The use of structured reflective journal questions to promote fundamental development of clinical decision-making abilities of the first-semester nursing student.

The ability to reflect is becoming a core competency in many nursing educational programs. A clinical journal assignment was developed for first-semester (novice) nursing students. The aim was to see if the process of reflection-on-action through the medium of journal writing promoted fundamental clinical decision-making abilities of the first semester nursing student. This author discusses components of the clinical decision-making process used to structure six clinical journal questions for use by the first semester nursing students during their clinical rotation. Exemplars of students' self-reported reflections are included.