Clinical competencies and complexity in students: systematic literature review

Abstract

The achievement of clinical competencies by health students contributes to better patient care. The objective of this study was to know how clinical competencies are related to complex thinking in students. To achieve the objective, a systematic literature review was carried out, using the SCOPUS and WoS databases; with keywords from “clinical competencies” AND “complexity” AND “students” between the years of 2015 to 2024, the search results were narrowed using PRISMA, with quality criteria. The results show: a) The keywords related clinical competencies with educational aspects and different health careers; b) The journals related to education and health at level Q1 and Q2 are what had the most publications; c) The level of training was mainly undergraduate and nursing was the profession with the most publications; d) The types of complex thinking were: scientific thinking and critical thinking. The relationship between clinical competencies and complexity is through complex thinking, in particular scientific thinking and critical thinking. This study is intended to be of value to better understand how complex thinking processes contribute to improving the achievement of clinical competencies in health students.