ABSTRACT
Teaching undergraduate nursing students to think critically and reason clinically is a challenge for nurse educators, yet these skills are essential for the professional nurse. The Outcome-Present State-Test (OPT) Model of Reflective Clinical Reasoning (Pesut & Herman, 1999) provides a framework for teaching clinical reasoning skills to nursing students. This article describes how the model can be used in clinical teaching of undergraduate students in psychiatric and mental health settings and presents some findings from an evaluation of the model. Strategies employed in the model implementation are described, along with the benefits and limitations of this teaching method in a psychiatric clinical setting.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/methods , Models, Educational , Models, Nursing , Psychiatric Nursing/education , Thinking , Adult , Attitude of Health Personnel , Decision Making , Female , Humans , Judgment , Male , Middle Aged , Nursing Diagnosis/organization & administration , Nursing Education Research , Outcome Assessment, Health Care/organization & administration , Patient Care Planning/organization & administration , Program Development , Program Evaluation , Psychiatric Nursing/organization & administration , Students, Nursing/psychologyABSTRACT
The Outcome-Present State Test (OPT) Model of Clinical Reasoning is a nursing process model designed to help students develop clinical reasoning skills. Although many nurse educators are using the OPT model as a teaching strategy, few are formally evaluating its use as a method. We used the OPT model as a teaching tool in an undergraduate psychiatric and mental health clinical nursing course and evaluated how quickly students became adept at using it. Most students mastered the use of the model; 29 of 43 students achieved the criterion score (a score greater than 65 on 3 or more models completed over 4 weeks). Not only did the students gain clinical reasoning skills, but they also used and learned more about the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcomes Classification languages. Recommendations for future use of the model include adding client strengths and increasing focus on the quality of students' responses.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/organization & administration , Models, Educational , Models, Nursing , Nursing Process , Adult , Clinical Competence/standards , Cues , Decision Making , Educational Measurement , Health Services Needs and Demand , Humans , Judgment , Nurse's Role/psychology , Nursing Assessment/organization & administration , Nursing Diagnosis/organization & administration , Nursing Education Research , Nursing Process/organization & administration , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Patient Care Planning/organization & administration , Problem Solving , Psychiatric Nursing/education , Students, Nursing/psychology , Teaching/organization & administration , ThinkingABSTRACT
Alan Lansdown and colleagues report on a small study that aimed to illustrate patterns of silver release and distribution in wound sites using non-invasive methods. It demonstrated that silver released into a wound bed is absorbed by exudate or dead tissue and that patients' health is not compromised
