What it means
Clinical reasoning links knowledge to a real client. The nurse notices cues, works out what they mean, weighs possible problems, picks actions, then checks the result and learns from it. Its outcome is clinical judgmentKLIN-ih-kul JUJ-mentThe way a nurse notices, makes sense of and acts on information about a client to decide on the best care.Full entry , the decision the nurse makes. The NCLEX tests these steps with case studies.
Related terms
nursing process
The step-by-step method nurses use to plan and give care: assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate.
clinical judgment
The way a nurse notices, makes sense of and acts on information about a client to decide on the best care.
analyze
To study information closely, piece by piece, to understand what it means.
evaluate outcomes
To compare how the client is actually doing with the expected results, to see whether the care given worked.