Measuring the quality of judgement and decision-making in nursing

AIM: This paper discusses measurement of the quality of judgement and decision-making in nursing research. It examines theoretical and research issues surrounding how to measure judgement accuracy as a component of evaluating decision-making in nursing practice.

DISCUSSION: Judgement accuracy is discussed with reference to different methods of measurement, including comparing judgements with independent criteria and inter-judge approaches. Existing research on how judgement accuracy has been measured in nursing practice is examined. Evaluation of decisions is then discussed, including consideration of the process of decision-making and evaluating decision outcomes. Finally, existing research on decision-making in nursing is assessed and the strengths and limitations of different types of measurement discussed.

CONCLUSION: We suggests that researchers examining the quality of judgement and decision-making in nursing need to be aware of both the strengths and limitations of existing methods of measurement. We also suggest that researchers need to use a number of different methods, including normative approaches such as Bayes' Theorem and Subjective Expected Utility Theory.