A clinical reasoning skills development plan for coronary care nurse: an action research

Clinical reasoning (CR) skills are among the most important nursing competencies for providing safe and effective care in critical care units. Development of CR skills in nursing needs a well-designed interactive process for change to effectively support clinical competence promotion. The aim of this study was to develop CR skills among coronary care nurses through an action plan.

This participatory action research study was conducted in 2021 based on the framework of Hart and Bond (1995). Study setting was the coronary care unit of a leading heart center in Rasht, Iran. An action plan was designed and implemented with three main components, namely efficiency of nursing education, effective nursing management, and personal professional development. The results of the plan were provided to participants and strategies for improving the plan were determined. Quantitative outcome assessment was performed using the Nurses' Clinical Reasoning Skills Checklist and the Nurses' Clinical Reasoning Scale and data were analyzed through the Wilcoxon's test. Qualitative outcome assessment was performed through focus group discussions and data were analyzed through conventional content analysis.

The mean scores of CR skills significantly increased after the action plan and participants were satisfied with the plan. The four main categories of the outcomes of the plan were improvement of the thinking process, improvement of professional commitment, improvement of professional competence, and improvement of interprofessional communications. The challenges of the plan were limited efficiency of educational courses on the nursing process, incoherence in nursing documentation, mentors' inadequate supervision and instructions, and mentors' role pressure.

The CR skills action plan can improve coronary care nurses' CR skills and their competency in making sound clinical decisions and providing safe and quality care services.