Clinical reasoning as a mediator between critical thinking and clinical violence management competence among nursing...

This study examined nursing students' critical thinking tendencies, clinical reasoning skills, and violence management competency levels, as well as the relationships among these variables.

This correlational study based on mediation model study was conducted between October 1 and November 15, 2025. Data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form, the Clinical Reasoning Scale, Violence Management Proficiency Scale in Application Areas for Nursing Students, and The Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale. Institutional permission and ethical committee approval were obtained before data collection (July 23, 2025; No. 10). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and linear regression analysis. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

The mean age of the students was 20.52 ± 2.23 years. The mean total scores were 63.21 ± 8.00 for the Clinical Reasoning Scale, 104.39 ± 13.22 for the Violence Management Proficiency Scale in Application Areas for Nursing Students, and 42.11 ± 5.99 for the Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale. Clinical reasoning (β = 0.379) (R = 0.614, R² = 0.377, F = 109.632, p = 0.000) and critical thinking tendency (β = 1.047) (R = 0.614, R² = 0.377, F = 109.632, p = 0.000) were identified as significant determinants of violence management competency levels in nursing students' practice settings.

Nursing students demonstrated good clinical reasoning skills, moderate-to-good violence management competencies in clinical practice, and good critical thinking tendencies. The study revealed moderate positive correlations among critical thinking tendencies, clinical reasoning skills, and violence management competence. Based on these findings, it is recommended that nursing education programs incorporate training on effective communication and violence coping strategies and that structured violence management approaches be developed for clinical practice settings.