As you gain experience in your field, you’ll notice that “gut feelings” become more common. Sometimes you get a feeling that you just can’t shake off, whether it be with noticing patients who have symptoms for other underlying illnesses or seeing symptoms of a completely different diagnosis. These feelings are due to your intuition sharpening over time, which allows you to see beyond the patient’s original complaint

While you become more skilled at your profession, turning your gut feelings into usable and reliable pieces of information is not always an easy thing, mostly because if you’re wrong, there’s much more than your job on the line. Most physicians and practitioners in the medical field are hesitant to discuss intuition as part of the medical process, as it is not a legitimate assessment tool and should not influence some decisions regarding medical procedures. For this reason, most doctors only discuss their intuition with colleagues in confidence or keep it to themselves.

However, according to several studies, the nursing trade might be an exception. This research actually has discovered that intuition in nursing might have a much more important role than any other medical profession.

Due to the nature of the nurse-patient relationship, the caregiver’s intuition becomes an important part of the nurses’ synergistic response to their patients, as well as other events. This statement was put to the test in a 2001 study, which used focus groups and survey techniques to gather information on over 250 registered nurses about their views on intuition and how they perceived its usefulness in the workplace. However, the limitation of the study revolved around the concept of intuition, which prevented the researchers from reaching a precise definition of the term.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of a specific concept, this didn’t prevent nurses from following their “gut feelings” during their interactions with patients. It was common for the subjects to use statements like “I just knew…,” or “I sensed…” when referring to their intuitive insights when treating patients. The authors of the study concluded that nursing intuition was not a “mystical power,” but rather an integral part of the nurses’ analysis and decision-making process.

Another study on intuition performed in 2005 stated that, as the nurses’ experience and expertise increase over time, they are most likely to use intuition to make decisions of to assess the conditions and requirements of hospitalized patients, compared to those who are new to the trade and have less experience. In this sense, researchers concluded that these intuitive insights occur as a response to knowledge, and is a trigger for actions and reflections. Moreover, they used the researcher Gritty’s definition of intuition as a part of their study, which stated that “intuition is the sudden perception of a pattern in a seemingly unrelated series of events…Beyond what is visible to the senses.”

An earlier study, which was cited and used in the previous paper, pointed out that intuition cannot be solely attributed to expertise. However, the transition from the analytical thought patterns in novice nurses, to the intuitive decision-making of seasoned professionals becomes more commonplace as the practitioner reaches the expert level in their trade. This makes sense since it is safe to say that, as the professional acquired experience, they become more capable of discerning patterns from unrelated events. Furthermore, due to their experience, they are able to make safer decisions in the workplace, which do not lead to dangerous outcomes for the patient.

All these studies seem to suggest that the use of nursing intuition should become a staple of medical care in hospitals and clinics, which is what some health centers are trying to implement in a safe and secure manner. The Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis has been doing this since 2004 when they adopted a new model that includes care teams composed of a nurse clinician, a massage therapist, and an acupuncturist. These teams are trained in the role of intuition in nursing and receive regular sessions on how to use their “gut feelings” in a hospital setting. They gather every morning to reaffirm their intention to heal and help those they are scheduled to meet during the day, with the following invocation:

“As we begin this workday, we invite in spiritual support of the highest good to guide us.

May we be clear channels to do our work with ease and grace, keeping the patient’s greatest and highest good as primary.

May we remember our connection to the earth, the heavens, our inner knowing to each other and to all sentient beings.

May we each value time for self-care to replenish our own energy reserves.

Whoever is referred is the right person. Whatever work comes, it is the right work. Whenever it happens

is the right time.

And so it is.”

The results of this model were immediately apparent and elevated the use of intuition to great heights. In the beginning, the teams received around 200 referrals per month. The number has since soared to the thousands, in just under two years.

The role of intuition in the medical trade will, for many reasons, always remain a topic that doctors are reluctant to discuss. However, its importance in the nursing trade is evident and can be employed not only to save a patient’s life but to make their stay at the hospital much smoother.