Quality of decision making by registered nurses

This study investigated quality of decision making in a convenience sample of 26 registered nurses. Instruments used were the Joseph Decision Making Tool, Actual Decision Making instrument, and computer-assisted clinical simulations. Results were correlated with educational preparation, age, experience, practice area, and specialty certification. No differences among basic educational preparation with frequency of actual decision-making practices and willingness to make decisions were found. A positive correlation was found between practice area and frequency of actual decision making (r = 0.639, P < 0.001), and practice area and communication (r = 0.439, P < 0.05).