Effect of Utilizing Clinical Concept Map on Clinical Reasoning among Postgraduate Nursing Students: An Action Research

Improvement of the clinical reasoning core competency is considered a greater challenge for nursing faculty members. Therefore, the integration of the concept map into clinical nursing pedagogy is the solution. The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing a clinical concept map on clinical reasoning among postgraduate nursing students. An action research quantitative study was conducted on 12 postgraduate nursing students, and the triangulation technique in data collection was used throughout the study duration of 8 weeks divided equally in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. The study findings illustrated the significant improvement in the clinical reasoning competency from cycle 1 (1.00±0.00) to cycle 2 (1.75±0.45) (z=-3.01, p <0.003), meanwhile the improvement of clinical skills was statistically significant in the clinical evaluation from cycle 1 (2.41±0.66) to cycle 2 (2.75±0.45) (z=-3.20, p<0.00). Moreover, the students’ performance in the concept map presentation was significantly improved in cycle 2 from the 1st round to 2nd round (z=-2.87, p<0.004) as well as the clinical reasoning skills (2.41±0.66) and clinical evaluation (2.75±0.45) has been improved in cycle 2. The utilization of clinical concept map is a valuable clinical nursing pedagogy to improve the clinical reasoning skills and clinical performance among postgraduate nursing students, particularly when the clinical concept map is discussed within a group that enriches the learning process, the clinical concept map helps students "learn how to learn" by correlating structured concepts and acquiring new knowledge using a clinical reasoning approach.