When Protocols Are Not Enough: Intuitive Decision Making by Novice Nurse Practitioners

The pressing need for health care reform in this century has contributed to an increasing interest in educating health care providers who can deliver cost-effective, high-quality care. Demand for primary care nurse practitioners has risen significantly, and nursing education has responded by increasing the numbers and graduates of nurse practitioner programs. Although this century brings new opportunities for expanded nursing roles, it also presents challenges for nurse practitioners to sustain a holistic perspective while providing quality care. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to discover, describe, and analyze the stories of 10 novice nurse practitioners who used intuition in clinical decision making. The authors maintained a critical social consciousness and postmodern perspective to analyze and describe the shared meanings and common practices of participants. This article discusses the six themes and constitutive process that emerged from the data and addresses implications for nurse practitioner education and practice