Benner's Framework and Clinical Decision-Making in the Critical Care Environment

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Healthcare Research

Background:

• Critical care nursing demands complex clinical decision-making.
• Understanding the role of experience in refining these skills is crucial for effective patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between registered nurses' clinical experience and their clinical decision-making processes.
• To determine if general or critical care specific experience influences decision-making in the critical care setting.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive correlational study design.
• Examined relationships among nurses' clinical experience levels and their clinical decision-making.
• Utilized Benner's stages of clinical experience as a framework.

Main Results:

• No significant correlation was found between overall clinical experience or critical care experience and clinical decision-making.
• No differences in clinical decision-making processes were observed across Benner's stages of clinical experience.

Conclusions:

• Clinical experience alone may not be the sole determinant of clinical decision-making ability in critical care.
• Further research is needed to identify other factors influencing critical care nurses' decision-making processes.