Running Head: CLINICAL NURSING JUDGEMENT 1

Clinical Nursing Judgement

Ashley Fagert

NURS 4852

3/4/2019

Dr. Ballone & Mrs. Thomas

CLINICAL NURSING JUDGEMENT 2

Clinical nursing judgement takes a very long time to develop and I have only developed a

small amount over my past four years of school. In the first few years is when nurses begin to start

their journey of having good clinical nursing judgment. In this paper I will define clinical nursing

judgement, identify the importance of clinical nursing judgement, and then discuss a personal

experience when I used “ clinical nursing judgement” in a specific situation. Nurses over the years

gain an abundance of knowledge, I am only at the beginning of my journey.

Clinical Nursing judgment is defined by Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of

Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition.( 2003)., “clinical judgment the process

by which the nurse decides on data to be collected about a client, makes an interpretation of the

data, arrives at a NURSING DIAGNOSIS, and identifies appropriate nursing actions; this involves

problem solving, decision making, and critical thinking” (Para. 1). Through the small amount of

experience I have had with my own clinical nursing judgement and school, I know that this

definition is golden for defining “clinical nursing judgement. Clinical nursing judgement is

important for many reasons.Carrington, J., & Nibbelink, C.(2019), “Errors in decision making

have been associated with up to 98,000 deaths in U.S hospitals annually” (Para. 2). One of the

main reasons that clinical nursing judgement is important is because if nurses do not acquire it

over time there may be a huge risk to patient safety. Over time as a almost nurse I am gradually

gaining more nursing judgement. I want to practice safely to not only keep myself safe, but also

the many lives I will touch over the years. Manetti, W. (2018), “Clinical judgment is complex, and

each clinical situation is unique, calling for careful thought. In addition, the competing demands

in the clinical setting require nurses to multitask, prioritize, delegate, and make decisions that

influence patient outcomes. A compounding factor is that clinical judgment development occurs

over time with experience, which novice nurses lack. It is important for nursing faculty to both
CLINICAL NURSING JUDGEMENT 3

teach and verify adequate clinical judgment of students for safe practice” (Para. 3). As a student I

don’t always see the whole picture of situations that occur in the clinical setting. I have recently

began working as a nurses aid and in that experience I have helped nurses in many situations where

I have seen them use their many years of clinical nursing judgement to make the right choice. I

have had a to use my own “clinical nursing judgement” in a few specific situations, but my most

recent was at my preceptorship. Aleo et al., (2018)”In some clinical settings, nurses have difficulty

describing the outcomes of their caring activities. Understanding the reasons for this could help

nurse leaders to improve the effectiveness and visibility of nursing practice and safeguard nurses’

working conditions” (para 1). My first day at my preceptorship was a whole new ball game for

me versus clinicals I had in the past. Working alongside an experienced registered nurse is a lot

different than having one instructor for 10 students. I had a patient whom had not urinated since

the afternoon before and it was now 0700 the next day. The nurse and I talked and made the nursing

judgement to call the doctor to see if he could order a medication which would help the patient

urinate since the patient had previous issues with urination after a procedure. So judgement was

also used to suggest fluid bolus and increased movement for the patient. The increased movement,

fluid bolus & Flomax helped the patient uriate 800 cc of urine during our shift without having to

use any kind of invasive treatments. If as a new nurse I had any kind of similar situation, I now

know what to do based on clinical nursing judgement that was used in this situation. Clinical

nursing judgment for me has improved tremendously over the past few years while I have begun

learning how to be a nurse. My assessment skills I have learned through Health Assessment and

doing one to two assessments per week has taught me the normal and abnormal things. Having

these assessment skills will help me to know what to do in specific situations in the future.

Seasoned nurses amaze me by all the clinical nursing judgement that they have gained over the
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years by just working as nurses in their specific area. My clinical nursing judgement is just starting

out and overtime I will have plenty of experiences which will help me to eventually become an

experienced nurse who knows what to do in any situation based on my clinical nursing judgement.

Clinical nursing judgement takes a very long time to develop and I have only developed a

small amount over my past four years of school. In this paper explored the definition of clinical

nursing judgement. In this paper I defined clinical nursing judgement, identified the importance

of clinical nursing judgement, and discussed a personal experience when I used “ clinical nursing

judgement” in a specific situation. Nurses over the years gain an abundance of knowledge, I am

only at the beginning of my journey.

Sources Cited

Aleo, G., Bagnasco, A.,Carnevale, F. , Catania, G., Cavaliere, B.,Sasso, L.,Valcarenghi, D.&

Zanini, M. (2018). Exploring The Interaction Between Nursing Decision Making and

Patient Outcomes in 2 European Cancer Centers: A Qualitative Study. 41 (5), E40-E49.

Doi: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000490
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Carrington, J., & Nibbelink, C.(2019). Nurse Decision Making in Acute Care. CIN: Computers,

Informatics, Nursing, 37, 151-160. doi:10.1097/CIN.0000000000000521

Clinical judgment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/clinical

judgment.

Manetti, W. (2018). Evaluating the Clinical Judgement of Prelicensure Nursing Students in the

Clinical Setting. 43 (5), 272 - 276. Doi: 10. 1097/ NNE.0000000000000489