An algorithmic approach to clinical decision making

Nursing care often jumps from problem identification to proposed interventions, bypassing information gathering and inclusion of all pertinent clinical factors. To promote improvement in medical oncology patient outcomes, two algorithms were developed. Algorithm use does not guarantee a positive outcome, but it does ensure that a standard of care appropriate to a clinical problem will be instituted. Two algorithms for commonly encountered problems of elevated body temperature (hyperthermia) and fluid volume excess are presented. When used, they demonstrated that this purposeful method of decision making led to a more thorough patient assessment and a more informed nursing response. Any or all of these outcomes ultimately result in better patient management.