Christian Scott, Kelli Innes, Jacqui Allen
Clinical decision‑making (CDM), encompassing clinical reasoning and judgement, is a core capability underpinning safe and effective nursing practice. While undergraduate nursing programmes aim to develop CDM through a combination of theoretical instruction and practice‑based learning, concerns persist about students’ ability to translate knowledge and technical skills into sound clinical decisions in real‑world settings. Clinical placement represents a central context in which nursing students are expected to develop, enact, and be assessed on CDM; however, the evidence describing how this learning occurs during placement remains fragmented. Existing literature highlights the importance of clinical placement for professional identity formation, confidence, and competence, yet research specifically focused on CDM during placement is dispersed across diverse study designs, terminologies, and conceptual frameworks. Moreover, studies variably address student perceptions of learning, supervisory influences, and formal or informal assessments of CDM, making it difficult to form a coherent understanding of how CDM is developed and demonstrated in practice settings. A comprehensive mapping of this evidence is therefore needed to clarify how CDM is conceptualised, taught, supported, and assessed during clinical placement. The intent of this scoping review is to systematically map and synthesise the extent, nature, and characteristics of evidence relating to preregistration nursing students’ learning of clinical decision‑making during clinical placement. Specifically, the review will examine student perceptions of learning CDM on placement and the reported effects of placement experiences on CDM development and demonstration. Findings will identify key themes, gaps, and directions for future research, including informing curriculum design, clinical supervision practices, and subsequent longitudinal investigations of CDM development across undergraduate nursing education.