Investigation of the nurse’s role to the duration of actions in the intensive care unit

AIM To investigate the participation of nurses in the completion of various procedures in ICU and to illustrate the problems which result from their reduced numbers in hospitals. MATERIAL-METHOD Data were collected from 60 patients for 166 days of hospitalization. The study’s duration was about 5 months and the data colle ction started at 1/6/2005 and finished at 13/11/2005. The following actions were measured: duration of morning care, pressure ulcer care, arterial line placement, peripheral line placement, patient transportation for CT, bronchoaspiration and finally blood cellection for arterial blood gases. The statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 13 and x2 tests. RESULTS The patients had an average age of 53.62 years. During the morning shift (7–3) the nurse/ patient ratio was 2.26/1. The duration of morning care on average was 1073.85±19.12 sec, the pressure ulcer care 110.58±3.08 sec, the bronchoaspiration 111.77±2.19 sec, the collection of arterial blood gases 196.00±11.03 sec, the arterial line placement 491.43±38.48, the peripheral line placement 358.31±33.30 sec and the patient transportation for CT 3375.47±174.49 sec. Depletion delayed the morning care at 30%, while cooperation between doctor and nurse reduced the duration of each procedure at 30–35% proximately. CONCLUSIONS The lack of nurses in hospitals delays the patients’ care and decreases the quality of their care.

Category: Volume 47, N 2
Hits: 900 Hits
Created Date: 15-06-2008
Authors: George Intas , Maria Pitsoli , Pavlos Myrianthefs , George Baltopoulos