A study of decision making among U.S. psychiatric nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Psychiatric Nursing
• Decision Science

Background:

• Understanding the cognitive processes psychiatric nurses use in clinical decision-making is essential for effective patient care.
• Existing instruments for assessing decision-making in nursing may not adequately capture the nuances of psychiatric contexts.
• Cross-cultural validation of assessment tools is critical to ensure accurate and reliable data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the decision-making styles of psychiatric nurses.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of a Finnish decision-making instrument adapted for psychiatric nurses.
• To explore the applicability of the instrument in a U.S. psychiatric nursing population.

Main Methods:

• A survey methodology was employed, distributing a 56-item questionnaire to 351 psychiatric nurses.
• A response rate of 48% was achieved.
• Varimax factor analysis was utilized to identify underlying decision-making factors, with internal consistency assessed using Cronbach's alpha.

Main Results:

• Factor analysis revealed five distinct decision-making factors: intuitive, self-confidence, interpretive, collected information, and analytic processing.
• Reliability coefficients (alphas) for these factors ranged from .71 to .85, indicating good internal consistency.
• U.S. psychiatric nurses reported a high utilization of intuitive and interpretive decision-making approaches.

Conclusions:

• Psychiatric nurses frequently employ intuitive and interpretive strategies in their decision-making.
• The study highlights the importance of considering cultural biases when utilizing foreign-developed instruments in diverse nursing populations.
• Further research is recommended to refine the instrument and enhance the understanding of psychiatric nurses' decision-making processes.