In this module, we will discuss critical thinking and clinical judgment in nursing and healthcare, using Tanner's Clinical Judgment Model and the Clinical Judgement Measurement Model. There has been a long-term focus on critical thinking in healthcare and nursing because it is an important part of clinical judgment. Nurses are tasked with understanding how to think critically using data from the patient history, lab results, and physical assessment.

In the community context, we view the community as our patient. We may have specific patients we see, but overall, in healthcare, the person comes from a community. Nurses must use the same logical process when assessing and planning for the community's health. All patients, even in the acute care setting, come from a community, and if health risk factors or disparities are present, the patient can get sicker more easily or not recover as quickly as an individual from a different community setting.

There is an accompanying activity for this module. This activity is an application of the knowledge learned. This assignment is mandatory, and responses must be emailed to Karen Nellis, [email protected], and Tiffany Elliott, [email protected], to receive full completion of this module. After you complete the activity and send it to Karen and Tiffany, please return to this page to share your key takeaways from the module and activity, claim your attendance credit, and print your certificate.