Professional Experience Placement

The SNM Professional experience placement (PEP) web pages host a number of documents and web  links that are useful to facilitators (PEFs) and preceptors.  I have previously blogged about some of the documents that are found at this site and you can search the archive or alternatively browse the PEF page. One of the web links provided is to a .pdf of the clinical reasoning instructor resources. During the last 12-18 months this model has been implemented into the BN program at UTAS.  It is important that clinical supervisors have an understanding of this framework and how this process is conceptualised and used during nursing interactions. The resources aim to define the process of clinical reasoning; describe the process and explain and justify why nursing students need to learn clinical reasoning.

The document provides information about the framework, including diagrams of the cycle shown here:

Also included is  a table that provides descriptors and examples for each stage of the cycle. Clinical reasoning errors are also tabled and provide a guide and language for supervisors to use when analysing behaviour or attributes of students. The attributes of critical thinking and a glossary of terms used have  also been included. These tables provide a language and a resource for a ‘quick check’  that can be used to describe nursing interactions within the clinical reasoning framework. The resource package also provides useful web links and references.

If you would like to read more about the Clinical reasoning cycle you may wish to read:
The ‘five rights’ of clinical reasoning: An educational model to enhance nursing students’ ability to identify and manage clinically ‘at risk’ patients by Tracy Levett-Jones et al.
If you have any questions, comments about this framework being used at UTAS, or have any stories about how you have used it with students that you are willing to share, please post them here.