Developing Clinical Reasoning and Clinical Judgment Competency Through Collaborative Exam Generation

Background: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing promotes competency-based education (CBE) to foster learning, producing competent graduates. Effective CBE necessitates innovative teaching strategies to optimize academic performance. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to initiate early clinical reasoning and clinical judgment competency development while enhancing the academic performance and engagement of undergraduate nursing students through collaborative learning and digital engagement strategies. Methods: We conducted a retrospective academic records review of nursing students in the undergraduate program enrolled in fall 2023 and spring 2024 in an online statistic course. Results: Ninety-six student records were included in the review. Student engagement predicted academic success as measured by collaborative exam generation (r =.50, p <.001), time spent in course content (B = 5.22, SE = 1.55, t = 3.34, p =.001), and student discussion posts (B = 7.22, SE = 1.42, t = 5.11, p <.001). Conclusions: Active, collaborative learning approaches can be introduced in nursing prerequisite courses to develop competency in critical reasoning, clinical judgment, and respectful communication strategies to build interprofessional partnerships.