Clinical Decision Making in Nursing
As nurses you have all learned the importance of clinical decision making, critical thinking and clinical judgement to making effective and safe patient care decisions in practice. As you move into your role of advanced practice nurse whether that is leadership and management or NP, how does this change? Does it? This week read through some of the articles provided about how nurses and advanced practice nurse make decisions in practice.
- Is there a difference between the skills required by the bedside nurse and those needed by APN? Support the discussion with rationale and readings.
- As you transition to your role as an APN what clinical decision-making skills do you feel are needed for nurses planning to be NP? Nurse leaders? Support this with course readings and other academic literature. Are these different, if so why or why not?
- What standardized decision-making tool has been created to guide nurses at all levels to make practice decisions? Why was this created, what is the purpose of the tool? How would this be used in your role as an APN; be specific and describe how to apply this tool. Are there other standardized clinical decision-making tools to guide NP/APN to make decisions in practice? Should these be employed and/or are they employed in all care setting for NP? Provide a rationale.
- Explain your rationale. Describe the role of the Consensus Model for APRN.
The skills required by a bedside nurse and those needed by an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) differ due to the differences in their roles and responsibilities. Bedside nurses primarily focus on direct patient care at the bedside, providing hands-on nursing care and implementing physician orders. Their skills typically include clinical assessment, medication administration, wound care, patient monitoring, and basic nursing procedures. These skills are essential for providing safe and effective patient care in an acute care setting.
APNs, such as Nurse Practitioners (NPs), have advanced education and training beyond the bedside nurse level. APNs are often involved in providing primary care, diagnosing and managing acute and chronic illnesses, prescribing medications, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, and providing patient education and counseling. The role of an APN requires a higher level of clinical decision-making skills, critical thinking, and autonomy compared to a bedside nurse. A key difference between bedside nurses and APNs is the level of autonomy and independent decision-making that APNs possess. APNs are trained to assess patients comprehensively, analyze complex data, formulate differential diagnoses, and develop and implement appropriate treatment plans. These skills are necessary for the APN to provide holistic and patient-centered care.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), APN education programs focus on developing advanced clinical decision-making skills, including diagnostic reasoning, therapeutic interventions, and health promotion strategies. APNs are also trained in evidence-based practice, research utilization, and leadership skills to enhance their ability to make informed clinical decisions and contribute to healthcare policy and system improvements. As an APN, one essential clinical decision-making skill is the ability to critically analyze and synthesize research evidence to inform practice. This skill allows APNs to integrate the latest research findings into their clinical decision-making process and provide evidence-based care.
