II Glossary
ABCs: Airway, breathing, and circulation.
Actual problems: Nursing problems currently occurring with the patient.
Acuity: The level of patient care that is required based on the severity of a patient’s illness or condition.
Acuity-rating staffing models: A staffing model used to make patient assignments that reflects the individualized nursing care required for different types of patients.
Acute conditions: Conditions having a sudden onset.
Chronic conditions: Conditions that have a slow onset and may gradually worsen over time.
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.”[1]
Critical thinking: A broad term used in nursing that includes “reasoning about clinical issues such as teamwork, collaboration, and streamlining workflow.”[2]
CURE hierarchy: A strategy for prioritization based on identifying “critical” needs, “urgent” needs, “routine” needs, and “extras.”
Data cues: Pieces of significant clinical information that direct the nurse toward a potential clinical concern or a change in condition.
Expected conditions: Conditions that are likely to occur or anticipated in the course of an illness, disease, or injury.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Prioritization strategies often reflect the foundational elements of physiological needs and safety and progress toward higher levels.
Ratio-based staffing models: A staffing model used to make patient assignments in terms of one nurse caring for a set number of patients.
Risk problem: A nursing problem that reflects that a patient may experience a problem but does not currently have signs reflecting the problem is actively occurring.
Time estimation: A prioritization strategy including the review of planned tasks and allocation of time believed to be required to complete each task.
Time scarcity: A feeling of racing against a clock that is continually working against you.
Unexpected conditions: Conditions that are not likely to occur in the normal progression of an illness, disease, or injury.
- Klenke-Borgmann, L., Cantrell, M. A., & Mariani, B. (2020). Nurse educator’s guide to clinical judgment: A review of conceptualization, measurement, and development. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(4), 215-221. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000669 ↵
- Klenke-Borgmann, L., Cantrell, M. A., & Mariani, B. (2020). Nurse educator’s guide to clinical judgment: A review of conceptualization, measurement, and development. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(4), 215-221. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000669 ↵