Deborah Hughes, MS, RN, CCRN

Nursing is a complex field that requires the acquisition and understanding of anatomy, pathophysiology and disease patterns. If the student is expected to incorporate didactic knowledge into their clinical practice, then all learning should provide a simulated or "real" patient experience. I believe that critical thinking and clinical decision-making are skills that must be developed and learned through experience or exposure; neither is innate or equated with intelligence. Errors in clinical judgment or actions must be, privately, identified. I utilize the Army's after action review (AAR) and ask: what was supposed to happen?; what actually happened?; what accounts for any differences?; what did you learn? Each semester students comment that "(her) enthusiasm is infective. I want to learn." These words motivate me to continue my own learning, share my passion for the subjects I teach and to maintain my clinical competence.