Nursing bedside handover in an intensive care unit with a mixed structure: Nursing professionals' perception.

AIM: The main objective is to determine if the infrastructure of critical care units influences the perception of professionals using this handover method. BACKGROUND: Nursing bedside handover is considered a safe information transfer method that can help reduce communication errors; however, it has some disadvantages expressed by health professionals and patients, related to confidentiality, stress and less rest. METHODS: Qualitative descriptive study. The perception of nursing professionals who work in a critical care unit with a mixed structure (open and closed boxes) in a tertiary care hospital was evaluated through a semi-structured interview with a battery of common questions (prepared after literature review) and spontaneous questions according to the objectives of the study. RESULTS: Five thematic areas related to the study objectives were observed: patient safety, message content, confidentiality/privacy, intimacy/rest/noise, and patient participation. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing bedside handover improves safe communication between professionals, because it avoids errors or distractions by double or triple checking (if we include the patient) as well as empowering the patient and including him in his recovery. Carrying it out in closed boxes increases confidentiality and improves intimacy as there are no other patients or relatives nearby who can hear the message. However, the place or shift where the handover is performed does not interfere with the effectiveness of the communication of the message. The morning shift is the busiest, which could affect the patient's rest, a fact that could be solved if it is carried out in a closed box. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Carrying out the handover in individual boxes in intensive care units would provide greater privacy to the patient and reduce the perception of external noise, contributing to the reduction of interruptions and the increase of the patient's rest. It is also a key element in patient safety through verification by double or triple check-up, the structuring of the message and the visualization of devices presented by the patient. In addition, it will allow the professional to start a process of early humanization and participation of the patient in the health process.

Attitudes towards multi-organ donation among intensive care unit nurses in transplant hospitals.

AIM: To evaluate the attitudes towards deceased multi-organ donation and transplantation among nurses within the critical care units of the six public tertiary transplant hospitals in Madrid, Spain. BACKGROUND: Spain has a rate of 49 donations per million population, whereas Madrid has a lower donation rate of 34.2 per million population. Nurses generate social opinion, and their attitude can be one of the barriers against organ donation. METHOD: An observational descriptive study was conducted among critical care units' nurses. The measuring instrument was the Collaborative International Donor Project in Organ Donation and Transplantation. Data were collected from January to October 2019, and a statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of n = 313 questionnaires achieved a response rate of 51%. Of the intensive care unit nurses surveyed, 85% had a favourable opinion towards the donation of their organs being affected by psychosocial variables related to social variables with respect to family, religion and attitude towards the body. CONCLUSION: The intensive care unit nurses of the Madrid transplant hospitals maintain a favourable attitude towards organ donation and transplantation. It is necessary to implement specialized training and periodically evaluate training in this sector. To maintain and improve the attitude towards organ donation, family discussion among health personnel should be encouraged. Religion influences the attitude of nurses and donation rates. IMPLICATION FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Intensive care nurses' attitude towards organ donation is influenced by social variables. This study shows that the attitude is positive but improvable. These findings contribute to promote awareness of the lack of organs and the benefits of organ donation.