Think Like a Nurse
The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment
For the last 30 years I have studied how to teach nursing students to think. My Clinical Judgment Framework was first formulated in 2001 and has matured to its current sophisticated stated.
Here’s what some faculty have to say about the Caputi Clinical Judgment Framework…
Students can learn about the Caputi Clinical Judgment Framework in the student textbook.
Think Like a Nurse
The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment
USA Version
The second edition of Think Like a Nurse: A Handbook actually has a new title, Think Like a Nurse: The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment. The name change signifies a maturation of the Caputi Method. The work of developing the Caputi Method has evolved over 20 years and incorporates the full essence of what clinical judgment actually is. The overall goal of this book is to transform an elusive concept—clinical judgment—to an easy-to-learn and understand process applied to nursing. For too long students have been unsure what thinking in nursing really is. For too long faculty have been led by the misunderstanding that when presenting case scenarios and clinical situations, if students can correctly answer higher cognitive level questions, that means they have learned to use clinical judgment. These students did not learn what clinical judgment actually is; they were just asked questions with the presumption a correct answer meant they could think. This has been a long-standing misconception in nursing education. Answering a question correctly does not mean the student engaged in thinking to answer the question. Students actually learning what clinical judgment is and how to use it in nursing is the missing link. A clinical judgment process that uses clinical judgment competencies to connect nursing content to an individual patient situation represents a change in how we teach students to think and a change in how students learn to think. That is what this book is all about.
There are many activities in every chapter of Think Like a Nurse: The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment to engage students in applying clinical judgment to patient care. These activities can, and should, be used by students when caring for patients in the clinical and simulations settings. They can also be used by faculty in the classroom when working through case studies so the focus is on connecting thinking to content within a specific patient situation, and not just a focus on content.
Click here to learn about what’s new in the 2nd Edition.
Canadian Adaptation by:
Lesley MacMaster
Canadian Version
Think Like a Nurse
The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment
Canadian Version
The Canadian Version of Think Like a Nurse: The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment is now available! Click on the buttons below for more information.
Think Like a Nurse: A Handbook was initially introduced and used in the United States. Early in 2021, nursing faculty at Georgian College, Barrie Ontario, requested a Canadian Version of this second edition that carries the new name of Think Like a Nurse: The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment. Lesley MacMaster of Georgian College adapted the book for use with Canadian nursing students in all educational institutions. At the start of this work, Lesley obtained reviews of the first edition. Two nurse leaders in Canada graciously agreed to review the book. Their comments provide further support for the Caputi approach to learning clinical judgment and for a Canadian version of Think Like a Nurse: The Caputi Method for Learning Clinical Judgment. Here is what they had to say…