How UbiSim Supports the Six Steps of Clinical Judgment

Do you want to enhance your nursing students’ clinical judgment skills and help them prepare to provide better patient care? UbiSim's virtual reality simulations support the six steps of clinical judgment, helping nurses in training become more confident and competent, especially in tackling the Next Gen NCLEX. The six steps in the clinical judgment measurement model are: 

1. Recognize cues
2. Analyze cues
3. Prioritize hypotheses
4. Generate solutions
5. Take action
6. Evaluate outcomes

We’ve outlined how UbiSim can help with each step:

1. Recognize Cues

UbiSim provides a virtual healthcare setting where learners assess a patient to recognize and identify relevant clinical cues through simulated, customizable patient scenarios. For example, a learner may recognize that a virtual patient is experiencing shortness of breath or chest pain.

2. Analyze Cues

The next step is for learners to analyze the recognized cues and link them to the patient’s clinical presentation. Analyzing cues in UbiSim involves interpreting and evaluating the meaning of the cues to determine what potential issues may be occurring. This may involve synthesizing multiple pieces of information like lab values, presenting symptoms, and subjective data, as well as considering the patient's medical history.

3. Prioritize Hypotheses

When prioritizing hypotheses, UbiSim learners identify the most important elements and the most serious explanation for presenting symptoms. This prioritization guides the patient’s plan of care. During a simulation, learners may encounter a virtual patient who has multiple symptoms and health concerns. By using their clinical judgment skills, nurses in training can develop prioritization skills by determining which concerns need to be addressed first to develop a treatment plan accordingly. UbiSim provides feedback based on the decisions made by the learner, which can help to reinforce good decision-making and provide suggestions for improvement.

4. Generate Solutions

In UbiSim, learners are presented with multiple options as interventions and are encouraged to generate solutions as to which interventions should be a part of the care provided. During a simulation, learners may encounter a virtual patient who has a complex health concern that requires a unique and tailored solution. By using their updated understanding of the patient's needs and clinical judgment skills they can generate solutions that are safe and effective for the patient. 

5. Take Action

UbiSim challenges learners to take action by applying knowledge of evidenced-based practice to address the highest patient priorities. This may mean gathering more information or performing an intervention on the patient to address the highest patient priorities. During a simulation, learners may need to call a provider, administer medication, provide first aid, or initiate emergency protocols based on the patient's condition.

6. Evaluate Outcomes 

Learners can evaluate outcomes and determine if their actions were effective, comparing observations against expected outcomes to determine if the patient is improving or declining. They can also evaluate whether more interventions are needed to address the patient’s needs.  During a simulation, learners may evaluate the patient's progress, by reassessing vital signs, performing a physical assessment or asking the patient appropriate questions about symptoms. Adjustments can be made to the treatment plan accordingly. 

By providing a variety of virtual patients and interactive simulations, UbiSim allows nurse learners to practice their assessment, prioritization, planning, implementation, evaluation, and reflective skills. 

Do you want to help learners improve patient outcomes and provide better healthcare? Request a demo of UbiSim today and discover how our platform can help learners develop clinical judgment skills and become more confident and competent healthcare professionals.