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Module Specifications

Archived Version 2003 - 2004

Module Title Clinical judgement and decision making
Module Code NS503
School School of Nursing and Human Sciences

Online Module Resources

Level 5 Credit Rating 10
Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Module Aims
7 For students to become proficient in articulating how judgement and decision-making processes guide our thoughts, behaviours and relations with others. 7 To equip students with the ability to appraise the potential for inaccurate judgements and decisions. 7 The application of best practice in judgement and decision-making to nursing.

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module and following a period of personal study it is intended that the student will be able to: 7 Analyse how judgement processes mediate overt and covert decisions. 7 Identify and reflect on the judgements and decisions made in clinical practice. 7 Apply their understanding to the attributions, judgements and decisions made by clients. 7 Identify the dimensions used in nursing assessments, evaluate the use of prior knowledge in assessment, and critically discuss models and theories of nursing in this context. 7 Understand how prescriptive and descriptive models of judgement and decision-making relate to clinical practice. 7 Critially appraise how intuition in used in the nursing process and understand how intuitive processes may be studied. 7 Apply techniques such as judgement and decision analysis and models such as cognitive continuum theory in considering their clinical practice. 7 Use their understanding of judgement and decision-making to critically direct their approach to reflective and evidence-based practice.

Indicative Time Allowances
Hours
Lectures 30
Tutorials 6
Laboratories 18
Seminars 0
Independent Learning Time 96

Total 150
Placements
Assignments
NOTE
Assume that a 10 credit module load represents approximately 150 hours' work, which includes all teaching, in-course assignments, laboratory work or other specialised training and an estimated private learning time associated with the module.

Indicative Syllabus
· Background and trends in the study of judgement and decision-making. · Perception, attention and memory. · Prescriptive and descriptive approaches to logic, thinking and rationality. · Classification of personal and clinical phenomena. · Using information in the clinical setting: hypothesis testing and attribution (e.g., hypothesis generation and testing processes; attributional style, attributions of responsibility; the person and the situation; attributional biases). · Social cognition (e.g., continuum models; categorisation, schemas, scripts and frames; self-categorisation theory; social cognitive biases such as the confirmation bias). · Use of generic and specific heuristic 'rules-of-thumb' in judgement and decision-making. · Conceptualisations of nursing practice (e.g., Benner's intuitive model of expertise, Carper's 'ways of knowing'). · The impact of motivation and affect on judgements and decisions. · Judgement and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, stress and pressure. · Decision aids and research techniques (e.g., judgement analysis, decision analysis, clinical decision support systems, clinimetrics, thought listing). · Skills learning, implicit memory and intuition.
Assessment
Continuous Assessment70% Examination Weight30%
Indicative Reading List
Essential: Anderson, J.R. (2000). Cognitive psychology and its implications. New York: Worth. Connolly, T., Arkes, H.R., & Hammond, K.R. (2000). Judgement and decision-making: An interdisciplinary reader. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Harvey, N. (2001). Studying judgement: Methods and models. Hove: Psychology Press. Supplementary: Baddeley, A. (1997). Human memory: theory and practice. Hove: Psychology Press. Benner, P.E., Tanner, C.A., & Chelsea, C.A. (1996). Expertise in nursing practice: Caring, clinical judgement and ethics. New York: Springer Verlag. Berner, E.S. (1998). Clinical decision support systems: Theory and practice. New York: Springer Verlag. Cooksey, R.W. (1995). Judgement analysis. New York: Academic Press. Doherty, M. (1997). Social judgement theory. Hove: Psychology Press. Downie, R., & MacNaughton, J. (2000). Clinical judgment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Eysenck, M., & Keane, M.T. (2000). Cognitive psychology: A student's handbook. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum. Feinstein, A. (1987). Clinimetrics. New Haven. CN: Yale University Press. Fish, D., & Coles, C. (1997). Developing professional judgement in health care. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Gavin, H. (1998). The essence of cognitive psychology. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall Europe. Gross, R. (2001). Decisions and evidence in evidence-based practice: Applying evidence-based medicine to clinical decision-making. St. Louis: Mosby. Goleb, A. L. (1997) Decision Analysis: an integrated approach. New York: Wiley. Hammond, K.R. (1996). Human judgement and social policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heller, R. (1998) Making Decisions. London: Dorling Kindersley. Kunda, Z. (2000). Social cognition: Making sense of people. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Martinez de Castillo, S.L. (1999). Strategies, techniques and approaches to thinking: Case studies in clinical nursing. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. Patronis Jones, R.A., & Beck, S.E. (1995). Decision-making in nursing. Albany, NY: Delmar. Plous, S. (1993). The psychology of judgement and decision-making. New York: McGraw Hill. Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. (1991). The person and the situation: perspectives of social psychology. New York: McGraw Hill. Wickens, C., Gordon, S., & Liu, Y. (1998). An introduction to human factors engineering. New York: Longman. Useful Journals: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Journal of Experimental Psychology Psychological Review Journal of Applied Psychology Medical Decision Making
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