Use of a script concordance test to assess development of clinical reasoning in nursing students.

The methods for assessing and measuring clinical reasoning as it pertains specifically to nurses are inadequate, if not nonexistent. The purposes of this methodological study were to develop a script concordance test and conduct a preliminary validation of its psychometric qualities. A script concordance test was created and the test scoring grid was constructed using the combined-score method and based on the responses of a panel of 15 experts. Thirty first-year bachelor of nursing students completed the test. The scores for the experts and students were compared with a t test, and the reliability of the scores was measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. A statistically significant difference was found between the scores of the experts and novices. The scores' reliability is high. The script concordance test is an innovative instrument that provides a standardized method for assessing nurses' clinical reasoning. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.