The purposes of this study were to describe the decision making process and decision\nactivities of critical care nurses in natural clinical settings. An exploratory descriptive\napproach utilizing both interview and observation methods, was used for data collection.\nThe study involved twenty four critical care nurses from three hospitals in Jordan.\nParticipant observation was performed to understand the routine clinical decisions\nmade by Intensive Care nurses. About 150 hours of observations were spent in\nthe involved Intensive Care Units. Nurses were interviewed to elicit information\nabout how they made decisions about patient�s care. The study revealed that the most\ncommon model nurses tend to use was intuitive model in order to observe the cues\nrelating to the patient�s situation. Data revealed that the decision making process is\ncontinuous and that experience is one of the main factors that determine nurses�\nability to take decisions. Five themes were generated from the data: on-going process,\nautonomy, experience/power, joint/ethical decisions, and advocacy. Critical care\nnurses were seen to be sensitive to the patient�s verbal and non-verbal cues; they were\nable to respond to these evidences to ensure that the patient�s condition did not deteriorate.\nCritical care nurses are likely to be more confident and effective when dealing\nwith patient�s changing situations with more experience.
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