Clinical reasoning in pre-licensure nursing students

Implementing a new pedagogy in the nursing curriculum: Bachelor students’ evaluation

“…[17] Reflections and problem solving related to case seminars with fellow students may also improve the students' cooperation skills, [1] which is particularly valuable for professions such as nursing that often include teamwork with various professions. Harmon and Thompson, [4] however, found unexpected low scores among the students regarding the effects of group collaboration and reflections on their clinical reasoning skills. One explanation suggested was that the students were inexperienced with group learning and lacked skills assumed to be necessary for successful collaboration.…”

“…A student-active and problem based pedagogic approach is, in several previous studies, found to be fundamental to develop the students' clinical reasoning skills and to enhance their readiness for solving patient problems in clinical settings. [4,5,11,14,[19][20][21] A systematic meta-analysis of studies focusing on the effectiveness of PBL for development of nursing students' critical thinking conclude that the PBL students score significantly higher on critical thinking compared with students who had followed traditional lectures. [22] Similar results were found in Yoo and Park's [10] study, concluding that CBL was the most effective approach for graduate nurses' development of problem-solving abilities.…”

“…[2,3] Hence, to enhance nurses' preparedness for handling a complex and demanding clinical reality after graduation, it is of utmost importance that educational institutions implement teaching and learning methods that facilitate students' critical thinking and clinical reasoning. [4] Inspired by the work of Benner et al, [5] radical changes were implemented in the nursing course in the curriculum at a university in southern Norway. The changes implied a shift from a traditional lectures based methodology to a student-active and problem based pedagogy, including case-based learning (CBL) and reflections in groups with other students and supervisors.…”

“…[18] Regarding professional nursing, clinical reasoning refers to the nursing process that consists of assessing, planning and implementing care based on identified patient needs. [4] Thus, development of clinical reasoning skills is essential for delivering competent patient care. [4] 2.…”

“…[4] Thus, development of clinical reasoning skills is essential for delivering competent patient care. [4] 2. METHODS 2.1 The new nursing course and the setting A radical redesign of the nursing course in the first year's bachelor's curriculum was implemented at the university, starting in autumn 2012.…”