As an essential component of nursing practice, clinical reasoning is used to assimilate information, analyze data, and make decisions regarding patient care. Little is known about the reasoning strategies of experienced nurses who are not yet experts. This qualitative descriptive study explored the cognitive strategies used by experienced nurses as they considered assessment findings of assigned patients. To date, few studies of nurses' clinical reasoning have been conducted in a practice setting during actual patient care. A small group research design was employed using the think-aloud (TA) method with protocol analysis. A total of 15 experienced nurses were asked to "think aloud" about patient assessment findings. Data were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using the three steps of protocol analysis. The results suggest that experienced nurses used a conceptual language to reason about assessment findings and used heuristics to reason more quickly and efficiently.

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Rationale: Patients managed at a long-term acute-care hospital (LTACH) for weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation are at risk for profound muscle weakness and disability. Objectives: To investigate effects of prolonged ventilation on survival, muscle function, and its impact on quality of life at 6 and 12 months after LTACH discharge. Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal study conducted in 315 patients being weaned from prolonged ventilation at an LTACH. Measurements and Main Results: At discharge, 53.7% of patients were detached from the ventilator and 1-year survival was 66.9%. On enrollment, maximum inspiratory pressure (PI max) was 41.3 (95% confidence interval, 39.4-43.2) cm H 2 O (53.1% predicted), whereas handgrip strength was 16.4 (95% confidence interval, 14.4-18.7) kPa (21.5% predicted). At discharge, PI max did not change, whereas handgrip strength increased by 34.8% (P , 0.001). Between discharge and 6 months, handgrip strength increased 6.2 times more than did PI max. Between discharge and 6 months, Katz activities-ofdaily-living summary score improved by 64.4%; improvement in Katz summary score was related to improvement in handgrip strength (r = 20.51; P , 0.001). By 12 months, physical summary score and mental summary score of 36-item Short-Form Survey returned to preillness values. When asked, 84.7% of survivors indicated willingness to undergo mechanical ventilation again. Conclusions: Among patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation at an LTACH, 53.7% were detached from the ventilator at discharge and 1-year survival was 66.9%. Respiratory strength was well maintained, whereas peripheral strength was severely impaired throughout hospitalization. Six months after discharge, improvement in muscle function enabled patients to perform daily activities, and 84.7% indicated willingness to undergo mechanical ventilation again.

PurposeâPatients who require mechanical ventilation are at risk of emotional stress because of total dependence on a machine for breathing. The stress may negatively impact ventilator weaning and survival. The purpose of this study was to determine whether depressive disorders in patients being weaned from prolonged mechanical ventilation are linked to weaning failure and decreased survival.MethodsâA prospective study of 478 consecutive patients transferred to a long-term acute care hospital for weaning from prolonged ventilation was undertaken. A clinical psychologist conducted a psychiatric interview to assess for the presence of depressive disorders.ResultsâOf the 478 patients, 142 had persistent coma or delirium and were unable to be evaluated for depressive disorders. Of the remaining 336 patients, 142 (42%) were diagnosed with depressive disorders. In multivariate analysis, co-morbidity score (odds ratio [OR], 1.23, p=0.007), functional dependence before the acute illness (OR, 1.70, p=0.03), and history of psychiatric disorders (OR, 3.04, p=0.0001) were independent predictors of depressive disorders. The rate of weaning failure was higher in patients with depressive disorders than in those without such disorders (61% versus 33%, p=0.0001), as was mortality (24% versus 10%, p=0.0008). The presence of depressive disorders was independently associated with mortality (OR, 4.3; p=0.0002); age (OR, 1.06; p=0.001) and comorbidity score (OR, 1.24; p=0.02) also predicted mortality.ConclusionâDepressive disorders were diagnosed in 42% of patients who are being weaned from prolonged ventilation. Patients with depressive disorders were more likely to experience weaning failure and death.