Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model
Tanners Clinical Judgement Model identifies the processes of clinical judgment that reflect the way nurses think in practice. As students learn to think like a nurse, the processes develop from noticing to interpreting, to responding, and then reflecting.
Noticing: a perceptual grasp of the situation at hand. It is the process of perceiving important or salient aspects of the situation.
Interpreting: the development of sufficient understanding of a situation to respond. It is the ability to take the data in a situation and then determine the etiology, patterns, additional factors to consider or additional information needed and resolution; the ability to draw a conclusion.
Responding: the ability to decide on a course of action, including no action. It requires the student to consider the situation and determine patient goals, nursing response and intervention; to develop a plan of care. It includes identifying stressors experienced when responding to the situation.
Reflecting: the attention to the patient /family response to the nurse’s action while acting. It is the ability to identify what occurred, what the nurse did, and how one might adjust the action differently in the future. The nurse identifies what additional knowledge or skills needed. It includes reflection on values and feelings with the situation.