Stuvia.com - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material
Chapter 24: Clinical Judgment Cherry: Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, and
Management, 9th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. What process is a nurse engaging in when making the decision that no action is required when
assessing a 40-year-old client‘s blood pressure and noting that it is 116/78 mmHg? a. Critical
thinking
b. Nursing process
c. Clinical judgment
d. Clinical reasoning
ANS: C
Clinical judgment is an interpretation or conclusion about a patient‘s needs, concerns, or
health problems, and/or the decision to take action (or not), use or modify standard
approaches, or improvise new ones as deemed appropriate by the patient‘s response. Critical
thinking is the mental process of actively and skillfully perception, analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation of collected information through observation, experience and communication that
leads to a decision for action. Nursing process is a scientific, clinical reasoning approach to
patient care that includes assessment, analysis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
Clinical reasoning involves processes by which nurses and other clinicians make their
judgments, and includes both the deliberate process of generating alternatives, weighing
them against the evidence, and choosing the most appropriate, and those patterns that might
be characterized as engaged, practical reasoning.
DIF:Applying
2. Which statement made by a novice nurse best demonstrates the use of clinical experience
when engaging in clinical judgment?
a. ―I think I should call the primary care provider immediately.‖
Downloaded by: puacaldwell | Want to earn $1.236 Distribution of
this document is illegal extra per year?
, Stuvia.com - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material
b. ―I‘ll ask my nurse manager what I should do until the primary care provider
arrives.‖
c. ―Another nurse suggested I call the primary care provider to get a PRN pain
medication.‖
d. ―The primary care provider prescribed a sedative when a patient had a similar
reaction.‖
ANS: D
The ability to make a clinical judgment is influenced by the nurse‘s knowledge, intuition,
and experiences. Drawing on a past event the nurse witnessed that dealt with a similar
patient reaction involving the same primary care provider demonstrates the use of
experience. While the other options demonstrate acceptable actions, none are based on
having experience with a similar situation.
DIF:Analyze
3. Which nursing action best demonstrates the expected outcome of an assessment?
a. Turning a comatose patient every 2 hours
b. Noticing the patient‘s fingernails have a bluish cast
c. Documenting the patient‘s intake and output for the last 24 hours
d. Having a patient score their pain 30 minutes after receiving an analgesic
ANS: B
During the process of assessment, the nurse will notice small or significant changes in their
patient‘s condition or recognize cues or alterations to the patient‘s health status.
Implementation of care involves actions that need the patient‘s care related needs such as
turning and documenting intake and output. The process of evaluation involves determining
the patient‘s response to the implemented plan of care. Determining whether the analgesic
was effective at managing the patient‘s pain is an example of evaluation.
Downloaded by: puacaldwell | Want to earn $1.236 Distribution of
this document is illegal extra per year?
Chapter 24: Clinical Judgment Cherry: Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, and
Management, 9th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. What process is a nurse engaging in when making the decision that no action is required when
assessing a 40-year-old client‘s blood pressure and noting that it is 116/78 mmHg? a. Critical
thinking
b. Nursing process
c. Clinical judgment
d. Clinical reasoning
ANS: C
Clinical judgment is an interpretation or conclusion about a patient‘s needs, concerns, or
health problems, and/or the decision to take action (or not), use or modify standard
approaches, or improvise new ones as deemed appropriate by the patient‘s response. Critical
thinking is the mental process of actively and skillfully perception, analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation of collected information through observation, experience and communication that
leads to a decision for action. Nursing process is a scientific, clinical reasoning approach to
patient care that includes assessment, analysis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
Clinical reasoning involves processes by which nurses and other clinicians make their
judgments, and includes both the deliberate process of generating alternatives, weighing
them against the evidence, and choosing the most appropriate, and those patterns that might
be characterized as engaged, practical reasoning.
DIF:Applying
2. Which statement made by a novice nurse best demonstrates the use of clinical experience
when engaging in clinical judgment?
a. ―I think I should call the primary care provider immediately.‖
Downloaded by: puacaldwell | Want to earn $1.236 Distribution of
this document is illegal extra per year?
, Stuvia.com - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material
b. ―I‘ll ask my nurse manager what I should do until the primary care provider
arrives.‖
c. ―Another nurse suggested I call the primary care provider to get a PRN pain
medication.‖
d. ―The primary care provider prescribed a sedative when a patient had a similar
reaction.‖
ANS: D
The ability to make a clinical judgment is influenced by the nurse‘s knowledge, intuition,
and experiences. Drawing on a past event the nurse witnessed that dealt with a similar
patient reaction involving the same primary care provider demonstrates the use of
experience. While the other options demonstrate acceptable actions, none are based on
having experience with a similar situation.
DIF:Analyze
3. Which nursing action best demonstrates the expected outcome of an assessment?
a. Turning a comatose patient every 2 hours
b. Noticing the patient‘s fingernails have a bluish cast
c. Documenting the patient‘s intake and output for the last 24 hours
d. Having a patient score their pain 30 minutes after receiving an analgesic
ANS: B
During the process of assessment, the nurse will notice small or significant changes in their
patient‘s condition or recognize cues or alterations to the patient‘s health status.
Implementation of care involves actions that need the patient‘s care related needs such as
turning and documenting intake and output. The process of evaluation involves determining
the patient‘s response to the implemented plan of care. Determining whether the analgesic
was effective at managing the patient‘s pain is an example of evaluation.
Downloaded by: puacaldwell | Want to earn $1.236 Distribution of
this document is illegal extra per year?
