HEURISTICS, SERVANTS TO INTUITION, IN CLINICAL DECISION-MAKING

This paper explores intuitive judgements of nurses in clinical decisio n-making situations. The qualities of intuition are presented from bot h theoretical and practical perspectives and attitudes towards intuiti on from both nurses themselves and other health professionals are iden tified. An heuristic framework from cognitive psychology is applied to intuitive aspects of the clinical judgements that nurses have made. T his interpretation is proposed as a partial explanation of intuition, and its use in advancing the understanding of intuition is recommended .