ABSTRACT
Nurses make hundreds of judgements and decisions every day. Many of these go unnoticed, many are made with only minimal information and most are made rapidly. For many nurses the processes involved in making judgements and decisions remain unconscious, unexamined and unarticulated. Indeed, it is not uncommon to hear judgement and decision-making (JDM) spoken of as if it were a natural ability that some but not all nurses possess. The problem with this view is that it assumes that a nurse cannot improve their JDM. In reality, JDM is a skill and just like any other skill, it can be studied, broken down into its component parts (analysed) and learned. Few judgements and decisions are made under perfect conditions and, as with so many other aspects of nursing, nurses generally try to do the best they can under difficult circumstances: very often with incomplete information, under pressure of work and within time contraints imposed by rapidly changing conditions. Not ideal circumstances for effective decision-making.
