ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study was a descriptive correlation study to increase understanding of, and relationships among critical thinking disposition, clinical decision making and job satisfaction of cancer center nurses. METHOD: The participants in this study were 150 nurses working in one cancer center located in Gyeonggi Province. The statistic program, SPSS WIN17.0 was used for data analysis and data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. RESULTS: The critical thinking disposition of the participants showed statistically significant differences according to areas of practice (F=4.426, p=.005), and current position (F=9.346, p=.000). For clinical decision making of the participants, statistically significant differences were found according to current position (F=10.667, p=.000). Furthermore, for job satisfaction, there were statistically significant differences according to income (F=6.779, p=.002), length of career (F=2.701, p=.033) and current position (F=5.423, p=.005). There were significant positive correlations for critical thinking disposition with clinical decision making, and with job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that to improve clinical decision making and job satisfaction of cancer center nurses, it is necessary to increase critical thinking disposition. To make this change, appropriate programs are needed to increase critical thinking and clinical decision making of general cancer center nurses.