Module 5 Clinical Decision-Making

The readings for this module had a big impact on my perception of my own clinical decision-making. The articles caused me to reflect on not only how I make decisions but on what motivates me to make those decisions. In my 20 years of nursing experience I have encountered many instances where I did use heuristics in making judgments. As Kahneman (2008)notes, often those judgments were correct, but a few times I can recall them being way off base. No serious injury was caused by my actions, but in hindsight I realized that I may have not given the best care possible. The more experience one has as a nurse the more heuristics can come into play. This can result in serious negative consequences to our patients and to our profession. But, also with more experience I believe we as nurses have the unique opportunity to gain a lot of insight into how we make judgments and this should influence us to make better decisions.

To help us make those critical decisions it is paramount that we have access to a clinical decision support system. After reading the articles and researching my chosen computer-based decision support system I am confident that the future of nursing lies in implementing these types of systems. For evidence-based practice to be fully realized, nurses must have access to systems that aid in diagnosis and treatment at the point of care. This will help the nursing profession to gain proper recognition for their unique contribution to health care and ultimately improve patient outcomes.