%0 Journal Article
%T The factors facilitating and inhibiting effective clinical decision-making in nursing: a qualitative study
%A Mohsen Hagbaghery
%A Mahvash Salsali
%A Fazlolah Ahmadi
%J BMC Nursing
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6955-3-2
%X Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze the participants' lived experiences and their viewpoints regarding the factors affecting their clinical function and clinical decision-making. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation methods were used to gather the data. Thirty-eight participants were interviewed and twelve sessions of observation were carried out. Constant comparative analysis method was used to analyze the data.Five main themes emerged from the data. From the participants' points of view, "feeling competent", "being self-confident", "organizational structure", "nursing education", and "being supported" were considered as important factors in effective clinical decision-making.As participants in this research implied, being competent and self-confident are the most important personal factors influencing nurses clinical decision-making. Also external factors such as organizational structure, access to supportive resources and nursing education have strengthening or inhibiting effects on the nurses' decisions. Individual nurses, professional associations, schools of nursing, nurse educators, organizations that employ nurses and government all have responsibility for developing and finding strategies that facilitate nurses' effective clinical decision-making. They are responsible for identifying barriers and enhancing factors within the organizational structure that facilitate nurses' clinical decision-making.Almost every country and health care system has witnessed a growing demand for health care services over the last two decades [1]. While health systems are facing an increasing number of challenging factors such as limited financial resources, socio-demographic changes, rising health care cost, increasing health demands and heightened public expectations, the governments are responsible to meet the public's increasing need for accessible, affordable, quality health care. Therefore they are searching for strategies to more appropriatel
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6955/3/2