Decision-Making and Thinking Strategies in Clinical Nursing Practice
Overview
This paper examines critical thinking strategies employed by nurses in clinical practice, with particular focus on decision-making frameworks. The author analyzes common cognitive strategies including if-then thinking and hypothesizing, demonstrating how nurses apply these techniques to navigate complex healthcare scenarios involving multiple stakeholders and resource constraints.
What this essay covers
- Introduction to decision-making skills and thinking strategies in nursing practice
- If-Then Thinking strategy and its application in managing stakeholder demands and ethical dilemmas
- Hypothesizing strategy and its role in diagnosis and patient assessment
Preview
Thinking Strategies
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Professor
Course
Date
Thinking Strategies
Nurses face numerous challenges in their profession that require them to use their acquired knowledge. Decision-making is one of the primary skills that every nurse should have because it is used throughout the profession. The primary role of the nurse is to meet the needs of the patients and preserve their health. While in clinical practice, nurses must be aware of numerous stakeholders' health in the healthcare system (Canada, 2016). Even while prioritizing patients' needs, the demands of the other stakeholders like the hospital management and physicians must not be ignored. However, most of the decision-making skills and strategies are used when dealing with patients. Some common strategies include knowledge work, self-talk, prototype identification, comparative analysis, reflexive, if-then thinking comparison, hypothesizing, schema search, reflection check, juxtaposing, and reframing. They are used expansively during a nurse's practice, and they are utilized on a case basis (Walton, 2017). While these strategies are taught in school, they are applied separately because mixing them may lead to confusion.
If-Then Thinking
In my practice, I often use if-then and hypothesizing strategies. Each of them has unique benefits that can bring out positive outcomes in every case. If then, the strategy helps in meeting the demands of various stakeholders in the healthcare facility. As explained earlier, each stakeholder has different expectations in the system, and neglecting them can lead to adverse outcomes that may endanger patients and medical practitioners' lives.