Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
The Process of Clinical Decision-Making in Jordanian Critical-Care Settings
Jafar Alasad, RN, PhD and Muayyad Ahmad, RN, PhD. Faculty of Nursing, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
| Learning Objective #1: Recognize the complexity of the decision-making process within the critical-care environment |
| Learning Objective #2: Identify the role of critical-care nurses in clinical and ethical decision-making in the intensive care unit |
Purpose: This paper will report on a qualitative study conducted on critical care nurses to explore their role in clinical decision-making. Methodology: The study is qualitative in nature and is grounded on the phenomenological hermeneutics methodology (Heideger 1962). Sample and data collection: Data was generated through overt participant observation and in-depth interviews. Three critical care units in the city of Amman was involved in the study. Twenty-four critical care nurses were interviewed individually and about 150 hours of observations were spent in the involved intensive care units. Methods: Van Manen’s (1990) phenomenological approach for data analysis was utilised to guide data analysis. Findings: Five themes were generated from the data: ongoing process, autonomy, experience/power, joint/ethical decisions, and advocacy. Details of each of these themes are discussed. Conclusion: The paper concludes by discussing the critical care nurse qualities as a Knowledgeable, experienced, and risk taker agent along with the role of these qualities in the nurse’s decision-making abilities.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004