Progressive Application of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric in an Accelerated Undergraduate Program

Abstract

Clinical judgment is at the forefront for safe nursing practice and quality patient care and an increasing focus for success on the NCLEX-RN licensure exam. The ability to think critically and make sound clinical decisions is not intuitive for new graduates. This article describes the progressive application of an established tool, the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric, in a 16-month accelerated undergraduate program with simulation experiences. Student evaluations indicate the tool is valuable for helping students develop awareness of their progression in using clinical judgment skills and understanding the essential attributes of clinical judgment.

Exploring the Development of Nursing Clinical Judgment Among Students Using Virtual Reality Simulation

“…This performance-based rubric has been widely adopted and demonstrates strong psychometric properties. 13,16 Georg et al 17 recognized the need for a process and instrument to specifically assess nursing students' clinical reasoning during virtual patient encounters. Employing Lasater's original model, Georg and colleagues proposed a new rubric, the virtual patient LCJR (vpLCJR), for use with virtual simulation.…”

“…The resulting Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) explicates 4 developmental levels—beginning, developing, accomplished, and exemplary—and captures nursing students' clinical judgment when administering care during high-fidelity simulation. This performance-based rubric has been widely adopted and demonstrates strong psychometric properties 13,16…”