Understanding critical care nurses’ autonomy in Jordan

The aim of this study was to describe Jordanian critical care nurses’ experiences of autonomy in their clinical practice.

A descriptive correlational design was applied using a self-reported cross-sectional survey. A total of 110 registered nurses who met the eligibility criteria participated in this study. The data were collected by a structured questionnaire.

A majority of critical care nurses were autonomous in their decision-making and participation in decisions to take action in their clinical settings. Also, they were independent to develop their own knowledge. The study identified that their autonomy in action and acquired knowledge were influenced by a number of factors such as gender and area of practice.

Nurse’s autonomy could be increased if nurses are made aware of the current level of autonomy and explore new ways to increase empowerment. This could be offered through classroom lectures that concentrate on the concept of autonomy and its implication in practice. Nurses should demonstrate autonomous nursing care at the same time in the clinical practice. This could be done through collaboration between educators and clinical practice to help merge theory to practice.

Critical care nurses were more autonomous in action and knowledge base. This may negatively affect the quality of patient care and nurses’ job satisfaction. Therefore, improving nurses’ clinical decision-making autonomy could be done by the support of both hospital administrators and nurses themselves.