the utility of simulation in assessing nursing expertise.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study involving novice and expert nurses in a simulation.
• Collected data on age, nursing experience, and simulation experience.
• Measured stress using pupil dilation and assessed clinical judgment with the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric.

Main Results:

• Stepwise linear regression identified years of registered nurse (RN) experience as the sole significant predictor of clinical judgment.
• Pupil dilation indicated stress during the simulation, but this was not a statistically significant predictor.
• Nursing experience was the only variable correlating with superior performance on the clinical judgment rubric.

Conclusions:

• Years of RN experience is a key factor in developing strong clinical judgment.
• While stress is evident in simulated environments, it does not appear to be a primary determinant of clinical judgment in this cohort.
• Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to validate these findings.