title: The clinical decision-making processes of student nurses.
abstract: This descriptive study examined the clinical decision-making processes used by 19 female senior diploma nursing students in a simulated client situation. The subjects were divided into two groups, with either an internal or external locus of control, as measured by the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. From a content analysis of the data, six decision-making elements and eight decision-making processes were identified. The frequency and pattern of use of the decision-making processes differed between internally and externally oriented subjects. Internal subjects used a significantly higher proportion of complex decision-making processes than the external subjects (z = 3.48; p < .01). All subjects were found to use decision-making elements and processes in a manner that reflected novice characteristics and supported the theoretical framework of information-processing theory. These findings have implications for nurse educators in relation to teaching strategies that facilitate clinical decision-making ability and internalization strategies for students with an external locus of control.
authors.affiliation: University of Manitoba/Health Sciences Centre Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tschikota
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008606:Mental Processes; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D016544:Patient Simulation; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013850:Thinking