Case studies are an effective teaching strategy² and used most often³ to practice clinical judgment skills in nursing education, but not all case studies are created equal.
Are your students developing clinical judgment to prepare for practice?
Research shows most new graduate nurses are not practice-ready.¹
Join NowLearn About KeithRN
Why KeithRN® Case Studies?
KeithRN Clinical Reasoning Case Studies integrate educational best-practices with scenarios derived from real life that develop clinical judgment skills needed for safe practice and NextGen NCLEX®.
10 Reasons Your Program Should Use KeithRN Case Studies
KeithRN Clinical Reasoning Case Studies
Real-life patient scenarios unfold over time, requiring students to retrieve essential knowledge and apply it to the bedside.
Integrate the nursing process, Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model, and educational best practices to develop students’ clinical reasoning mastery.
Various levels of difficulty allow faculty to choose what best meets the learning objectives.
Open-ended questions support critical thinking and are written in NCLEX format.
Consistent clinical reasoning questions allow students to progressively build clinical judgment proficiency.
Questions focus on high level application and analysis emphasizing holistic care and clinical judgment skills.
Integrate images and heart and lung sounds that simulate patient assessment.
Increased patient diversity and integration of social determinants of health.
Include the patient’s psychosocial history and contextual factors to improve transition to practice.
All case studies have a comprehensive answer key.
Other Case Studies
Patient scenarios are linear with one primary problem.
Not built on practice-based clinical judgment frameworks.
A single level of complexity, using a “one size fits all” approach.
Multiple-choice questions used throughout.
Different question format for each topic eliminates the opportunity to practice clinical judgment.
Questions emphasize knowledge acquisition and memorization.
Rarely include images or simulations.
Social determinants of health not consistently integrated into scenarios.
General patient information does not emphasize holistic and psychosocial care priorities.
No answer key.
New KeithRN Clinical Judgment Rubric
Score students' performance on KeithRN Clinical Reasoning Case Studies with the KeithRN Clinical Judgment Rubric, a powerful tool that quantitatively measures and assesses students’ clinical judgment skills. By using the rubric throughout the program, you can gain valuable insights into students' progress over time.
Case Study Levels
Access three different levels of KeithRN Clinical Reasoning Case Studies:
NextGen, Skinny, and Unfolding.
| NextGen | Skinny | Unfolding | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for beginning students | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Best for advanced students | ✔ | ||
| Most like NextGen NCLEX | ✔ | ||
| Best for classroom | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Best for clinical post-conference | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Best for Clinical replacement activity | ✔ | ||
| Number of questions | 8 | 20 | 40 |
| Number of CRCS topics in KeithRN store | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Number of CRCS topics available to Think Like a Nurse Members | 30+ | 90+ | 60+ |
KeithRN’s Think Like a Nurse Membership
Access exclusive active learning resources for faculty and students, including KeithRN Case Studies, making it your go-to resource.
Faculty and Student Outcomes
Faculty
Save time
Make learning active
Transform teaching
Students
Apply knowledge to practice
Practice clinical judgment skills
Prepare to transition to practice
EXCLUSIVE FACULTY MEMBER BENEFITS
Access Time Saving Tools to Make Learning Active
- More than 100 clinical reasoning case study topics derived from practice.
- Cases evolve from simple to complex, and can be used by traditional or concept-based curriculum.
- Classroom worksheets emphasize problem solving and active learning.
Improve Practice Readiness
- Teaching tools develop clinical judgment to prepare students for real-world practice.
- Open-ended questions in NextGen NCLEX format enhance clinical reasoning and deepen learning.
- Resources authored and reviewed by educational and clinical judgment experts.
Prepare for NextGen NCLEX
- Updated case studies, based on Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model, align with NextGen NCLEX®.
- Prepare students for NextGen NCLEX® using educational best practices that include case-based active learning emphasizing clinical reasoning.
Strengthen Faculty Development
- Time-saving, evidence-based teaching resources.
- Webinars and courses with CEUs to help transform your teaching.
- Exceptional support and rapid responses to your questions.
Additional Benefits
- Student access to case study links and tools chosen by faculty.
- Content is secure. Only faculty members have access to answer keys and case studies are not downloadable.
- A user-friendly experience with enhanced search functionality to easily find relevant resources.
Updates Make Membership an Even Better Value
- Research and Evidence-Based Content
Cases have been reviewed by top educators across the country to ensure current best-practices and patient diversity with relevant social determinants of health, so the most important information is presented in each case. - Handouts
Faculty and student handouts apply learning in classroom and clinical settings to improve the ease of use and strengthen student learning. - Regular Updates
New case study topics, handouts, faculty development webinars, and tools that can be shared with students will be added monthly. The membership will grow over time at no additional cost, making it an even better value.
Try Member Resources for Free
Access a KeithRN Clinical Reasoning Case Study, the KeithRN Clinical Judgment Rubric (with scoring sheet and instructions), and popular worksheets to use with your students before you join Think Like a Nurse.
Request DemoBecome a Member!
Save 15%
Individual All-Access Bundle
$59/ month
Billed monthly.
As an individual member, get access to all active learning resources.
Membership auto-renews.
Departmental All-Access Bundle
$395/ seat (billed annually)
Best Value – Save 33% with a group of 5 or more!
Get access to active learning resources for faculty in your department at a low annual price.
Individual All-Access Bundle
$595/ year
Great Value – Save 15% when you pay annually!
As an individual member, get access to all active learning resources.
Membership auto-renews.
Departmental All-Access Bundle
$395/ seat (billed annually)
Best Value – Save 33% with a group of 5 or more!
