CLINICAL INFERENCE BY NURSING-STUDENTS AND EXPERIENCED NURSES CONCERNING HARMFUL OUTCOMES OCCURRING AFTER MEDICATION ERRORS - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

Clinical inference is part of the clinical decision-making process and precedes judgment and action. It is apr integrated response to patien t cues and other evidence and a necessary skill for all nurses. The pu rpose of this study was to compare undergraduate and graduate nursing students' use of clinical inference in rating harmful outcomes for pat ients occurring after medication errors. The Medication Error Outcome Scale, a simulation methodology using medical ion error vignettes, was used to compare undergraduate and graduate students' use of clinical inference. Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance showed that there was a statistically significant difference (P = .04) among freshman, junior , senior, baccalaureate, and Master's students' use of clinical infere nce in regard to perceived harm occurring after a medication errors. P ost hoc Mann-Whitney U tests indicated that senior and baccalaureate s tudents' use of clinical inference differed significantly (P = .005). This study suggests that clinical experience shapes clinical inference . Copyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company