Vital Thinking = Exemplary Care seeks to improve the clinical judgment skills of diploma and associate degree clinical students. Clinical judgment is a subconstruct of critical thinking which involves a range of complex reasoning tasks and actions that are necessary for providing safe, competent, and exemplary patient care.
Cabarrus College is taking a two-pronged approach toward accomplishing this initiative. The first approach involves faculty development. Our faculty must become experts on the Vital Thinking framework in order to best serve our students. During the first year of implementation, faculty will be educated on Tanner’s Clinical Judgment model, the revised Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric, and best practices in clinical coaching. Faculty will develop and practice a common vocabulary for providing feedback to students, specifically in simulation and clinical practice settings.
The second approach is through incorporation of planned activities into the Associate Degree Nursing, Medical Assistant, Occupational Therapy Assistant and Surgical Technology programs’ curriculum. These activities will provide students with opportunities to enhance their clinical judgment skills in the classroom, skills lab, clinical, and simulation settings.
Vital Thinking Goals and Outcomes
Overarching goal of the project– to foster the development of clinical judgment in our students by creating a culture steeped in the language and skills of noticing, interpreting, responding and reflecting
Goal 1: Enrich pedagogical practices focused on clinical coaching and clinical judgment.
Goal 2: Develop clinical judgment skills in undergraduate students.
