NRSG139 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Critical Thinking, Decision-Making
Decision Making
● Decision making is unavoidable
● In healthcare professionals complex decision-making is frequently required, at many
levels in the system
● Change is a constant feature
● Expected to be flexible and respond to change in ways that benefit health consumers
Clinical Decision Making
The objective of clinical decision making is to deliver safe care, by gathering and organising
patient data in a systematic and consistent manner
● The quality of decisions is directly related to the quality of patient care
● Therefore, understanding the skills required for decision making can improve and
enhance the quality of healthcare
Clinical (diagnostic) Reasoning refers to ways of thinking about patient care issues
Clinical judgement is ‘the assessment of alternatives’
Clinical Decision Making refers to ‘choosing between these alternatives’.
Types of Clinical Decisions
● New
● Old
● Intervention
● Communication
● Evaluation
Clinical Decision Making
● Guides us in providing appropriate care
● Allows for unexpected change
● Assists us in knowing whether we are ‘on the right track’
● Requires us to use CRITICAL THINKING
What is involved in Critical Thinking?
● A set of dispositions and skills that enhance decision making processes through such
cognitive abilities as analysis, inference and evaluation
● HCP’s with higher levels of critical thinking dispositions and skills should make better
clinical decisions
● To identify and define problems and opportunities for improvement
● To generate, examine and evaluate alternatives to reach conclusions and decisions;
and
● To create and use criteria for evaluating our decisions
Critical thinking is:
● Careful, deliberate goal directed thinking
● Used to assess complicated situations
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Document Summary
In healthcare professionals complex decision-making is frequently required, at many levels in the system. Expected to be flexible and respond to change in ways that benefit health consumers. The objective of clinical decision making is to deliver safe care, by gathering and organising patient data in a systematic and consistent manner. The quality of decisions is directly related to the quality of patient care. Therefore, understanding the skills required for decision making can improve and enhance the quality of healthcare. Clinical (diagnostic) reasoning refers to ways of thinking about patient care issues. Clinical decision making refers to choosing between these alternatives". Assists us in knowing whether we are on the right track". A set of dispositions and skills that enhance decision making processes through such cognitive abilities as analysis, inference and evaluation. Hcp"s with higher levels of critical thinking dispositions and skills should make better clinical decisions. To identify and define problems and opportunities for improvement.
