Impact of concept mapping on the development of clinical judgment skills in nursing students

Helping nursing students learn to use sound clinical judgment has become a primary goal of nursing programs. Concept mapping has been shown to promote meaningful learning and critical thinking. The purpose of this study was to explore how junior baccalaureate nursing students perceive the effect of a concept mapping educational strategy on the development of clinical judgment skills. Concept mapping was taught using an adaptation of Gerdeman, Lux, and Jacko's (2013) Clinical Judgment Self-Evaluation Rubric (CJSR) that uses simplified wording. One hundred six students developed concept maps and completed a CJSR rubric to evaluate their concept maps each week during their clinical experience in a medical–surgical nursing course. The CJSRs were reviewed and evaluated by the clinical instructors. Students also completed a clinical evaluation tool at the end of the course. First, students did a self-evaluation, and then, the clinical instructor evaluated them. A descriptive data analysis was performed after the course was completed. The findings revealed that the use of concept mapping provided an interactive way to foster the growth of clinical judgment skills in nursing students.