A COMPARISON OF THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES USED BY THE NOVICE AND THE EXPERT NURSE IN MAKING CLINICAL DECISIONS.
Contributors: University of Pittsburgh.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 191
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purposes of this study were: (1) to compare how novice and expert nurses gather and interpret cues in simulated clinical situations, (2) to investigate how each group uses that information in determining the patient's problem, and (3) to determine the factors which influence their decisions for action on the problem. Six senior year baccalaureate nursing students (novices) and four registered nurses specializing in maternity nursing (experts) individually viewed four Patient-Centered Videorecordings (PCV) which simulated clinical situations. Data for analysis were obtained from the subjects' think-aloud protocols and post-viewing interviews. The findings indicate that the main factor contributing to differences in clinical decision making between the novice and the expert nurse is in actual clinical experience. In addition, experts using a broad initial approach to the situation, classify cues early in an encounter, but then quickly becoming specific, whereas novices initially look at specific items and then begin to generalize, often creating a textbook picture situation. An important finding indicates that the use of Patient-Centered Videorecordings can be a powerful teaching and data collecting instrument.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-11, Section: B, page: 4989.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, 1989.

School code: 0178.