Decision-coping styles of hospital nurses compared to their decision-making performance

Abstract

The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ) is based on the assumption that use of different decision-coping styles, associated with different levels of stress, affects the quality of decision-making. The aim of the study was to assess the association between decision-coping styles and decision-making performance (DMP), measured both by self-ratings and supervisor ratings among hospital nurses. Data were collected in the Children's University Hospital Bratislava, Slovakia (N=105; 103 females; mean age 38.4yrs.; SD 8.9yrs.). Decision-coping styles were measured by the four dimensions of the MDMQ (self-report). Self-rated- and supervisor-rated DMP were measured by a visual analogue scale. The relationships were analysed using linear regression, adjusting for years of practice. Self-rated DMP was negatively associated with hypervigilance, buck-passing and procrastination (β=-.22, -.27 and -.21, respectively). Supervisor-rated DMP was not significantly related to any decision-coping style. The lack of any relationship of self-reported decision-coping styles to supervisor-rated DMP casts some doubts on the predictive validity of the measure.