Reflective Clinical Judgment Questions to Educate the Next Generation of Nurses

The complexity of health care requires entry-level nurses to have competent clinical judgment skills. In response, a nursing program created Reflective Clinical Judgment Questions (RCJQ) to guide students in the development of clinical judgment.

The RCJQ incorporates the Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's action questions, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's core competencies for professional nursing education. The RCJQ includes cognitive process questions and self-reflection questions aligned to the prelicensure subcompetencies to direct student thinking and build a routine for clinical decision making.

The RCJQ provides faculty with a framework to teach clinical judgment and incorporates self-reflective questions to guide decision making for safe and effective client care.

The RCJQ streamlines the clinical judgment process and guides students to achieve essential outcomes in classroom, clinical, and simulation settings to prepare for clinical practice. [.