Maximization delays decision-making in acute care nursing

Abstract

The maximization personality trait refers to the tendency to face decision-making situations along a continuum from exhaustively analysing all the options (maximize) to choosing the one that exceeds a subjective threshold of acceptability (satisfy). Research has revealed the influence of maximizing on decision making, although little is known about its possible role in high risk and high uncertainty situations. A sample of 153 active Spanish nurses, with an average experience of 11 years, completed a maximization questionnaire and responded to written vignettes depicting time-demanding decision making in which three options were offered, representing delayed action, non-action, and immediate action. Two vignettes presented critical situations related to acute care during the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst two vignettes presented non-nursing scenarios. People high in maximization took longer to choose and were more likely to choose non-action. No relationship was found between maximization score and the subjective experience of the person making the choice. Maximization had no significant correlation with years of experience nor perceived expertise. Greater perceived expertise was associated with lower indecision and greater confidence. When participants answered nursing vignettes, they took longer to respond, but chose less delayed action and more immediate action. Our results suggest that maximization plays only a relative role in acute care decision-making in nursing, as compared to contextual variables and expertise. They also support a domain general approach to this personality trait. Findings are consistent with Nibbelink and Reed's Practice-Primed Decision Model for nursing.