A Method for Aggregating Strategies Across Individuals

Abstract

Strategies are key to resilience. Operators in dynamic environments use a variety of strategies to accomplish their goals while keeping workload manageable. Research has been conducted to elicit the kinds of strategies operators use to accomplish their goals, but there is currently no method to systematically aggregate strategies to produce composite strategies across multiple operators. The purpose of the present study was to consider multiple approaches to aggregating strategies across operators to arrive at a systematic and reliable methodology. This methodology is then applied to strategies generated by four pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses. These nurses were interviewed on how they would manage the threat of an inability to gain IV access on a patient in an acute situation. The composite strategies the nurses produced are then discussed in detail.