Abstract
BACKGROUND: Case-based learning (CBL) is a student-centered pedagogy that introduces students to real-life scenarios by presenting an authentic case, mirroring situations encountered in clinical practice. It serves as a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical applications in nursing practice, fostering development of critical thinking skills in clinical decision-making by providing practical and immersive learning experiences to students. This study examined the impact of CBL on critical thinking in clinical decision-making among student nurses at Kampala International University (KIU), Uganda. METHODOLOGY: -The study used descriptive design with criterion purposive sampling. 28 students nurses consented and participated in the study. The procedure involved CBL pedagogy, implemented using framework for teaching that was adopted and adapted by researchers and prepared instructional content on "Anemia in Pregnancy". The instrument for data collection was the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) questionnaire (34-point scale). Collected data were analyzed using percentages, descriptive statistics and ANOVA for sub-scale scores with a significance P-value of <0.05. RESULTS: Very few (7.1%) participants had strong, whereas majority (92.9%) had superior overall CCTST scores. Participants' CCTST total mean score was 27.39, sub-scale analysis 5.79, evaluation 3.96, inference 5.64, deductive reasoning 5.54, and inductive reasoning 6.46 as their mean scores. CBL was a statistically significant factor influencing participants' scores in analysis (P =0.016), evaluation (P =0.007), and deductive reasoning (P =0.025) but did not have a statistically significant effect on inference (P =0.932) or inductive reasoning (P =0.670) sub-scale scores. CONCLUSION: As a pedagogy, CBL has an excellent impact on KIU student nurses' critical thinking in clinical decision-making, as shown by study findings. However, there is a need to use more than one student-centered pedagogy to transfer adequate knowledge in curriculum to student nurses and strengthen clinical teaching to enhance their clinical management skills were recommended.