One of the nurse competencies within the Professional Caring and Ethical Practice portion of the CCRN and PCCN examinations is Clinical Inquiry.1 The phrase clinical inquiry may sound intimidating, but it is simply the act of paying attention to your practice and being willing to ask questions. Nurses engaged in clinical inquiry possess a healthy skepticism of their own knowledge and practice, recognizing that there are always opportunities for improvement. Clinical inquiry begins by observing and recognizing moments in nursing practice that evoke annoyance, hindrance, or thoughts of finding a better way. For example, Traci was exasperated at the delay when she had to wait for a physician to place a central catheter before administering the vasopressor her patient needed. Similarly, Kimmi was troubled when she had to withhold food from a cachectic patient for 18 hours before a cardiac catheterization procedure. Both Traci and Kimmi posed a...
Clinical Inquiry
KNIPPA
Sara Knippa, MS, RN, ACCNS-AG, CCRN, PCCN, is the column’s content expert. Sara is a clinical nurse specialist for critical care, metro Denver region, at UCHealth, Aurora, Colorado. She welcomes feedback from readers and practice questions from potential contributors at [email protected]. Sara wrote the introduction and CCRN review questions 3 through 5.
MAKIC
Mary Beth Flynn Makic, PhD, RN, CCNS, CCRN, is a professor and the Clinical Nurse Specialist Program Director, University of Colorado College of Nursing, Aurora. Mary Beth wrote CCRN review question 1 and PCCN review questions 1 through 4.
COAKLEY
Susan Coakley, BSN, RN, worked most recently as an intensive care unit staff nurse, ad hoc critical care educator, and rapid response nurse at Sarasota Doctors Hospital, Sarasota, Florida. Susan wrote CCRN review question 2 and PCCN review question 5.
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