Leadership & Management in Nursing
MAKING DECISIONS
&
SOLVING PROBLEMS
1
At the end of this session you will be able to discuss:
The concepts of decision making and problem solving;
The impact of poor decision making and problem solving on
the workplace;
What constitutes critical thinking;
The concept of systems thinking;
How to find the cause of a problem rather than a symptom.
2
What might be the consequences of poor decision making and problem solving in the workplace?
3
Expert decision-making skills are seen as an essential competency for nurse managers and leaders. Problem solving is a decision made to address an immediate problem which can be viewed as the gap between what is and what should be.
Decision making is a goal-directed effort using a systematic process to choose among options.
Both of the above skills require Critical thinking which is a high-level cognitive process and can be improved with practice. 4
What might be the skills, capabilities and capacity of the critical thinking nurse manager?
5
Decision Making
Problem Solving
Critical
Thinking
Professional
Judgement
Creativity
6
The phases of decision making are:
• defining goal and/or objective/s
• generating options
• identifying positives and negatives of options • select the option most likely to achieve the goal • evaluating the outcome of the decision.
7
AUTOCRATIC
DEMOCRATIC
GROUP DECISION MAKING
8
Key questions includes:
1. Is it important?
2. Do I need to address the problem?
3. Am I qualified to handle it?
4. Do I have the authority?
5. Do I have the knowledge, interest, time and resources to deal with it?
6. Can I delegate it to someone?
7. What benefits will be derived from solving it?
If it is “no” for questions 1 to 5, a conscious decision might be to ignore the problem.
9
1. Define the problem
2. Gather the data
3. Analyse Data
4. Develop Solution
5. Select a Solution
6. Implement the
&
SOLVING PROBLEMS
1
At the end of this session you will be able to discuss:
The concepts of decision making and problem solving;
The impact of poor decision making and problem solving on
the workplace;
What constitutes critical thinking;
The concept of systems thinking;
How to find the cause of a problem rather than a symptom.
2
What might be the consequences of poor decision making and problem solving in the workplace?
3
Expert decision-making skills are seen as an essential competency for nurse managers and leaders. Problem solving is a decision made to address an immediate problem which can be viewed as the gap between what is and what should be.
Decision making is a goal-directed effort using a systematic process to choose among options.
Both of the above skills require Critical thinking which is a high-level cognitive process and can be improved with practice. 4
What might be the skills, capabilities and capacity of the critical thinking nurse manager?
5
Decision Making
Problem Solving
Critical
Thinking
Professional
Judgement
Creativity
6
The phases of decision making are:
• defining goal and/or objective/s
• generating options
• identifying positives and negatives of options • select the option most likely to achieve the goal • evaluating the outcome of the decision.
7
AUTOCRATIC
DEMOCRATIC
GROUP DECISION MAKING
8
Key questions includes:
1. Is it important?
2. Do I need to address the problem?
3. Am I qualified to handle it?
4. Do I have the authority?
5. Do I have the knowledge, interest, time and resources to deal with it?
6. Can I delegate it to someone?
7. What benefits will be derived from solving it?
If it is “no” for questions 1 to 5, a conscious decision might be to ignore the problem.
9
1. Define the problem
2. Gather the data
3. Analyse Data
4. Develop Solution
5. Select a Solution
6. Implement the