Instruments to measure complexity of care based on nursing workload in intensive care units: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To establish an evidence-based recommendation on the use of validated scoring systems that measure nursing workload in relation to the complexity of care in adult Intensive Care Units. METHODS: A systematic review based on the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) was conducted (PROSPERO registration: CRD42021251272). We searched for validation studies until July 2023 using the bibliographic databases CINAHL, Scopus, Pubmed, WOS, Cochrane Database, SCIELO, Cuiden and Cuidatge. Reference selection and data extraction was performed by two independent reviewers. The assessment of risk of bias was performed using QUADAS-2 and the overall quality according to COSMIN and GRADE approach. RESULTS: We included 22 articles identifying 10 different scoring systems. Reliability, criterion validity and hypothesis testing were the most frequently measurement properties reported. The NAS was the only tool to demonstrate a Class A recommendation (the best performing instrument). CONCLUSIONS: NAS is the best currently available scoring system to assess complexity of care from nursing workload in ICU. However, it barely met the criteria for a class A recommendation. Future efforts should be made to develop, evaluate, and implement new systems based on innovative approaches such as intensity or complexity of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results facilitate decision making as it establishes a ranking of which instruments are recommended, promising or not recommended to measure the nursing workload in the intensive care units.

Analysis of the concept of nurses' autonomy in intensive care units: A hybrid model.

Objective: To analyze the concept of autonomy of nurses in Intensive Care Units (ICU). Methods: The hybrid model approach proposed by Schwartz-Barcott and Kim, which includes theoretical, fieldwork and analytical phases, was used for this study. For the theoretical and fieldwork phases, the Graneheim and Lundman stages and the CORE-Q checklist were used, and the results were combined in the final analysis phase. For the theoretical phase, 46 related articles, two instruments and four books were identified after using a search strategy in 7 bibliographic databases in English and one in Persian with the terms MESH: 'nursing', 'autonomy' and 'intensive care'. The information extracted in the theoretical phase served as the basis for the design of the questions used in the semi-structured interviews in the fieldwork phase. Eight nurses with ICU experience working in hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Iran) participated in the fieldwork phase. Results: The antecedents of the concept of nurse autonomy in ICUs were: empowerment of the workforce, organizational platform, and social and individual views of the profession. Its attributes were professionalism and high personal capabilities. Finally, increased personal competencies, promotion of quality of care, improved attitudes towards the profession and professional outcomes were noted as consequences. Conclusion: The autonomy of nurses in the ICU can facilitate their empowerment, which translates into the promotion of their caring behaviours, followed by the improvement of patient outcomes and quality of care.

Analysis of the Nursing Effect of Respiratory Critical Illness Based on Refined Nursing Management.

In order to improve the nursing effect of respiratory critical illness, this paper combines the refined nursing method to explore the nursing plan of respiratory critical illness. Moreover, this paper uses the variable control method to explore the effects of nursing management, combines the hospital patient samples to conduct a controlled trial analysis, and conducts sample grouping according to the random grouping method. The patients in the control group are managed by traditional nursing management methods, the patients in the test group are managed by refined nursing management methods, and other conditions are basically the same. In addition, the experiment process variable control is carried out according to the mathematical statistics method, and the reasonable statistics and data processing are carried out. Through the comparison method, we can see that the refined management method proposed in this paper has a good effect in the nursing of respiratory critical illness.

A Comfort Measures Only Checklist for Critical Care Providers: Impact on Satisfaction and Symptom Management.

PURPOSE: This quality improvement project created a guide for critical care providers transitioning patients to comfort measures only encouraging communication, collaboration, and shared decision making; ensuring management of patients' end-of-life symptoms and needs; and enhancing provider satisfaction by improving structure and consistency when transitioning patients. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: Interviews conducted with staff in intensive care units revealed opportunities to improve structure and processes of transitioning patients at the end of life. A subcommittee of experts designed a checklist to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations. Impact on provider satisfaction and symptom management was assessed. Presurveys circulated used a Research Electronic Data Capture tool. A checklist was implemented for 3 months, and then postsurveys were sent. Charts were audited to identify improvement in symptom management and compared with retrospective samples. OUTCOMES: Clinical improvements were seen in communication (12%), collaboration (25%), shared decision making (22%), and order entry time (17%). In addition, 72% agreed the checklist improved structure and consistency; 69% reported improved communication, collaboration, and shared decision making; 61% felt it improved knowledge/understanding of patient needs; and 69% agreed it improved management of patient symptoms. CONCLUSION: After checklist implementation, staff felt more involved and more comfortable, and reported more clarity in transitioning patients; no improvement in patient outcomes was realized.

Caring for critically ill patients with COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has challenged healthcare systems around the world. Learn how one medical facility incorporated key guiding principles to quickly adapt normal policies and protocols in order to safely care for patients with COVID-19.

