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THE TOP 13 TOOLS TO DEVELOP & ASSESS CLINICAL JUDGMENT

Jun 29, 2022, 11:26 AM
<4-min. read> What tools are available for developing and assessing clinical judgment in nursing students? Discover 13 that will ease your job.

WHAT CLINICAL JUDGMENT RESOURCES ARE YOU USING TO PREPARE FOR NGN?

Teaching classroom about clinical judgmentThe Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) may be a recent concept for nursing programs. (The National Council for State Boards of Nursing introduced the April 2023 launch of NGN only a few years ago.) But ATI has focused on improving students’ clinical judgment skills for decades. What’s more, we continually are researching the creation of resources for evaluating new item types, exploring scoring methods, and developing new items.

So, what tools are available right now for developing and assessing clinical judgment? As you prepare your students for the new version of the exam — which is being specifically designed to assess clinical judgment — you’ve got a variety of resources that will make your job easier. Plus, these tools have been created to fully engage (and even entertain) students in their learning.


Stay up-to-date on the Next Generation NCLEX.


Learn more about these solutions as you prepare your 2023 graduates to face the new version of the NCLEX exam.

TOOLS FOR DEVELOPMENT

  • REAL LIFE CLINICAL REASONING SCENARIOS

    This screen-based simulation encourages critical thinking, clinical decision-making, and clinical judgment with deep engagement in realistic client scenarios. Using branching logic, students are challenged to make important healthcare decisions as they progress through each scenario, significantly impacting client outcomes.

  • NURSE’S TOUCH SUITE

    With 6 active-learning solutions, students receive the crucial opportunity to build their skills in realistic, challenging scenarios. Then, upon entering an actual clinical setting, they’re well-versed with that special touch of a professional nurse. Media-rich tutorials, video case studies, virtual simulations, and nationally normed NCLEX-style item assessments boost student confidence and elevate their preparedness to a professional level.Teaching health assessment via simulation

  • HEALTHASSESS

    In a single health assessment teaching solution, this resource offers a combination of learning modules and authentic practice simulations to fully prepare nursing students to perform health assessments on all major body systems using the most current techniques and practices.

  • VIDEO CASE STUDIES

    This solution offers an easier way for students to grasp difficult concepts. The scenarios, which feature live actors, help students visualize what to expect in clinicals and then end with a question. Students formulate their own plan of care instead of choosing from a set of options, challenging them to flex and refine clinical judgment skills along the way.

  • NURSELOGIC 2.0

    Want to teach students to “think like a nurse”? Introduce them to this tool. It gives a formal introduction to critical thinking methods, the nursing process, priority-setting frameworks, and test-taking strategies.

  • SKILLS MODULES 3.0

    With the knowledge delivered from 30 modules — each featuring tutorials, step-by-step demonstration videos, checklists, quick references, animations, pre- and post-tests, challenge cases, remediation, and more — students will enter the on-site skills lab with more refined clinical judgment skills.

  • ATI ENGAGE SERIES

    A 40-lesson alternative to students’ fundamentals textbooks equips students with modules that are broken into easy-to-digest segments of content and interwoven with rich multimedia graphics, videos, and engaging activities that help students apply their learning. Plus, students find clarity in consistent skills techniques with embedded videos from ATI’s Skills Modules and through practice with active EHR documentation from ATI’s fully integrated EHR Tutor.

  • SWIFT RIVER VIRTUAL CLINICALS
    Virtual Clinicals offers a series of more than 600 screen-based simulation scenarios covering all the major clinical areas. Students become more prepared and confident for the clinical setting, gaining experience through exposure to hundreds of diverse client scenarios. They are given the opportunity to begin making clinical decisions, including practice with analytical thinking, prioritization, and delegation.

TOOLS FOR ASSESSMENT

  • THE NCLEX EXPERIENCE

    Available for RN and PN, this solution gives students an orientation and an opportunity to practice with Next Generation NCLEX item types in a low-stakes environment.03_J_COLUSSA_STUDENTS_0755F1_Graph

  • CONTENT MASTERY SERIES

    The Content Mastery Series is designed to provide data related to a student’s mastery of specific concepts related to the NCLEX. Each core content area includes a proctored assessment and online practice assessment, as well as remediation materials in print and online.

  • CUSTOM ASSESSMENT BUILDER

    This tool allows you to create and maintain exams quickly and easily by providing you with thousands of test items from an expansive ATI item bank and giving you the ability to create your own custom items. Select individual items to create an assessment or design a test blueprint and opt for the Custom Assessment Builder to handle item selection for you.

  • COMPREHENSIVE PREDICTORWITH NGN ITEMS COMING SOON!

    Comprehensive Predictor is the last stop for students before they enter intensive NCLEX prep. This 3-hour, 180-item, proctored test is designed to help students assess their likelihood of passing the NCLEX while detailing areas for further remediation.

  • CONCEPT-BASED ASSESSMENTSWITH NGN ITEMS COMING SOON!
    ATI’s standardized RN Concept-Based Assessments are the first of their kind to provide nationally normed tests with proficiency benchmarks for use in concept-based curricula. 46 different key nursing concepts are covered in our online practice and proctored assessments, all featuring NCLEX-style questions. At 4 progressive stages across a nursing program’s curriculum, nurse educators can monitor and measure student mastery in each concept.

ATI TOOLS IN DEVELOPMENT + AVAILABLE NOW

ASSESSMENT FUNCTIONALITY & ENHANCEMENTS

Following are the ATI Content Mastery Series assessments that will also have NGN items:

  • Fundamentals
  • Mental Health
  • Adult Medical Surgical
  • Maternal Newborn
  • Nursing Care of Children
  • Comprehensive Predictor

Stay up to date on Next Gen NCLEX


DO YOU NEED HELP ASSESSING & DEVELOPING CLINICAL JUDGMENT? SHARE YOUR CONCERNS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.


PEOPLE ALSO ASK ...

IS THE NCLEX CHANGING TO CASE STUDIES?

The new version of the NCLEX, referred to as the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), will include case studies as part of its new focus on assessing clinical judgment. Candidates will answer new item types, and the test will present them in the form of case studies and standalone items. Case studies reveal unfolding scenarios depicting real-world nursing situations. Each case study focuses on 6 clinical judgment functions: Recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, generate solutions, take actions, and evaluate outcomes.

IS THE NEXT GENERATION NCLEX HARDER?

Because the new version of the exam will assess clinical judgment, some may view it as more difficult that the current version, which focuses primarily on nursing knowledge. But with nursing programs now emphasizing the teaching of clinical judgment skills, and as students become accustomed to the new item types, this aspect of the exam may not seem any harder than other sections.

WHAT WILL THE NEXT GENERATION NCLEX LOOK LIKE?

The new version of the exam will look different in terms of the types of questions being asked. Many of these questions will be presented in a different format than those on the current exam. Case studies, for example, will be a very new addition to the Next Generation NCLEX and will be presented in a split-screen view that offers information on one side and asks a question on the other side.