Nursing Experience and preference for intuition in decision making
Abstract
Aims and objectives. This article examines the relationship between domain-specific and domain-general intuition among practicing nurses and student nurses to determine the role of intuition in nurses’ decision making.
Background. Measures of nursing intuition have not been compared with one another or to measures of general preference for intuition in the psychological literature. Prior research has shown that experienced nurses rely on intuition in clinical judgement, but the various aspects of intuition associated with experience have not been fully explored.
Design. A correlational design was used to examine the factor structures and interrelationships of self-reported measures of intuition, as well as their relationship to experience.
Method. A web-based survey was given to 175 practicing nurses and student nurses in the fall of 2007 using measures of intuition from the nursing and psychological literatures. Quantitative analyses employed descriptive and inferential statistics.