Do Personal Differences and Organizational Factors Influence Nurses’ Decision Making? A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Decision-making processes (DMPs) can be altered by several factors that might impact patient outcomes. However, nurses’ views and experiences regarding the multitude of personal and organizational factors that may facilitate or inhibit their decision-making abilities have rarely been studied. Purpose: To explore the personal and organizational factors that influence nurse DMPs in clinical settings at Ministry of Health hospitals (MOH). Method: A qualitative research design was conducted. A purposive sample of 52 nurses was recruited from general and critical wards in two major Ministry of Health hospitals in Hail, Saudi Arabia. A total of eight focus groups (semi-structured interviews) were conducted to elicit participant responses. Results: In this study, the personal differences covered nurses’ experience, physical and psychological status, autonomy, communication skills, values, and cultural awareness. Organizational factors included the availability of resources, organizational support, workload, the availability of educational programs, the availability of monitoring programs, and the consistency and unity of policies, rules, and regulation applications. Conclusions: The major contribution of this study is the comprehensive illustration of influential factors at both the personal level and the organizational level that impact DMPs to achieve desired outcomes for patients and health organizations. This study utilizes a framework that could explain the nature of nurse DMPs.

The Relationship Between Nursing Informatics Competency and Clinical Decision-Making Among Nurses in West Bank, Palestine

“…29 The results revealed that age and department were not correlated with developing clinical decision-making. These results were inconsistent with a previous study conducted by Alaseeri et al 30 who found that age and department had a significant influence on nurses' clinical decision-making. Also, Kosicka and colleagues 31 found that expanded use of intuitive models of clinical decision-making was correlated with age and working in hospital units.…”

Assessment of Standardized Care Plans for People with Chronic Diseases in Primary Care Settings

“…The focus group findings emphasize the potential benefits and challenges of implementing ARES-AP in primary care, highlighting the importance of factors such as having enough time for care plan registration, training, nurse motivation, healthcare provider involvement, and continuous IT improvements for successful workflow integration and utilization. This study concludes that nurse perceptions of ARES-AP depend on organizational, professional, and individual factors, aligning with evaluations of other nursing programs [40].…”

Factors Influencing Perioperative Nurse Turnover: A Classic Grounded Theory Study

“…Some theoretical codes from our study that pertain to decision‐making influencers correlate with themes identified in the literature, including physical and psychological needs, 42‐44 a desire for fair treatment, 42 ability to make decisions, 42 feeling supported, 42,44 decreased stress levels, 43 active collaboration, 43,44 feeling safe, 44 and consistent policy implementation 42,45 …”

“…• physical and psychological needs, [42][43][44] • a desire for fair treatment, 42 • ability to make decisions, 42 • feeling supported, 42,44 • decreased stress levels, 43 • active collaboration, 43,44 • feeling safe, 44 and…”

“…42,45 Additionally, compensation, 44 professional growth, 43,44 balancing work and personal life, 44 and a desire to escape an organization's politics 44 influence retention and resignation decisions. Alaseeri et al 42 reported that gender differences in Saudi Arabia influenced nurses' workrelated decisions. We were unable to explore gender differences because all participants in our study identified as female.…”