AN ANALYTIC DESCRIPTION OF TRADITIONAL PRE-CONFERENCE AND TRIO PRE-CLINICAL ROUNDS AS CURRICULAR EXPERIENCES TO DEVELOP DIAGNOSTIC REASONING SKILLS OF BACCALAUREATE NURSING STUDENTS.
Contributors: Kent State University.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 211
Subjects: Education, Health.; Education, Educational Psychology.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this inquiry was to describe the nature and perceived impact of two clinical nursing curricular experiences, traditional pre-conference or trio pre-clinical rounds, designed to develop diagnostic reasoning skills of baccalaureate nursing students. The two research questions addressed in this study were: (1) What is the nature of curricular experiences related to traditional pre-conference and trio pre-clinical rounds? (2) How do professors and students perceive the impact of these two curricular approaches on diagnostic reasoning skill development?.

Analyses of audiotaped clinical conference and focus group interview data, survey responses, and critical incidents yielded three major findings. First, the volume, cognitive levels and substance of questions asked by students and clinical instructors in each of the two groups were markedly different as indicated by hierarchical taxonomic classification and Spradley's Domain Analysis. Secondly, given three clinically related critical incidents to analyze using diagnostic reasoning, mean scores achieved by students in each of the two groups were demonstrably different. Third, both clinical instructors and students reported distinctly different perceptions about curricular experiences encountered during these alternative approaches.

This study has provided an empirical description of two distinctly different curricular experiences and findings indicated that substantively different curricular experiences did indeed occur. The patterns of questions and substance of clinical conference dialogue related to traditional pre-conference and trio pre-clinical rounds were congruent with the training and educational curriculum models respectively and opportunities to engage in diagnostic reasoning were distinctly different.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-11, Section: A, page: 3809.

Thesis (PH.D.)--KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, 1992.

School code: 0101.