Nurse academics’ understanding and experience of ‘guidelines’ in clinical practice

Background.
Literature suggests there are numerous factors relating to adherence of guidelines in clinical practice. It is proposed that a potential barrier to adherence is that nurses may not view guidelines as mandatory and instead see them more of a tool for guidance.
Aims.
To analyse nurse educators’ understanding and experience of the term ‘guidelines’ in relation to clinical practice and clinical decision making.
Methods.
One focus group interview was undertaken; the data collected was analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis.
Findings.
Data analysis resulted in the identification of three personal experiential themes (PETs): lack of consensus regarding a definition of ‘guideline’, barriers to guideline adherence, and the impact of clinical guidelines on professional judgment.
Conclusion.
Nurse academics discussed a lack of understanding of what ‘guidelines’ are, and how this may influence their decision to follow guidelines when making clinical decisions. When guidelines are viewed as ‘recommendations’ rather than ‘rules’ then nurses may be inclined to use their own intuition and experience instead when decision-making. As this may lead to inconsistent use of guidelines in clinical practice, further research is recommended to investigate potential implications.