Background: Clinical reasoning (CR) is a holistic and recursive cognitive process. It allows nursing students to accurately perceive patients’ situations and choose the best course of action among the available alternatives. This study aimed to identify the randomised controlled trials studies in the literature that concern clinical reasoning in the context of nursing students. Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) was performed to identify relevant studies published up to October 2023. The following inclusion criteria were examined: (a) clinical reasoning, clinical judgment, and critical thinking in nursing students as a primary study aim; (b) articles published for the last eleven years; (c) research conducted between January 2012 and September 2023; (d) articles published only in English and Spanish; and (e) Randomised Clinical Trials. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool was utilised to appraise all included studies. Results: Fifteen papers were analysed. Based on the teaching strategies used in the articles, two groups have been identified: simulation methods and learning programs. The studies focus on comparing different teaching methodologies. Conclusions: This systematic review has detected different approaches to help nursing students improve their reasoning and decision-making skills. The use of mobile apps, digital simulations, and learning games has a positive impact on the clinical reasoning abilities of nursing students and their motivation. Incorporating new technologies into problem-solving-based learning and decision-making can also enhance nursing students’ reasoning skills. Nursing schools should evaluate their current methods and consider integrating or modifying new technologies and methodologies that can help enhance students’ learning and improve their clinical reasoning and cognitive skills.

Clinical reasoning is an essential component of nursing. It has emerged as a concept that integrates the core competencies of quality and safety education for nurses. In cooperation with five European partners, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal (IPS) realized the “Clinical Reasoning in Nursing and Midwifery Education and Practice” project as part of the Erasmus+ project. As a partner, our team designed a multiplier event—the student training course. The aim of this report is to describe the construction and development of this clinical reasoning training course for nursing students. We outline the pedagogical approach of an undergraduate training course on clinical reasoning in 2023, which we separated into four stages: (i) welcoming, (ii) knowledge exploration, (iii) pedagogical learning, and (iv) sharing experience. This paper presents the learning outcomes of the collaborative reflection on and integration of the clinical reasoning concept among nursing students. This educational experience fostered reflection and discussion within the teaching team of the nursing department regarding the concept, models, and teaching/learning methods for clinical reasoning, with the explicit inclusion of clinical reasoning content in the nursing curriculum. We highlight the importance of implementing long-term pedagogical strategies in nursing education.

Clinical reasoning is a key attribute of nursing and midwifery professionals. As a part of the Erasmus plus project, we designed a study with the aim of exploring the understanding of clinical reasoning as a concept, experiences of teaching clinical reasoning and practices related to using clinical reasoning in nursing and midwifery. A qualitative study was carried out using the World Café method, involving 44 participants from five European countries. The participants represented diverse professional backgrounds, including nurses, midwives and lecturers. Our analytical approach was based on a thematic analysis. We categorized the data into three main categories, namely, “Spiral of thinking”, “The learning and teaching of a way of thinking” and “Clinical reasoning in real life”, all under an overarching theme, “Learning a way of thinking”. This study highlighted areas of learning and teaching which can be improved in current nursing and midwifery education. Furthermore, it identified barriers, facilitators and practices from five European countries which can be used in the further development of nursing and midwifery curricula and courses with the aim of enhancing clinical reasoning competence and ultimately improving patient care.

Aim: To translate the Nurse Clinical Reasoning Scale into Spanish, examine their psychometric properties and to determine the clinical reasoning levels of Spanish nurses.Design: The original Nurse Clinical Reasoning Scale instrument was translated into Spanish, with the objective of analysing its contents, semantics, and technical and conceptual equivalence. A cross‐sectional multicentre study with an online questionnaire survey of registered nurses working in Spain was used to identify the levels of clinical reasoning among respondents.Methods: The original scale was translated from the English language into the Spanish language through six steps following the guidelines of Sousa and Rojjanasrirat. Data was collected from April 2022 to June 2023 through an anonymous online questionnaire.Results: Five competitive and public Spanish hospitals participated in this study. The sample included 153 registered nurses. The validity for the entire scale indicated an excellent result. The general level of clinical reasoning among nurses in this study was good. Cronbach's alpha of the Spanish version was practically the same as the original version.Patient or Public Contribution: The Nurse Clinical Reasoning Scale is a valid and reliable instrument, and the Spanish version can be used to evaluate the clinical reasoning levels of nurses in a Spanish context. The tool will help to identify areas for improvement in clinical reasoning in nurses and may improve their patient care.

Background: Competencies, such as knowledge, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning skills, are the essential individual characteristics required for effectively carrying out nursing duties. The acquisition and assessment of these competencies among nursing students are crucial for their future practice. This study aims to validate the Competency Inventory of Nursing Students in Spanish. Methods: Validation and back-translation into Spanish of the Nursing Competency Inventory of Nursing Students. Results: The sample was collected from the University of Barcelona, Lleida, and Tecnocampus. Most participants (85.3%) were females between 20 and 29, and 45.3% were in their third year. The general answer mean was 6.34 points. Dimension 4 (Clinical biomedical science) obtained the lowest score and dimension 1 (Ethics and accountability) the highest. The content validity index for the entire scale was 0.93. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure was 0.926. The Spanish version of the scale demonstrated a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.95. Conclusions: The Spanish CINS version is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to evaluate nursing students’ competencies in the Spanish context.