Investigating Factors Related to Clinical Decision Making of Anesthesiologists in Operating Room of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences

Clinical decision making is an essential part of nursing professional practice. The patient's changing and uncertain conditions, the clinical environment and the operating room require that anesthetist nurses be well-informed decision-makers so that they can respond to the needs of their clients. Considering the importance of this issue, the present study aimed to determine the factors related to the clinical decision making of anesthesiologists in the operating room.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all nurses working in Jahrom medical sciences hospitals (42 patients) were enrolled in the study. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire that evaluated factors related to the clinical decision making of the anesthetist nurses in the operating room in four areas of individual, social, organizational and clinical factors. The research samples in a 5-point Likert spectrum were used to reflect their views on each statement in the questionnaire. Reliability of the questionnaire was 0.94 with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Descriptive statistical methods such as mean, frequency and percentage were used to analyze the data in order to describe the variables studied.
Clinical dimension had the highest mean score among the factors influencing the clinical decision making of nurses in anesthesia (3.14 ± 0.51) and the lowest mean score was related to social dimension (2.99 ± 0.76).
By balancing the effective clinical factors, including the number of nurses in shifts, and providing and implementing guidelines for determining the scope of anesthesia nurse's empowerment, anesthesia can be empowered in deciding and improving the quality of care.