title: Decision making in community nursing: an analysis of the stages of decision making as they relate to community nursing assessment practice.
abstract: This paper considers the nature of decisions made in the context of community nursing practice, in the light of the stages of decision making distilled by Carroll & Johnson from the work of various theorists, and explores the relevance of each stage to community nurses' decision making. Illustrative examples of specific theoretical perspectives are included throughout the paper. The discussion forms part of the literature review for research currently being undertaken by the authors into patient assessment by community nurses. As decision making is a key element of community nurses' assessment practice, the paper argues that decision making theory forms a useful conceptual framework for investigating this aspect of community nursing.
authors.affiliation: Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bryans
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McIntosh
mesh_terms: D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D009736:Nursing Process; D015399:Nursing Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D009742:Nursing Theory; D011340:Problem Solving