Critical care outreach: The need for effective decision-making in clinical practice (Part 2)

Summary 

As the extension of nursing into roles previously within the domain of medicine and the demand for evidence based practice continue to increase, the quality of decision making becomes imperative. Making accurate decisions is essential, both for the practitioner and for the patient, especially in the provision of critical care outreach (CCOR), to improve outcomes of care. With changes in health care delivery and increased accountability for practitioners’ decisions, it is important to understand more about how clinical decisions are made and what factors influence them in order to inform practice.

The previous paper outlined the theoretical background of clinical decision making and the knowledge that underpins practice in CCOR. In this paper, the authors, a Nurse Consultant in CCOR and a research fellow, examine the process of a practitioner's decision making in the practice of CCOR, through a collaborative reflective account of a case study. From this, recommendations are made about the future development of CCOR practitioners and services.

Keywords: Critical care outreach, Decision making, Collaborative reflection, Application of knowledge in practice