A European perspective of clinical decision-making

Abstract

The competence of health care personnel is based on their prior education and the knowledge it provides. Nurses need to develop the appropriate knowledge and skills to become effective decision-makers. This study found that English final year student nurses had better knowledge of anatomy and physiology of the normal heart. The results also showed that coronary care nurses in England made better quality clinical decisions in the acute and recovery phases of myocardial infarction than their Greek counterparts.The assumption that better educated nurses made better quality clinical decisions was supported.A number of studies identified the need to base clinical decision-making in evidence-based practice (Alexander, 1997). Clinical guidelines, protocols and care pathways are approaches that facilitate evidence-based