Clinical decision-making of bachelor and clinical internship (professional) nursing students in Indonesia.

Abstract

Background: Clinical decision-making is an essential element of every professional nursing career. A nurse’s aptitude for clinical decision-making influences the quality of the healthcare they provide. This research aims to describe the clinical decision-making among nursing students at Universitas Indonesia.Design and Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional design by sampling 216 students across several types and level of students’ programs in the University. The samples were selected using a stratified random sampling technique and met the inclusion criteria. The instrument of this research was the 2014 Nursing Decision Making Instrument. The survey instrument was translated from English into Indonesian, and its validity and reliability were tested (α Cronbach value = 0.816).Results: The results of the univariate analysis revealed that students’ clinical decision-making abilities vary; 59.2% in the analysis category, 40.3% in the quasi-rational category, and 0.5% in the intuitive category.Conclusion: This research concludes that the clinical decisionmaking ability of bachelor and professional nursing students’ program is in the analysis category that indicate that students’ clinical decision-making abilities involve their explicit-theoretical knowledge and are supported by evidence-based practices. Therefore, their clinical decision-making can be logically defended, though it requires a longer duration of time to strengthen those abilities. The students’ clinical decision-making must continuously be improved to enable them to create precise decisions based on various situations and clinical conditions. Significance for public health Health education institutions have a responsibility to provide quality health workers for the community. This research provides reflection data for educational institutions in developing learning strategies that support the improvement of clinical decision-making competencies.