Clinical Judgement Notes

Clinical Judgement

Outcomes

  • Patient-Centered Care
    • Nursing Program Outcome: Provide advocacy and individualized care for diverse populations.
    • Student Learning Outcome: Utilize the nursing process when providing basic care to culturally diverse adults with an emphasis on older adult patients.
  • Safety
    • Nursing Program Outcome: Provide safe, quality care while minimizing risk of harm to patients and providers.
    • Student Learning Outcome: Adheres to established safety protocols and plans for selected clinical skills and procedures.

Nursing Process (ADPIE)

  • The Nursing Process:
    • Assessing
    • Diagnosing
    • Planning
    • Implementing
    • Evaluating

Clinical Judgement Model

  • Recognize cues (Assessment)
  • Analyze cues (Analysis)
  • Prioritize Hypotheses (Analysis cont.)
  • Generate Solutions (Planning)
  • Take Action (Implementation)
  • Evaluate Outcomes (Evaluation)

Factors to Consider

  • Environmental Setting, Situation, and Environment
    • Client observation
    • Resources
    • Health Record
    • Time Pressure
    • Cultural Considerations
    • Task Complexity
    • Risk Assessment
  • Individual Nurse Factors
    • Nurse Characteristics
    • Cognitive Load

Recognize Cues (Assessment)

  • Highlights: Assessment!
  • Objective and Subjective Data
  • Relevant data
  • Monitor trends and changes!
  • Gathering information from different sources (S/Sx, assessment data, health Hx, environment etc…)
Subjective vs. Objective Data
  • Subjective Data (Symptoms)
    • Information Perceived Only By The Affected Person
    • What The Person Says
  • Objective Data (Signs)
    • Observable And Measurable Data
    • Can Be Seen, Heard, Or Felt By Someone Other Than The Person Experiencing The S/Sx
  • When to Validate Data
    • Subjective/Objective Data Do Not Agree Or Make Sense
    • Client’s Statements Differ At Different Times In The Interview
    • Data Are Far Outside Normal Range
    • Factors Are Present That Interfere With Accurate Measurement

Analyze Cues (Analyze)

  • Highlights: EVIDENCE BASED
  • Pathophysiology
  • Clinical Presentation
  • Link gathered cues to identify a probable patient issue

Prioritize Hypotheses (Analyze)

  • How to prioritize:
    • ABCs!
    • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
    • Least Restrictive and Invasive
    • Acute vs Chronic
  • Establish priority interventions based on the patient’s health problems
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Generate Solutions (Planning)

  • Considerations:
    • Collaboration!
    • Realistic, patient-centered outcomes!
    • Evidence Based actions
    • Independent vs. Dependent Nursing Interventions
  • Identify expected outcomes and nursing interventions to meet the patient needs
Goals of Planning Phase (generating solutions)
  • Identify Expected Patient Outcomes/Goals
  • Select Evidence‐Based Nursing Interventions
  • Communicate Plan Of Care
Outcomes Must Be:
  • Specific
  • Measureable
  • Attainable
  • Realistic
  • Time Limited

Client-Centered Outcomes

  • State what the patient will do or experience at the completion of care
  • Give direction to the patient’s overall care
  • Patient behaviors…not nurse behaviors!
  • Ex: “The patient will demonstrate…”
Goals Statement Examples
  • Short Term vs. Long Term
    • The patient will ambulate a full lap around the nurse’s station, with a front wheeled walker, three times by the end of shift today. (Short Term)
    • The patient will verbalize what blood glucose level indicates a hypoglycemic event by the end of shift today. (Short Term)
    • The patient will verbalize adequate pain management (2/10 on the pain scale) by discharge. (Long Term)
    • The patient will demonstrate a safe subcutaneous insulin injection on themselves by discharge. (Long Term)
What Are Nursing Interventions?
  • Purpose: To Achieve Client Outcomes
  • AKA Nursing Actions
  • Based On Clinical Judgment And Nursing Knowledge
  • Reflect Direct And Indirect Care

Selecting Nursing Interventions

  • Nursing interventions must be:
    • Safe
    • Within the legal scope of nursing practice
    • Compatible with medical orders
  • Like outcomes/goals, they should be specific and realistic
Process for Generating and Selecting Intervention
  • Review The Cues & Desired/Expected Outcomes
  • Identify Several Interventions/Actions
  • Choose The Best Interventions For This Patient
  • Individualize The Standardized Interventions

Take Action (Implementation)

  • Considerations:
    • Collaboration
    • Documentation
    • Educate
    • Monitor patient responses
  • DO!
  • Implement the appropriate interventions to promote the patient’s optimal level of health

Implementing the Plan

  • PROMOTE CLIENT PARTICIPATION
  • COORDINATE CARE
  • DELEGATE WHEN APPROPRIATE
Documentation
  • The final step of implementation
  • Records the nursing activities and the client’s response
  • Important means of communication between other shifts & other disciplines
  • Imperative for continuity of care

Evaluate Outcomes (Evaluation)

  • Considerations:
    • Re-assess the patient!
    • Were the interventions effective?
    • If outcomes not met: revise!
  • Evaluate the patient’s response to the interventions; use nursing judgement to evaluate the extent the patient met the outcomes

Evaluation

  • Client’s Progress Toward Goals
  • Effectiveness Of Nursing Care Plan
  • Quality Of Care In The Health‐Care Setting
How Do I Evaluate Client Progress?
  • Record: Record The Evaluative Statement
  • Judge: Judge Goal Achievement
  • Collect: Collect Reassessment Data
  • Review: Review Outcomes *Evaluative Statements
    • Decide how well outcome was met
      • Met
      • Partially met
      • Not met
      • List patient data or behaviors that support this decision

Evaluating Goals

  • The patient ambulated around the nurse’s station, with a front wheeled walker, three times today. Met
  • The patient ambulated around the nurse’s station, with a front wheeled walker, two times today. Partially Met
  • The patient stated they were in too much pain to ambulate at all today. Not Met

Revisions to the Plan of Care

  • Delete Or Modify The Nursing Diagnosis
  • Make Outcome Statement More Realistic
  • Adjust time criteria in outcome statement
  • Change nursing interventions

Nursing Care Plans

  • The comprehensive nursing care plan is the central source of information needed to:
    • Guide holistic, goal-oriented care
    • Address each client’s unique needs
    • Ensures care is complete
    • Provides continuity of care
    • Promotes efficient use of nursing efforts
    • Provides a guide for assessing & charting

Preprinted, Standardized Plans

  • Unit standards of care: General guides; describe the care that nurses are expected to provide for all clients in defined situations
  • Standardized nursing care plans: Detailed nursing care for a particular nursing diagnosis; for all nursing diagnoses that commonly occur with a certain medical condition
  • Critical pathways: Outcome-based, interdisciplinary plans that sequence client care based on case type
Computerized Care Plan
  • Enter diagnosis or desired outcome.
  • Computer generates list of suggested interventions.
  • Choose appropriate interventions.
  • Individualize by typing in own interventions as needed.
Process for Writing Individualized Nursing Care Plan
  • Individualize: Individualize the standardized plan as needed.
  • Decide: Decide which problems can be managed with standardized care plans or critical pathways.
  • Make: Make a working problem list.

Think Like a Nurse

  • Scenario: Patient, Jeanette Wu, has become incontinent of bowel and bladder and has impaired skin integrity (pressure ulcer on sacrum). The healthcare provider orders an indwelling urinary catheter.
  • Urinary catheterization is a sterile technique.
  • Questions:
    • As a student, what should you do?
    • If you were an RN, what are some things you could do to assure that both you and the patient are prepared for the procedure?