Ward nurses' experiences and perceptions of the critical care outreach service: A qualitative study undertaken in a large teaching hospital in the West of Ireland.

BACKGROUND: The critical care outreach service (CCOS) was established in a large teaching hospital in the West of Ireland in 2014 to provide an extension of CCOS between the intensive care unit (ICU) and the wards outside ICU. With the ever-increasing pressure on ICU resources, CCOS seems to offer an additional service to patients who are critically ill and deteriorating in hospital wards. AIM: The aim of this study is to explore ward nurses' experiences and perceptions of the CCOS. STUDY DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive methodology aimed to obtain a descriptive account of ward nurses' experiences of the CCOS. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Twelve nurses from the West of Ireland participated in the study. Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Three core themes identified in this study included clinical support and decision-making; sharing knowledge and skills, and communication. All 12 nurses identified the positive impacts that they felt the current outreach service provided to them on a daily basis. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings indicate that nurses value the role of the CCOS in supporting the care of the critically ill and deteriorating patients at ward level. The CCOS has become invaluable to the ward nurses in their daily practice especially at a time when resources are lacking and patient acuity is on the rise.