Enhancing Clinical Judgment in Nursing – Experiences, Insights, and the Role of the DNP Degree
Clinical judgment refers to the process in which nurses make clinical decisions based on their nursing knowledge base, critical thinking, knowledge from other disciplines, and clinical reasoning (Connor et al., 2022). Throughout my nursing professional journey, I have witnessed clinical judgment severally. An example of such instances was when a patient was wheeled to the clinic in a confused state and had complaints of severe headaches. The attending nurse, after briefly assessing the patient, developed a clinical suspicion of meningitis and recommended the initiation of broad-spectrum antibiotics as samples were being taken for culture. The culture results were positive for bacteria, and the patient was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. The nurses’ action to initiate empirical bacterial therapy may have saved the patient’s life. Another instance involved a patient presenting with sepsis, in whom the predominant manifestation was altered mental status. The nurse’s action in this case was to start the patient on IV antibiotics and fluids. This helped in saving the patient’s life.
In general, nurses, especially Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs), encounter clinical situations that require them to make prompt clinical decisions. Their knowledge is based on the theoretical concepts of nursing, such as pharmacology and disease pathophysiology, and clinical reasoning interplay in their clinical decisions (Høegh-Larsen et al., 2023). Deficiency or a lack of confidence in some therapeutic areas may be the reason they cost their patients their lives. The DNP program provides an opportunity to bolster nurses’ knowledge based on some learned concepts. The program prepares me as a nurse for the highest level of nursing learning and practice by equipping me with the skills and knowledge necessary to improve patient care and health outcomes (Rivaz et al., 2021). It also bolsters my confidence in patient management through capacity expansion in leadership, critical thinking, and problem resolution.
References
Connor, J., Flenady, T., Massey, D., & Dwyer, T. (2022). Clinical judgment in nursing – an evolutionary concept analysis. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 32(13–14), 3328–3340. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16469
Høegh-Larsen, A. M., Gonzalez, M. T., Reierson, I. Å., Husebø, S. I., Hofoss, D., & Ravik, M. (2023). Nursing students’ clinical judgment skills in simulation and clinical placement: A comparison of student self-assessment and evaluator assessment. BMC Nursing, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01220-0
Rivaz, M., Shokrollahi, P., Setoodegan, E., & Sharif, F. (2021). Exploring the necessity of establishing a doctor of nursing practice program from experts’ views: A qualitative study. BMC Medical Education, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02758-w
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Question 
What are examples of clinical judgment in nursing that you have experienced or witnessed?
Enhancing Clinical Judgment in Nursing – Experiences, Insights, and the Role of the DNP Degree
How do you think that the DNP degree will improve your clinical judgment skills?