A Rubric to Assess Students' Clinical Reasoning When Encountering Virtual Patients

Background: Training with virtual patients has been proposed as a suitable learning activity to improve clinical reasoning skills for nursing students. However, published instruments with the capacity to assess students' reasoning process in the encounter with virtual patients are lacking. Method: Deductive and abductive analyses were used to adapt the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) to assess nursing students' clinical reasoning skills in the encounter with virtual patients. The new rubric's ability to capture nursing students' clinical reasoning processes was tested using deductive analysis and statistical analysis. Results: A grading rubric for virtual patients, the vpLCJR, was developed. Cronbach's alpha showed .892, indicating good internal consistency. Conclusion: The rubric vpLCJR, which deconstructs aspects of clinical reasoning for both students and faculty members, can be used to clarify expectations, assess students' clinical reasoning process, and provide feedback for learning when nursing students encounter virtual patients.