PCC 2 Exam #1 – Clinical Judgment, 2026 – Study and
Review Material
Rote memorization - ANS✔✔ remembering information by repetition without necessarily
understanding the meaning of the information; you are learning it & forgetting it; learning the
material for the moment
Critical thinking - ANS✔✔ - The ability to *think in a systematic and logical manner* with
openness to question and reflect on the reasoning process
- A *continuous* process characterized by *open-mindedness, continual inquiry, and
perseverance*, combined with a willingness to look at each *unique patient situation* and
determine which identified assumptions are true and relevant
- Recognizing that *an issue exists, analyzing information, evaluating information, and drawing
conclusions*
- Used when analyzing client issues and problems. *Thinking skills include interpretation,
analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation.* These skills assist the nurse to determine the
most appropriate action to take
- *Think "outside the box"* to find solutions that are best for clients, staff, and the organization
Clinical judgement - ANS✔✔ - 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
- The decision made regarding a course of action based on a critical analysis of data
- Considers the client's needs when deciding to take an action, or modify an intervention based
on the client's response
The nurse uses clinical judgement to: - ANS✔✔ - Analyze data and related evidence
- Ascertain the meaning of the data and evidence
- Apply knowledge to a clinical situation
- Determine client outcomes desired and/or achieved as indicated by evidence-based practices
, Critical thinking needs to come _________ using clinical judgement - think about the issue
presented & then action upon it - more capable to judge what is going on with a patient -
ANS✔✔ before
Nurses knowledge & experience - ANS✔✔ Deep clinical knowledge provides the nurse with the
background needed to recognize patterns & differences when they occur in patients; ; previous
experiences help nurses immediately know how to respond to situations
Ethical perspective - ANS✔✔ Ethical grounding and personal sense of importance; formulates
opinions and values relative to the context of learning; skill in using various ways of knowing -
empirical, experiential, and ethical; From the point of view of what are considered right and
wrong actions
Knowing the patient - ANS✔✔ in-depth knowledge of a patient's patterns of responses within a
clinical situation and knowing the patient as a person
Context or environment of care - ANS✔✔ - Setting in which the nurse interacts with the patient
- Unique aspects of nursing practice/patient care needs in a given setting
- Influences what a nurse notices; demanding environments can add an increased burden on
making clinical judgements & can actually interfere with competent clinical judgement
Clinical reasoning - ANS✔✔ the thinking process by which a nurse reaches a clinical judgement;
defined as an iterative process of noticing, interpreting, & responding
Noticing - ANS✔✔ - A nurse notices things about a patient in the context of the nurse's
background and experience, context of environment, and knowing the patient
- looking for patterns that are consistent with previous experiences and uses that information to
guide care
Review Material
Rote memorization - ANS✔✔ remembering information by repetition without necessarily
understanding the meaning of the information; you are learning it & forgetting it; learning the
material for the moment
Critical thinking - ANS✔✔ - The ability to *think in a systematic and logical manner* with
openness to question and reflect on the reasoning process
- A *continuous* process characterized by *open-mindedness, continual inquiry, and
perseverance*, combined with a willingness to look at each *unique patient situation* and
determine which identified assumptions are true and relevant
- Recognizing that *an issue exists, analyzing information, evaluating information, and drawing
conclusions*
- Used when analyzing client issues and problems. *Thinking skills include interpretation,
analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation.* These skills assist the nurse to determine the
most appropriate action to take
- *Think "outside the box"* to find solutions that are best for clients, staff, and the organization
Clinical judgement - ANS✔✔ - 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
- The decision made regarding a course of action based on a critical analysis of data
- Considers the client's needs when deciding to take an action, or modify an intervention based
on the client's response
The nurse uses clinical judgement to: - ANS✔✔ - Analyze data and related evidence
- Ascertain the meaning of the data and evidence
- Apply knowledge to a clinical situation
- Determine client outcomes desired and/or achieved as indicated by evidence-based practices
, Critical thinking needs to come _________ using clinical judgement - think about the issue
presented & then action upon it - more capable to judge what is going on with a patient -
ANS✔✔ before
Nurses knowledge & experience - ANS✔✔ Deep clinical knowledge provides the nurse with the
background needed to recognize patterns & differences when they occur in patients; ; previous
experiences help nurses immediately know how to respond to situations
Ethical perspective - ANS✔✔ Ethical grounding and personal sense of importance; formulates
opinions and values relative to the context of learning; skill in using various ways of knowing -
empirical, experiential, and ethical; From the point of view of what are considered right and
wrong actions
Knowing the patient - ANS✔✔ in-depth knowledge of a patient's patterns of responses within a
clinical situation and knowing the patient as a person
Context or environment of care - ANS✔✔ - Setting in which the nurse interacts with the patient
- Unique aspects of nursing practice/patient care needs in a given setting
- Influences what a nurse notices; demanding environments can add an increased burden on
making clinical judgements & can actually interfere with competent clinical judgement
Clinical reasoning - ANS✔✔ the thinking process by which a nurse reaches a clinical judgement;
defined as an iterative process of noticing, interpreting, & responding
Noticing - ANS✔✔ - A nurse notices things about a patient in the context of the nurse's
background and experience, context of environment, and knowing the patient
- looking for patterns that are consistent with previous experiences and uses that information to
guide care
