First Advisor

Aldridge, Michael D.

First Committee Member

Copeland, Darcy

Second Committee Member

Nielsen, Ann

Third Committee Member

Heise, Gary

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

8-2025

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Nursing, Nursing Student Work

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the teaching strategies nurse educators used to develop students' clinical judgment in the clinical education setting. A significant gap in clinical education has persisted for years with a need for evidence to guide teaching and learning that emphasizes clinical judgment. Concerns regarding underdeveloped clinical judgment skills in new graduate nurses have led to initiatives and research aimed to increase clinical judgment emphasis in nursing education. The following research questions guided this study:

Q1 What teaching strategies do clinical nurse educators use to develop students’ clinical reasoning and clinical judgment skills in the clinical education setting?

Q2 How do nurse educators implement teaching strategies used to develop students’ clinical reasoning and clinical judgment skills in the clinical education setting?

Q3 What challenges or barriers do nurse educators face when using teaching strategies to develop students’ clinical reasoning and clinical judgment skills in the clinical education setting?

Q4 What facilitates the use of teaching strategies to develop students’ clinical reasoning and clinical judgment skills in the clinical education setting?

The Braun and Clarke (2006, 2019a, 2019b) thematic reflexive analysis method was used to analyze data gathered from individual participant interviews completed via Zoom. Seventeen participants were recruited from pre-licensure nursing programs that integrated a clinical judgment model, had at least one year of experience teaching clinical, and identified teaching strategies they used to develop clinical judgment.

Seven main themes revealed teaching strategies clinical nurse educators used as well as implementation methods: Importance of Developing Students’ Clinical Judgment, A Shift in Clinical Education, Teaching Strategies Described, Thinking Deeply and Beyond the Surface, Providing Guidance and Support, What Impacts the Teaching Strategies, and Making a Difference. Participants shared descriptions of numerous teaching strategies, which are presented in the findings. The teaching strategies targeted all aspects of clinical judgment as described by the clinical judgment model (Tanner, 2006).

Abstract Format

html

Places

Greeley, Colorado

Extent

276 pages

Local Identifiers

Gonzalez_unco_0161D_11349.pdf

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

Digital Origin

Born digital

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