Complexity perspectives on clinical decision making in an intensive care unit.
RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES
How to clarify the implications of complexity thinking for decision making in the intensive care unit (ICU)?


METHOD
Retrospective qualitative empirical research. Practitioners in an ICU were interviewed on how their decisions were made regarding a particular patient in a difficult, clinical situation. Transcriptions of these interviews were coded and retrieved in Maxqda, a software program. Assisted by complexity thinking, researchers focused on the decision-making process and the shift from analytic approaches to complex approaches.


RESULTS
Originally, practitioners took their decisions with negligible transdisciplinary interactivity, drawing on analytical knowledge. Later on, they shifted to transdisciplinary practices, paying attention to more participation in their decision-making processes within their complex environment.


CONCLUSIONS
Complexity thinking demonstrates that this is a better model towards understanding transdisciplinary decision making then most analytical methodologies.
['de Bock|Ben A|BA|0000-0003-0850-1013', 'Willems|Dick L|DL|', 'Weinstein|Henry C|HC|']
D000328:Adult D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making D003422:Critical Care D004630:Emergencies D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007362:Intensive Care Units D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication D009426:Netherlands D036301:Qualitative Research D012189:Retrospective Studies D013597:Systems Analysis
clinical decisions intensive care unit qualitative empirical research complexity science emergence transdisciplinarity