Nursing Decision Making: Analyzing Theories at Flinders University

This essay examines the core theories underpinning nursing decision-making: information processing theory, social judgment theory, and intuition. It explores how nurses utilize these frameworks to assess patient situations, gather information, and make crucial clinical judgments. The essay delves into the importance of information gathering, cultural sensitivity, and cognitive skills in the context of information processing. It further analyzes the role of social judgment in assessing patient conditions and ethical considerations. Finally, it emphasizes the significance of intuitive abilities in swift decision-making and providing quality healthcare. The essay highlights the application of these theories within the context of Flinders University, Renmark campus, and underscores their importance in professional nursing practice.

Running head: NURSING DECESION MAKING
Nursing Decision Making
Name of the Student : Manpreet Gill
Name of the University : Flinders University (Renmark campus)
Student number : 2163031

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Table of Contents
Introduction.....................................................................................................2
Information processing theory.........................................................................3
Social Judgment theory....................................................................................4
Intuition...........................................................................................................7
Comparison of the three Theories...................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................10
Reference......................................................................................................12
Marking
rubric………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Introduction
Implementing clinical decision and judgments making is an essential
element of professional nursing practice. The effectiveness of decision
making under crisis can help to evaluate upon the quality of nursing and
health care service that is being provided to the clients. The quality of the
decision making totally depends on the ability to gather maximum volume of
information from the medical background of the patient (Boyko, Carter and
Bryant‐Lukosius 2016). It is highly important for a professional nurse to
evaluate the situation before implementing any final decision properly.
Professional nurse also needs to be aware of the consequence of every
clinical decision that is being applied.
The current study will analyze essential decision making models that
are used in the nursing practice. The focus will be mainly on three theories
including information processing theory, social judgments theory and
intuition. The above mentioned theories will be implemented depending on
the situation within the nursing practices. It will also help the professional
nurses to make most use of the given situation. All the above mentioned
three theories focus upon acting according to the demand of the situation.
The decision making process is being involved within the nurse uses a
certain frameworks that is implemented on the basis of the patient situation
(Boyko, Carter and Bryant‐Lukosius 2016).
The professional nurses are more often regarded as the key decision
maker within the Healthcare team. This is due to the fact that they are able

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to utilize among their experience in Healthcare service to provide the best
evidence practice. The intuitive ability is being used by the nurse in order to
generate the decision making process (Bradshaw and Hultquist 2016).
Information processing theory
As mentioned by Ford (2017), advanced levels of information are
highly crucial in the context of making essential nursing decisions. The
information processing theory in nursing decision making determines the
pattern of how the nurses responds under certain situation in clinical care. As
the nurse is better able to interpret any given situation, by detailed
information gathering, it is possible to establish better communication with
the patient. The steps in the information processing involve the ways that
are needed in the cognitive process of decision making (Moyle et al. 2015).
The nurse is therefore able to act according to the existing social situation
and background of the patients. According to Ronquillo et al. (2016), it is also
essential for the professional nurses to gather detailed information about the
cultural background of a patient. This process can help in establishing
effective relationship with the patient.
Moyle et al. (2015) have added that useful implementing information
processing theory can help in developing mental ability of an individual and
thereby help them to deal with Complex situations. In case of a professional
nurse, using advanced information theory can help them to implement Swift
action during the emergency period of Healthcare service. Advanced forms

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of technology are needed to make advanced usages of the information
processing techniques. The information communication technology is being
used in the given process to store and interpret the advanced forms of
nursing information. This can be used for future reference purpose, where
the professional nurses are able to quickly interpret any given critical
situation (Mishra et al. 2015). It is also ensure that the nurses are aware about
any given critical situation, in advanced and therefore are able to take swift
decisions.
Gardner, Boyer and Gray (2015), have argued upon the fact that
through information processing it may not be possible to gain knowledge
about the exact situation of clinical experience. This is mainly because of the
fact that it in certain situations the patient may not be able to communicate
properly with the attending nurse, thereby resulting in false information
being provided to the medical practitioners. On the other hand, the evidence
supplied by Josephsen (2015), has suggested that information processing
theory framework can help to develop the cognitive skills of a professional
nurse. As the cognitive skills are developed, the nurses are better able to
make use of any given situation. As the nurses are better able to gather and
interpret detailed information, it is possible to reduce the risks of errors that
occur due to improper decision making process (Tiffen et al 2014).
Social Judgment theory

