Characteristics of Gaze in Expert Nurses During Observation at the Bedside

Abstract

　The purposes of this study were to clarify the characteristics of gazes of expert nurses (who have sharp observational skills) by comparing them with those of novice nurses. Participants were 11 expert and 10 novice nurses. We used original still picture of the bedside including the fall cause, and measured eye movement during observations of patient rooms. When not limiting the duration of observation, there was no difference between expert and novice nurses in observation time, gaze time, or gaze count, but there were differences in the number of gaze items and distribution of gaze count, with 0.1-0.2 second gazes making up the highest proportion of expert nurses gazes. Furthermore, for the first 5 seconds of the observation period, there were no differences between expert and novice nurses with respect to the number of gaze items, gaze count, and distribution of gaze count. However, there were significant relation between gaze count at potential dangers and expert or novice nurses for instant gazes of 0.1-0.2 seconds. These results suggest that expert nurses are able to prioritize and focus on potential dangers with instant gazes immediately after the beginning of the observation period.