Reasoning in a Specialty Area
Clinical reasoning is a process used by nurses and other clinical professionals to collect data, process information, understand a patient’s situation or problem, develop treatments and interventions, and develop outcomes. This concept is often used synonymously with decision making or problem-solving. Even though they are related concepts, there is a difference in the process of clinical reasoning and the conventional decision-making process. The main difference between clinical reasoning and these other concepts is that the former focuses on the strategies that clinicians use to make their judgment and solve a problem (Simmons, 2010). Clinical reasoning is often applied in practice to enhance patient outcomes.