특실병동 간호사의 실무적응과정에서의 의사결정 경험

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to describe the decision making experience of VIP ward nurses in the clinical practice adjustment process. The research question was about "how nurses adjust their clinical practice to nursing situations and develop decision making process in a VIP ward." Method: The methodology of collecting and analyzing the data was based on the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin (1998). The data was collected through in-depth interviews with 10 nurses from July to November, 2007. Results: The core category of nursing care decision making process was named as "adjusting with flexibility and deepened insight." The clinical practice adjustment process in nursing care decision making has progressed through four preceding interlocking phases: 1) dependent phase, 2) defensive phase, 3) independent phase, 4) integrative phase. These phases were classified by the level of nurses`` dependency, proactivity, presupposition and integration. Conclusion: The result of this study indicated that nurse``s decision making depended on their experiences and the nature of social context in which nursing occurs. Therefore, it is important to elaborate an effective training program for nurses to develop the phases of nursing care decision making.