Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
Tracking Clinical Judgment Development in Clinical Education With the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric
Lisa A Jacobs1, Michelle E Bussard, Emily Niedzwiecki
1Author Affiliations: Director and Associate Professor (Dr Jacobs), Professor (Dr Bussard), Assistant Professor (Dr Niedzwiecki), School of Nursing, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio; Professor Emerita (Dr Lasater), Nursing Department, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon; Canada Research Chair in Decision-Making and Nursing Education (Dr Lavoie), Faculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, Researcher, Montreal Heart Institute, Marguerite-d'Youville Pavilion, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Background:
Clinical judgment is essential to safe nursing practice, yet limited research has examined how it can be consistently assessed in clinical education.
Purpose:
This study explored the use of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) to assess clinical judgment in prelicensure nursing students during clinical experiences, with simulation data included as a comparator.
Methods:
A longitudinal cohort study followed 53 students across 4 semesters. Students were evaluated 35 times in clinical and simulation using the LCJR.
Results:
Correlations between clinical and simulation scores were strong in Semester 1 but weak thereafter. LCJR scores in clinical experiences increased significantly across semesters, with the largest gains between Semesters 2 and 3.
Conclusion:
The LCJR demonstrated sensitivity to developmental change in clinical experiences, supporting its potential as a standardized tool for longitudinal evaluation. Simulation provided a useful point of comparison, highlighting differences in how judgment is expressed and assessed across learning environments.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Critical Thinking II
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching I: Assessment and Diagnosis
It is critical to determine the patient's learning needs during the assessment. Determination of learning needs compounds data...
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching III: Evaluation and Documentation
Nurses can use several methods to evaluate patient outcomes. For example, oral questions can assess cognitive learning,...
Patient-centered Care
Formulating and Validating Nursing Diagnosis II
Risk nursing diagnoses represent clinical judgments of an individual, family, or community more vulnerable to developing the health problem than others...
Critical Thinking I

