Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Clinical Nursing Skills

Key Terms

Clinical Nursing SkillsKey Terms

Key Terms

clinical judgment
thought process that allows nurses to arrive at a conclusion based on objective and subjective information about a patient
clinical judgment measurement model (CJMM)
a model allowing nurse educators to teach, assess, and measure the development of clinical judgment skills of nursing students
clinical reasoning
a complex cognitive process that uses formal and informal thinking strategies to gather and analyze patient information, evaluate the significance of this information, and weigh alternative actions
cognitive thinking
mental processes and abilities a nurse uses to interpret, analyze, and evaluate information in their practice
critical thinking
reasoning about clinical issues such as teamwork, collaboration, and streamlining workflow
critical thinking indicators (CTIs)
certain behaviors that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that promote critical thinking
deductive reasoning
type of thinking that involves using a general standard or rule to create a strategy
generalization
proposed explanation for a situation
hypothesis
judgment formed from a set of facts, cues, and observations
inductive reasoning
type of thinking that involves noticing cues, making generalizations, and creating hypotheses
PreviousNext
Order a print copy

Content Warning

You’ll need to log in with your free OpenStax account to keep reading — your access is still 100% free. Need an account? Create one here! Log in
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/clinical-nursing-skills/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/clinical-nursing-skills/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

© Mar 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.