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As clinical information is gathered by professional nurse, the ultimate
ability to take an effective decision depends upon their judgmental
capability. According to Shaban (2015), the social judgments theory
implementation process involves using a fixed framework. The ability to
generate essential knowledge about the medical background of a patient
depends upon the quality of Information and judgmental capability applied
by a professional nurse.
Johansen and O'brien (2016) have added that using of social
judgments theory of nursing practice is considered to be an essential
element of legal medical practice. For medical practitioners, assessing the
condition of the community is highly essential in order to make the optimized
use of medical resources along with the information that is being gained. The
wide variation in the process of clinical practice is entirely dependent upon
the outcome of social judgmental theories. As practical evidence has been
generated, it is possible to conclude up on the importance of social
judgmental capability. It is also important to note that the Diagnostic
judgments need to be highly accurate from the professional nurse in order to
provide better quality of Healthcare service. According to Logan (2015), it is
essential for the professional nurse to take and process proper statistical
information about the medical record of an individual. The ability to make
use of advanced information as a part of the cognitive skills is needed to
understand the importance of judgmental capability of the nurse.

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There are some forms of clinical information that are misinterpreted
thereby leading to the risk of inaccurate judgmental decisions. The quality of
the decision making also determines the ability to judge the people
according to their capability. There are advanced forms of decision makings
that involves taking proper consent from the patients in the form of their
feedbacks (Thompson et al. 2005).The real time information that are
collected from the patients can help in identifying the strengths and
weakness of the particular patients. The advanced forms of information
gathered from the patients are needed to understand their life course
perspective. This perspective can be used in the development of the
frameworks that is implemented as a part of the social judgmental theory
(Dowding et al. 2016).
Thompson et al. (2005) have mentioned about the importance of
combining elements of cognitive sense along with clinical judgmental state
that is needed to increase the accuracy of the clinical Decision Process.
Additionally, essential clues also need to be included in the given elements
that can minimize the risk factor that is involved in every advanced medical
treatment process. The accuracy of every clinical judgment, therefore,
depends upon their ability to process cognitive and physical information that
is gathered from Medical record of a patient. There are also high chances of
disagreement between the judgments implemented by professional nurse,
along with that of the choice of clients. With effective nursing communication

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and implementation of social judgments, it is possible to resolve the minor
disagreements that can occur in a given situation.
Matney, Avant and Staggers (2016), have mentioned that one of the
major drawbacks of the social judgments theory is related to the ethical
issues that are frequently encountered by the professional nurses. From the
practical evidence cases it is clear that in many places, the nurses are not
able to properly inform the client party about the treatment procedures that
are being implemented within the patient.
Nevertheless, the importance of medical judgments can be mentioned
in the given context, which is implemented in situations of uncertainty that
are caused due to errors in medical information. With the help of the element
in social judgments theory in nursing practice it is possible for the medical
practitioners to collect detailed information about the latest Medical
Research. This can later be used in developing Healthcare tools for further
critical cases. The diagnostic judgments capability of the medical practitioner
will also be enhanced due to the fact that most of the cases they will be able
to deal with wide range of medical information. This can significantly help to
reduce the risk of inaccurate clinical judgmental decisions. With high level of
accuracy in clinical judgments, it will be possible to enhance the quality of
the nursing decision making process.
According to Standing (2017), it is essential to understand the
elements and framework of social judgments theory that needs to be
incorporated into the nursing practice. This Framework Highway need to be

