Outcomes of the Use of Intuition in Nurses' Decision Making for Critical Care Patients: Scoping Review Protocol

Intuition plays a crucial role in nursing decision making, particularly in high-pressure environments such as emergency departments and intensive care units. Nursing decision making, especially in highly complex contexts, such as caring for patients in critical care, may involve intuition as a form of aesthetic knowledge that complements logical reasoning. Intuition enables the recognition of patterns, the anticipation of complications, and prompt action, thereby influencing the quality and safety of the care. Despite growing recognition of its relevance, the outcomes associated with the use of intuition remain insufficiently systematized, highlighting the need to map the available evidence within advanced nursing.

This study aimed to map the available scientific evidence regarding the outcomes of using intuition in nurses' decision making for critical care patients.

This scoping review will be conducted using the JBI methodology. The search will be performed across 5 databases: CINAHL Complete, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection (Web of Science), ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Citation Index (Web of Science), and Scopus. No date restriction will be applied. The studies will be screened using Rayyan software by 2 independent blind reviewers, following a 2-stage process: an initial screening of titles and abstracts, followed by full-text reading of potentially eligible articles, based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/VUZWX).

By mapping outcomes linked to the use of intuition in nurses' decision making, this review will provide insights into how intuition contributes to patient safety, care quality, and clinical practice.