Reliability and Feasibility of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric Adapted for Physical Therapy (LCJR-PT) to Evaluate Clinical Judgment During Standardized Simulation Experiences in Doctor of Physical Therapy Students

Clinical judgment is a core competency for physical therapists required by the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), yet no validated, reliable tool specifically tested in physical therapy student populations currently exists for simulation-based assessment. The Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR), originally developed for nursing, implementing Tanner's clinical judgment model across four domains: noticing, interpreting, responding, and reflecting. This study adapts the LCJR for physical therapy (LCJR-PT) and examines its interrater reliability and feasibility when used to assess DPT students during a standardized acute care simulation.

First and second year DPT students at Youngstown State University will complete a scripted 30-35 minute acute care simulation followed by a brief reflection. Sessions will be video-recorded. Three to five trained faculty raters will independently score each recording using the LCJR-PT. Raters will undergo standardized training including rubric anchor review, practice scoring, and calibration discussion. Primary outcomes are intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for total and domain scores. Secondary outcomes include average rater scoring time per student and faculty perceptions of usability and feasibility assessed via questionnaire.