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included in the educational system of nursing training practice as it can help
in developing the cognitive skills that are required by professional nurse. The
contemporary system of nursing education practice highly focuses on
implementing effective decisions during emergency situation of Healthcare
service. It is also important for a professional Healthcare service provider to
properly assess each intervention cases. This can be quite useful to deal with
new challenges that arise in the Healthcare sector. The ethical issues also
needed to be addressed depending on the ability of the nurse to understand
the negative consequences of the given situation and the judgment that are
passed according to the same (Lewin et al. 2015).
Additional benefits of the social judgments theory in nursing practice
include effective measurement of the recovery time and process. This
measurement can help to enhance the nursing educational intervention
process. Nevertheless, additional research processes are required in order to
collect more data related to social judgments theory and the intervention
process applied for the same. Proper validation approach also needs to be
implemented by the nursing educator, which will help in enhancing the
overall nursing education system (Lewin et al. 2015).
Intuition
As information is being collected from every clinical situation to pass
on the social judgments and clinical decision making process, it is up to the
intuition capability of every individual, which can help them in providing the
best Healthcare services. According to Price et al. (2017), the overall quality

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of a professional nurse can be determined by the ability to immediately
respond to a situation mostly depending on their intuition ability. It is
important for every professional experience nurse to have the intuitive
ability that is developed through critical thinking process and applied in daily
health care service practice. This will help them to implement essential
decisions of the nurses with minimal information on the given situation. The
ability of the same depends on the intuitive capability of the nurse that is
their capability to better understand the future of the patient care condition
(Holm and Severinsson 2016).
It is important to note that different elements of professional nursing
practice have been inherited from other professional domains that focus
mainly upon swift decision making process using psychological thinking
process. According to Hams (2000), one of the major advantages of using
intuition capability of a professional nurse is their ability to take extra
initiative for patient and providing quality Healthcare service to the society.
This is due to the fact that optimized utilization of the available information
is done. With new form of challenges that are faced by the Healthcare
community due to increasing number of chronic diseases, it has been a
major challenge for all Healthcare workers to meet up with the demand of
the society. In most cases the patients are not able to receive proper timely
Healthcare facility due to lack of professional capability of the Healthcare
workers. Nevertheless, with the help of intuition capability it is possible for all
professional nurses and Healthcare workers to properly diagnose the exact

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condition of a patient. However, it is also important to consider the fact that
rational decision making that need to be the major outcome of the intuitive
ability of every clinical nurse. This can be enhanced by including the intuition
element within the nursing education system. It will therefore be possible to
develop upon the precognitive psychological improvement of a nurse (Roberts
2015).
In many cases of evidence based nursing practice the element of
intuition has been eliminated due to the risk of ethical issues that can arise
due to poor judgmental capability (Sadler-Smith 2016). According to Robert,
Tilley and Petersen (2014), there are several travel studies that have been
conducted in clinical situation to understand the importance of intuitive
decision making ability of a professional nurse.
The major drawback that can be considered as a part of the intuitive
decision making capability of a nurse is mainly due to the complex nature.
There are several multi dimensional abstract concepts that are associated
with intuitive decision making capability of a professional nurse. The
quantitative areas of clinical nursing practice often include high level of
challenges. The ultimate goal of intuition capability of nursing practice
includes assessing the situation and implementing effective decision that are
mainly aimed to Rapid improvement of a patient condition (Holm and
Severinsson 2016).
There are additional negative aspects of intuitive nursing decision
making system that include implementing judgments without properly

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assessing the exact situation. This can therefore increase the risk of medical
errors that can worsen the situation of an individual patient (Holm and
Severinsson 2016). Nevertheless, several items are being made in order to
reinforcing the element of intuition in nursing education practice. Most of the
initiative include providing advanced level of information in junior nursing
practice, enable them to swiftly adapt with the high level of challenges that
are encountered in professional Health Care Centre. It is also essential for
every professional nurse to collaborate with stakeholders of psychological
education that can help them to overcome the complexities of cognitive skill
behavior. It will enable them to minimize the chance of human errors that
can often occur during emergency crisis situation of health care services
(Melin‐Johansson, Palmqvist and Rönnberg 2017).
Comparison of the three Theories
All the three above mentioned theories that have been described
consist of issues that are directly related with that of the nursing decision
making capability. The professional capability of a nurse is highly dependent
on the components that they use in the process of professional decision
making. As per mentioned in the work of Banning (2008), detailed medical
information are the primary components that are required for the purpose of
decision making. The quality of clinical judgment is highly dependent upon
the level of information that is being processed (Majid et al. 2011). The