Mediating Pathways of Critical Thinking and Intuition on Triage Competency in Emergency Nurses: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

BACKGROUND Triage competency requires sophisticated cognitive processing. The mechanisms through which critical thinking and intuition influence specific competency dimensions remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to examine mediating pathways through which critical thinking disposition and intuitive expertise influence triage competency in emergency nurses.

METHODS A cross-sectional study with 145 Korean emergency nurses used structural equation modeling with bootstrap resampling (5000 iterations) to examine mediation pathways.

RESULTS Critical thinking exerted strong indirect effects through all 3 mediators. Clinical judgment served as the primary pathway, accounting for 94% of total effect (β =.478, 95% CI [0.337, 0.624]). Significant indirect effects occurred through timely decision (β =.324) and expert assessment (β =.265). Intuitive expertise showed positive but nonsignificant relationships.

CONCLUSIONS Critical thinking enhances triage competency primarily through clinical judgment. Educational interventions should prioritize critical thinking development and clinical judgment training.