Get access to active learning resources for faculty in your department at a low annual price.
Reviews from Nurse Educators
Recommended by Nursing Programs
Hundreds of programs are successfully using the Think Like a Nurse membership including:
Concordia University
St. Paul, MN
Mid Michigan College
Harrison, Michigan
Cuyahoga Community College
Cleveland, Ohio
Morton College
Cicero, Illinois
Lone Star College
Kingwood, Texas
Pennsylvania Institute of Technology
Media, Pennsylvania
East Central University
Ada, Oklahoma
Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School
Bourne, Massachusetts
Chamberlain University
Jacksonville, Florida
Central Carolina Community College
Pittsboro, North Carolina
Southern Maine Community College
Portland, Maine
Southeast Community College
Lincoln, Nebraska
Frequently Asked Questions
Who will benefit from this membership?
If you are a new full-time educator or part-time clinical adjunct, this membership site is perfect for you. It will provide essential teaching that will lay a solid foundation to help you successfully transition to your new role. Experienced educators who recognize the need to do things differently have also found this content helpful and appreciate the innovative case studies and time-saving tools. Students benefit by learning from the case studies, tools, and videos at no extra cost!
Is the content inside the updated membership still the same?
All content will be carried over into the updated platform but will be better than ever! Every case study topic has been revised with current references and all worksheets have been edited to strengthen and improve student learning.
How often will you be adding additional content?
Each month, at least one resource will be added that may include a new case study topic, student and faculty webinar, or tools that faculty can share with students.
How are case studies accessed inside the membership?
Faculty answer keys and PowerPoint files are embedded as PDF docs that cannot be downloaded. The PowerPoint can be shared in class. The student version of each topic is also an embedded PDF that can be viewed by students through a link that faculty can share. Students can then download a template of the case study questions to print or fill in as a writeable document. Using this process ensures security of case studies to prevent unauthorized use.
Classroom and clinical learning worksheets can be shared with students as downloadable PDFs to make it easy to integrate into your content as supplemental learning activities.
Is the content inside the membership secure?
Because all case studies have been completely updated with new scenarios, patient data, and case study structure, the prior versions of KeithRN case studies that are avilable on the internet will have no value to students who may be tempted to take shortcuts. And because all updated content is now embedded into the site, there is nothing from the case study to download except a generic template for students to answer questions as they view an embedded PDF.
Can I share the content inside the membership with other faculty?
According to the terms of the membership, sharing content with other faculty who do not have a membership is strictly prohibited. Members have the license to use all resources with the students they teach.
I have an individual membership and love it. How can I get my department access to the membership?
To get departmental access, share this link with a decision maker in your program so they can register the number of faculty seats that are needed. If a decision is made to purchase, the decision maker can use the program credit card for payment, receive an invoice and detailed instructions to send to faculty to obtain approved access.
As an individual member, you will no longer be responsible for payment and will access the content through the department.
Why do faculty pay for this resource and not students?
Because the vision of KeithRN is to transform how nursing is taught by providing the best possible resources for faculty, it was decided to implement a completely different model that is faculty centric, not student centric. For less than the price of a typical conference, faculty can access innovative teaching with CEUs as well as all the time-saving tools to transform how nursing is taught.
Because students get access to all resources that faculty decide to make available to them, the true cost of the membership can be determined by how many students benefit divided by the individual or departmental cost. Compared to what other companies charge to access simulation based products, the true value of this membership becomes evident. Plus, students are already paying so much in student fees, an increase in student fees is the last thing they need!
If my membership is no longer active, can I still use any of the downloadable resources?
According to the terms of the membership, if an individual or departmental membership is no longer active, the license to use any of the downloadable resources ceases and they cannot be used. Most faculty who are members renew every year unless they experience a life change. Currently the membership has a 99% departmental retention rate.
How soon will I be able to access the membership after registration?
For the security of content and to ensure that students are not receiving access to faculty resources, all new members must be approved before accessing the Think Like a Nurse Membership. Approval will be completed within 24 hours of sign-up. Weekend registrations will be approved on Mondays. If you need immediate assistance, please reach out to Member Support.
What if this membership doesn’t meet my needs?
No problem. We offer a full 30-day money-back guarantee. First you will need to submit your cancellation from inside your Membership Account Overview area. Then you may Contact Membership Support, and we will promptly refund the cost of your membership if you signed up within 30 days of cancelling.
I have had a life change and need to cancel my individual membership.
Individual memberships can be canceled at any time from inside your Membership Account Overview area.
What if I have an additional question or need support?
Contact Us with questions and you will receive a prompt reply.
References
- Kavanagh, J.M., Sharpnack, P.A., (January 31, 2021) “Crisis in Competency: A Defining Moment in Nursing Education” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 26, No. 1, Manuscript 2.
- Nielsen, A., Gonzalez, L., Jessee, M. A., Monagle, J., Dickison, P., & Lasater, K. (2022). Current Practices for Teaching Clinical Judgment: Results From a National Survey. Nurse educator, 10.1097/NNE.0000000000001268. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001268
- McLean, S. (2016). Case-based learning and its application in medical and health-care fields: A review of worldwide literature. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 39. doi: 10.4137/JMECD.S20377
KeithRN for Good
It’s estimated that each year, 30,000 women and girls are trafficked across the border of Nepal to India. When you become a Think Like a Nurse member, you become part of the solution.
Together, KeithRN and nurse educators are creating a safer world for women and children. We are proud to partner with Venture, a nonprofit providing anti-trafficking and women empowerment programs. A portion of the cost of your membership directly supports their life-changing work.