Colaboración interprofesional en las sesiones clínicas conjuntas en una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos: percepciones de enfermeras y médicos / Interprofessional collaboration in joint clinical sessions in an intensive care unit: Perceptions of nurses and physicians

INTRODUCCIÓN: La práctica colaborativa es un proceso interpersonal en el que interactúan diferentes disciplinas profesionales que comparten objetivos, participan en la toma de decisiones y proporcionan una atención integral y de calidad. Las sesiones clínicas conjuntas ofrecen la oportunidad de interactuar y mejorar la comunicación entre profesionales y optimizar los resultados en la práctica. OBJETIVOS: Explorar las percepciones de enfermeras y médicos sobre la práctica colaborativa en las sesiones clínicas conjuntas en Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos. MÉTODO: Estudio de análisis crítico del discurso, a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas y diarios de campo, usando como referencial teórico los conceptos de Campus, Capital y Habitus planteados por Pierre Bourdieu. PARTICIPANTES: enfermeras y médicos de una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, reclutados mediante muestreo intencional. Las entrevistas fueron codificadas por todos los investigadores, posteriormente se hizo una puesta en común y se interpretaron los datos en el contexto en el que fueron recogidos. RESULTADOS: Emergieron 5 categorías: 1) Concepto: integración e implicación de un equipo con aportaciones colectivas y objetivos compartidos, 2) importancia: aumenta la seguridad del paciente, mejora la satisfacción de los profesionales y la calidad de atención, 3) factores: la ausencia de cultura de organizaciones dificulta la práctica colaborativa, 4) rol: la enfermera percibió que tiene un rol pasivo (oyente) durante las sesiones clínicas y el médico un papel activo (comunicador), y 5) estrategias de mejora: establecer horario y conciliación de tareas interprofesionales. CONCLUSIONES: Existe una necesidad de empoderamiento en la participación activa por parte de las enfermeras en las sesiones clínicas conjuntas. El colectivo médico debe tener más en cuenta las percepciones humanísticas que pueden aportar otros profesionales. Fomentar la escucha activa en los médicos, mejorar la comunicación real por parte de las enfermeras y generar un espacio donde impere el respeto y la confianza, favorecerán la dinámica de trabajo interprofesional

INTRODUCTION: Collaborative practice is an interpersonal process in which different professional disciplines that share objectives interact, participate in decision-making and provide comprehensive and quality care. The joint clinical sessions offer the opportunity to interact and improve communication between professionals and optimise results in practice. AIM: To explore perceptions of nurses and physicians about collaborative practice in joint Intensive Care Unit clinical sessions. METHOD: Critical discourse analysis, through semi-structured interviews and field journals, using as theoretical reference the concepts of Campus, Capital and Habitus by Pierre Bourdieu. PARTICIPANTS: nurses and physicians of the Intensive Care Unit, who were recruited by intentional sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and a discourse analysis was then performed. The interviews were coded by all the researchers, then shared and the data were interpreted in the context in which they were collected. RESULTS: Five categories emerged: 1) Concept: integration and involvement of a team with collective contributions and shared objectives, 2) importance: it increases patient safety, improves professional satisfaction and quality of care, 3) factors: the absence of culture organisations make collaborative practice difficult, 4) role: the nurse perceived that she plays a passive role (listener) during the clinical rounds and the physician an active role (communicator) and, 5) improvement strategies: to establish a schedule and balance interprofessional tasks. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for empowerment in active participation by nursing staff in joint clinical sessions. The medical group should be more aware of the humanistic perceptions that other professionals can bring. Encouraging active listening in physicians, improving real communication by nursing staff and generating a space where respect and confidence prevail, will favour interprofessional work dynamics

A nurse staffing model for an unprecedented event.

Lessons learned from one hospital's COVID-19 experience.

Effect of emergency critical care nurses and emergency department boarding time on in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients.

STUDY HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that establishing a program of specialized emergency critical care (ECC) nurses in the ED would improve mortality of ICU patients boarding in the ED. METHODS: This was a retrospective before-after cohort study using electronic health record data at an academic medical center. We compared in-hospital mortality between the pre- and post-intervention periods and between non-prolonged (≤6 h) boarding time and prolonged (>6 h) boarding time. In-hospital mortality was stratified by illness severity (eccSOFA category) and adjusted using logistic regression. RESULTS: Severity-adjusted in-hospital mortality decreased from 12.8% pre-intervention to 12.3% post-intervention (-0.5% (95% CI, -3.1% to 2.1%), which was not statistically significant. This was despite a concurrent increase in ED and hospital crowding. The proportion of ECC patients downgraded to a lower level of care while still in the ED increased from 6.4% in the pre-intervention period to 17.0% in the post-intervention period. (+10.6%, 8.2% to 13.0%, p < 0.001). Severity-adjusted mortality was 12.8% in the non-prolonged group vs. 11.3% in the prolonged group (p = 0.331). CONCLUSIONS: During the post-intervention period, there was a significant increase in illness severity, hospital congestion, ED boarding time, and downgrades in the ED, but no significant change in mortality. These findings suggest that ECC nurses may improve the safety of boarding ICU patients in the ED. Longer ED boarding times were not associated with higher mortality in either the pre- or post-intervention periods.

Assessment of the Relationship between Nurses' Perception of Ethical Climate and Job Burnout in Intensive Care Units.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationship between ethical climate and burnout in nurses working in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). METHODS: This cross-sectional and multi-center study was conducted among 212 nurses working in adult ICUs of six hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran in 2019. The participants were selected using systematic random sampling technique. Data was collected using valid instruments of Olson's Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). RESULTS: Ethical climate was favorable (3.5±0.6). The intensity (32.2±12.4) and frequency (25.5±12.4) of burnout were high. Ethical climate had significant and inverse relationships with frequency of burnout (r =-0.23, p=0.001) and with intensity of burnout (r=-0.186, p=0.007). