Teaching Circle to Improve Nursing Clinical Judgment in an Undergraduate Nursing Program

Abstract

Clinical judgment combines both decision making capacity and the ability to think critically. In an effort to foster clinical judgment in students, a quality improvement plan was initiated. A teaching circle was created by key nursing faculty. After a review of the literature, goals, objectives, and aims were articulated. Faculty development, through the use of "lunch and learn," was delivered using webinars, discussion, and application of item writing. Faculty benefited from the teaching circle's professional development activities by gleaning tools to develop, measure, and assess clinical judgment with undergraduate nursing students in nursing courses. Professional faculty development is necessary to effectively prepare students for the rigors of contemporary practice. The use of a teaching circle is one effective strategy to foster success for programmatic improvement. Further research is warranted to explore best teaching learning strategies in the construct of clinical judgment. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(4):218-221.].