Abstract
Background: Providing safe patient care requires strong clinical judgement skills (American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), 2021); however, developing and assessing clinical judgement in undergraduate students has been difficult (Dickison et al., 2019). The Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) has been found to be valid and reliable in assessing clinical judgment development over time (Adamson et al., 2012), but at present has not been adapted as a self-evaluation tool. The LCJR was originally intended to define clinical judgment with consistent terms and monitor student performance over time (Lasater & Nielsen, 2024).
Method: With the permission of Dr. Kathie Lasater, a pilot study was conducted to adapt the LCJR as a self-assessment tool in a midwestern undergraduate nursing program. The adapted tool was administered to 111 senior students at three points in the final year of the program. In the senior year, students were exposed to a variety of clinical, simulation, and didactic learning strategies, including some form of case-based learning (CBL). Students were asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1-4 in the four facets of the LCJR (noticing, interpreting, responding and reflecting).
Results: The self-assessment data was correlated with student performance in the associated courses and with NCLEX success. The data demonstrated significant results in perceived student growth of clinical judgment skills over the course of their senior year. Interestingly, students who had a course grade of an A or B consistently rated themselves higher in clinical judgment competencies than students who had a course grade of a C. Previous research has described inconsistencies between self-assessment and actual performance (Hadid, 2017).
Conclusion: The LCJR as a self-assessment tool can provide additional data to support clinical judgment competency development. As students identify areas of weakness, programs can tailor review practices to target specific clinical judgment skills. This tool may be beneficial as nursing programs transition to competency based education, as this self-assessment practice can provide data-driven interventions to address gaps in performance.
Notes
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Alpha
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Pilot/Exploratory Study
Keywords:
Teaching and Learning Strategies, Competence, Nursing Education, Advances in Education, Clinical Competence, Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric
Recommended Citation
Wilgenbusch, Bev A.; Jurevic, Victoria; Archibald, Britt Cole; Zehler, Alexis; Jeanmougin, Caitlin; and Gilb, Katy, "Use of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric to Self-Identify Gaps in Clinical Judgment Competencies" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 175.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/175
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-04
Use of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric to Self-Identify Gaps in Clinical Judgment Competencies
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Background: Providing safe patient care requires strong clinical judgement skills (American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), 2021); however, developing and assessing clinical judgement in undergraduate students has been difficult (Dickison et al., 2019). The Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) has been found to be valid and reliable in assessing clinical judgment development over time (Adamson et al., 2012), but at present has not been adapted as a self-evaluation tool. The LCJR was originally intended to define clinical judgment with consistent terms and monitor student performance over time (Lasater & Nielsen, 2024).
Method: With the permission of Dr. Kathie Lasater, a pilot study was conducted to adapt the LCJR as a self-assessment tool in a midwestern undergraduate nursing program. The adapted tool was administered to 111 senior students at three points in the final year of the program. In the senior year, students were exposed to a variety of clinical, simulation, and didactic learning strategies, including some form of case-based learning (CBL). Students were asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1-4 in the four facets of the LCJR (noticing, interpreting, responding and reflecting).
Results: The self-assessment data was correlated with student performance in the associated courses and with NCLEX success. The data demonstrated significant results in perceived student growth of clinical judgment skills over the course of their senior year. Interestingly, students who had a course grade of an A or B consistently rated themselves higher in clinical judgment competencies than students who had a course grade of a C. Previous research has described inconsistencies between self-assessment and actual performance (Hadid, 2017).
Conclusion: The LCJR as a self-assessment tool can provide additional data to support clinical judgment competency development. As students identify areas of weakness, programs can tailor review practices to target specific clinical judgment skills. This tool may be beneficial as nursing programs transition to competency based education, as this self-assessment practice can provide data-driven interventions to address gaps in performance.
Description
Using the adapted Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) as a self-assessment tool assisted faculty and students in recognizing gaps and strengths in clinical judgment competencies. The adapted tool will be reviewed and made available to participants. Methods for implementation will be addressed to assist educators in identifying strategies for the classroom, clinical, or simulation spaces. A special focus on case-based learning platforms will be incorporated.