Assessing the making of personal choices

We make personal choices in our daily life efforts, which help shape our lives for better or for worse. The decisions that make our lives meaningful can be distracted by the consistency of our decision-making abilities (Nancy E. Betz, 1996). In decision making, misinformation and distractions waste a lot of time and can make the decisions we make pointless.
We need to look closely at the ramifications it has and be prepared to be accountable to them when making decisions. Looking at the value that it will bring to your life is also important. The following article describes the process of personal decision making, the elements of critical thinking and explains how the problem-solving and intuitive models are used to solve a problem. Keywords; Problem-solving model, intuitive modelAssessing Personal Decision MakingDecision making is a process whereby we make choices among alternative courses of action. Most of the decisions that we make may fail and therefore increasing decision making maximize our effectiveness at work. (Shefyr, 2004) The wide range of information that we gather at our places of work helps us make numerous decisions which affect the lives of others and ours too. I once decided to give a prescription to one of my patients not knowing that he has been under the same prescription (Susanne G. Scott, 1995). I had arrived at this decision because the patient was not improving going by the symptoms, it displayed and the information I got at his bedside. Some of the patient’s records were missing. The information was unintentionally withheld from me. Fortunately, I discovered early enough and issued a new prescription. The two best decisions I have ever made in my life is pursuing nursing at the university and working as a community health officer in my home place. The worst the decisions I have ever made are not practicing my profession for a year after completing my studies and not applying for a job I could have possibly landed on. Some of the factors that help me in making those best decisions include; defining the decision I had to make and gathering the information on the action I had to take. I had decided to pursue the course because I had known the challenges that lie ahead. Some of the critical thinking elements that made my decision making awry are; not identifying premises and conclusions, not clarifying my arguments and not establishing facts that are involved in the results of the decision (Susanne G. Scott, 1995). I was not able to break my arguments into logical arguments and conclusions. By not deciding to venture into my profession, I did not reflect on the end effects. Another element that led to poor critical thinking is not acquiring enough information on my final decision (Susanne G. Scott, 1995). Gathering information would have enabled me to reach a fruitful conclusion. A good critical thinking is also accompanied by a structured argument. Becoming a nursing requires that you choose a nursing path. Nursing takes many directions; one may decide to be a staff nurse or a head nurse (Susanne G. Scott, 1995). When choosing the nursing path, one should consider the environment he or she wants to work. For example, certified nurse’s work in nursing homes while registered nurses work in hospitals, doctor’s office and other medical settings (Nancy E. Betz, 1996). Due to the many facets in the medical field, nurses may choose to major in Geriatrics or critical care. The next step in deciding to become a nurse is to get a degree from a recognized university. The career path that one chooses will determine the type of nursing degree to pursue. It includes both classroom and clinical experience. Before deciding to become a nurse, you need to know the nursing school that will fit in your busy life (Shefyr, 2004). After completing studies, you take an exam to demonstrate your nursing skills to be given to a practicing license. The exam coverage is determined by the career path that one takes.Decision-making model is used because the problem is described. The problem at hand is how to become a nurse that is the first requirement of the design. The solutions of the problem are identified which is a variety (Nancy E. Betz, 1996). The nursing profession is divided into various facets hence provide a range of choices to make and hence solve the problem at hand (Burkitt, Husband, Mackenzie, & Torn, 2001). The information on the decision to make is given out clearly. A greater percentage of our decision making lies much on intuition. In an intuitive model, a decision is not reached at by critical thinking, but by what the mind perceives to be correct. Decision-making is a critical process that provides solutions to some of the problems that we face in our daily lives. A good decision-making model which will give an effective solution should be applied (Nancy E. Betz, 1996)ReferencesBurkitt, I., Husband, C., Mackenzie, J., & Torn, A. (2001). Nurse Education and Communities of Practice. Professional Education Research Reports Series. Victory house.Nancy E. Betz, D. A. (1996). Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale. Ohio State University.Shefyr, E. S.-S. (2004). The intuitive executive: Understanding and applying intuition in decision-making. Perspectives, 76-91.Susanne G. Scott, R. A. (1995). Decision-making Style: Grid publishing..