title: Judgment tasks in clinical psychiatric mental health nursing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  What are the cognitive tasks involved in making judgments in psychiatric nursing?
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen nurses with varied educational preparation provided 36 in-depth interviews. A comparative content analysis was done to determine the underlying structure of judgment tasks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nurses use clients' presenting behaviors as a basis for making judgments, with judgments being multiple multidimensional, overlapping, and holistic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding judgment tasks delineates the kind of information needed to provide the best possible care.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Regan-Kubinski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*