Clinical touch points: Using the PREP framework to improve critical thinking among pre-licensure nursing students

Abstract

Clinical care plan assignments and the use of concept mapping traditionally incite critical thinking and clinical judgment skills for pre-licensure nursing students. An ongoing debate in the literature apropos the effective use of both tools, either used alone or collectively, and which tool best promotes increased critical thinking skills among nursing students. Typically, the use of both tools requires the student to complete at least some elements of the assignment outside of the clinical setting after the clinical experience concludes. Standard clinical tasks take precedence during the clinical experience leaving little to no time to complete paperwork such as care plans or concept maps. This paper reconnoiters the concepts of critical thinking and clinical judgment among pre-licensure nursing students, the techniques to enhance these critical skills, and proposes a framework to promote an innovative solution for nurse educators and students easily deployed during clinical experiences with assignment recommendations following the clinical experience.