Caring for a child with type 1 diabetes

Competent profesional practice requires not only knowledge and skills but also sophisticated thinking abiliities. Safe and effective nurses use disciplined, systematic and logical thought processes to guide their practice and inform their decision making. Their clinical reasoning ability is a key factor in the provision of quality care and prevention of adverse outcomes. In order to become a competent nurse, it is essential to learn the process and steps of clinical reasoning. Students need to learn the rules that determine how cues shape clinical decisions and the connections betwen cues, decisions, and outcomes (Benner2001).