Decision Making
What is the first step in the decision-making process?
Identifying the problem.
What is the first step in problem solving?
Clearly defining the problem.
What is clinical reasoning?
The cognitive process nurses use to assess, analyze, and make decisions in patient care.
Why is decision making important for nurse leaders?
It impacts patient safety, staff satisfaction, and organizational outcomes.
What communication tool structures critical information during handoff?
SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation).
In what type of situation do nurses often have to make fast, individual decisions without staff input?
Emergencies
What is the last step in problem solving?
Evaluating the results and outcomes.
What critical thinking model includes noticing, interpreting, responding, and reflecting?
Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model.
What leadership style involves top-down decision making with little staff input?
Autocratic leadership.
Which step of the nursing process directly supports problem solving?
The planning step (developing interventions and solutions).
Which model helps minimize bias and promotes collaboration in decision making?
The DECIDE model
In the ethical dilemma scenario, what leadership challenge is being highlighted?
Balancing nurse experience with nurse fatigue when assigning patients
What type of reasoning uses pattern recognition from past experiences to guide decisions?
Intuitive reasoning.
What leadership/management model empowers staff to share in decision making?
Shared governance
Which tools guide nurse managers in daily decisions (policies, procedures, algorithms, etc.)?
Decision-making tools like policies, procedures, clinical protocols, and standard order sets
What is the difference between clinical and managerial decision making?
Clinical = point-of-care judgments for individual patients; Managerial = group-oriented, unit or organizational-level decisions
What is the difference between problem solving and decision making?
Problem solving identifies and addresses the issue; decision making selects the best option among alternatives.
What is the role of reflection in clinical reasoning?
Reflection helps evaluate decisions, learn from experiences, and improve future practice.
Which factor do nurse leaders need to balance with quality and safety when making staffing decisions?
Financial/budgetary constraints
What strategy involves including staff in discussions before decisions are finalized?
Consultation/collaboration
What factors influence managerial decisions besides experience and education?
Analytical ability, ethical considerations, human resources, finances, organizational environment, and time pressure
What structured tool is often used in healthcare to analyze problems and prevent recurrence?
Root Cause Analysis (RCA).
What standardized model does the NCSBN use to describe clinical judgment in nursing?
The NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model (CJMM).
What ethical principle requires leaders to make decisions that do the most good and least harm?
Beneficence
What tool do nurses use to evaluate the effectiveness of decisions in clinical practice?
Outcome evaluation or quality improvement measures.