Keele Research Repository

Advanced Clinical Practice should be underpinned by complex decision making skills, analysing complex problems to make appropriate, evidence based judgements to improve patient care. This paper presents a case encountered in clinical practice where a 999 call was received for a gentleman who had fallen at home, however clinical assessment revealed he was critically unwell. A decision needed to be made between aggressive treatment and transport or unplanned palliative care. Evidence shows that while clinicians believe they use critical thinking to analyse a problem, most decisions are in fact made by rapid pattern recognition.