Undergraduate Course: Clinical Decision Making: Life Sciences and Nursing Care 4 (NUST10057)
Course Outline
| School | School of Health in Social Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is a core component of the BN/MN programmes and is not open to students from other programmes.
This is a core course in the Bachelor of Nursing with Honours (Adult) programme and sits in the final year. Drawing on learning from across the programme, and specifically the core courses in Year 3, this course shifts the focus to the theoretical and experiential reality of clinical decision making and professional judgement. The principles underpinning this complex subject include, governance, accountability, human factors and ethical issues. Gaining a better understanding of their decision making processes has important benefits for nurses' leadership and accountability, organisational effectiveness and health outcomes. The course allows for lecture based learning, experiential learning and research enquiry to be explored. |
| Course description |
This course provides students with opportunities to consider the theoretical perspectives on, and practical reality of, making judgements and decisions in the safe and best interests of patients and clients. Theoretical input will be supported by case study exploration and reflection. The aim of this course is to explore the centrality and the complexity of clinical decision making and judgement within the health care context of the 21st century. The place of the theoretical basis to decision making is explored as is the understanding of leadership, risk and informatics and clinical decision making in the production of safe, high quality care. The nature and primacy of clinical judgements and decisions.
Indicative content will include:
Theoretical approaches to clinical decision making and professional judgement
Using knowledge and experience from and in practice to inform decision making
Expert decision making and leadership within the multi-disciplinary team and by the advanced practitioner
Intuition explored in clinical decision making
Case studies and scenarios in clinical decision making
Approaches to learning will include a combination of lectures, and group discussion. Students are also required to undertake the reading associated with the course and reflect upon, and bring for discussion, illustrations and examples of clinical decisions and professional judgements, both clear and complex. Some sessions will require preparatory work/engagement in line with the flipped classroom.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
169 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework (100%) confined within 3-3500 words.
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| Feedback |
A short formative piece of work is required to be able to give early feedback and feed forward for the summative assessment.
Length confined to within 400-450 words to be submitted on LEARN/Turnitin in Week 4
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Have a critical appreciation of what is meant theoretically by clinical decision making and professional judgement and how this relates to practice.
- Be knowledgeable about the influences on clinical decision making in the real world of care.
- Be able to debate the complexity and uncertainty within which clinical judgements and decisions are made.
- Be able to critically appraise decisions made whilst working through reality based clinical scenarios.
- Demonstrate with discernment how decision-making skills and associated leadership might be acquired, and better utilized, in the health care setting.
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Reading List
Johansen ML O'Brien JL (2016) Decision making in nursing: a concept analysis Nursing Forum 51 (1) 40-47
Parker-Tomlin M Boschen M Morrisey S Glendon I (2017) Cognitive Continuum theory in Interprofessional healthcare: A critical analysis Journal of Interprofessioanl care 31(4) 446-454
Penman ID Ralston SH Strachan MWJ Hobson RP Davidson's (2022) Principles and Practice of Medicine (24th ed) Elsevier Edinburgh
Standing M (2023) Clinical Judgement and Decision Making in Nursing (5th ed) Learning Matters Sage London
Thompson C, Dowding D (2009) Essential Decision Making and Clinical Judgement in Nursing, Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier Edinburgh
Watkins S (2020) Effective decision making: applying the theories to practice British Journal of Nursing 29 (2) 98-101 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and understanding
Skills and Abilities in Research and Enquiry
Skills and Abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
Skills and Abilities in Communication
Skills and Abilities in Personal Effectiveness
Technical / practical skills |
| Keywords | Clinical decision making,professional judgement,accountability,nursing care,ethics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Tonks Fawcett
Tel: (0131 6)50 3883
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Lisa Binder
Tel: (0131 6)51 3969
Email: |
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