Gathering relevant information and making decisions

In Chapter 6 we introduced you to the process of clinical reasoning that lies at the heart of effective nursing care, including the role of critical thinking, its role in the evolution of nursing practice and the ongoing learning that is crucial for the development of nursing knowledge and associated skills, and their application in our day-to-day practice. In addition, we outlined six domains of thinking/action/learning that are part of the clinical reasoning process, no matter how it is depicted in specific models. This current chapter focuses on the first two of these: 1) gathering relevant information and data; and 2) making appropriate clinical judgements and decisions