Nurses' cognitive and perceptual bias in the identification of clinical deterioration cues

Perception and processing of clinical cues have rarely been investigated in the nursing literature despite their relevance to the early identification and management of clinical deterioration.

This study used a hypovolemic shock scenario from the Feedback Incorporating Review and Simulation Techniques to Act on Clinical Trends (FIRST2ACT) virtual simulation program, equipped with an eye tracker, to investigate cue processing during the management of patient deterioration.

The study revealed that attention deviation distorted interpretation of subsequent cues, causing 63% of participants to exhibit a cognitive bias (heightened sensitivity to specific but noncritical cues) and 65% to exhibit at least one episode of nonfixation on clinically relevant cues. Attention deviation and distorted interpretations of clinical cues will have an impact on patient safety.

The findings are likely to have important implications for understanding error and associated training implications.