ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To explore the experiences of uncertainty in the clinical reasoning of nurses in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). DESIGN: A phenomenological descriptive design, following Colaizzi's analysis. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 nurses from a PACU on their experience of uncertainty in clinical reasoning. The interviews were digitally audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers conducted data analysis independently and followed seven phases: (re)reading the transcripts, extracting significant statements, formulating meanings from significant statements, aggregating formulated meanings into themes, developing a description of the phenomenon's essential structure, generating of the fundamental structure of the phenomenon, validating of the findings through participant feedback. The process employed MAXQDA analytics Pro 2022 software. Consolidated Criteria for Reporting A Qualitative Research checklist was used for reporting. FINDINGS: From uncertainty experiences in nurses' clinical reasoning, 10 themes emerged: ambiguity and decision latitude, communication, work ethic, difficulty interpreting and predicting outcomes, cognitive performance impairment, incivility, core competence vagueness of postanesthesia nurses, high-tech care, (in)security and risk, and occupational stress. CONCLUSIONS: The experiences of uncertainty in clinical reasoning of nurses in postanesthesia care units are highly focused on patient safety. Exploring these experiences has made uncertainty more tangible and explicit, which will enable nurses in postanesthesia care units to prepare for adaptive responses to deal with uncertainty when it occurs in clinical practice.
