Students’ Sense-Making in Clinical Chaos: Two Librarians’ Perspectives

Health professions students at the transition to clinical education are becoming professionals in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. As they seek to provide patient care, they both use information and process their own developing expertise and doubt. Following up on a report of a qualitative study of graduate-level health professions students, here we present Dervin’s Sense-Making theory and methodology as a framework to better understand the experiences of these students. By engaging with Sense-Making, librarians can develop a deeper, humanistic view of students as they bridge the gap from learner to practitioner, and can help them build productive mindsets and acquire information skills that can support their provision of healthcare.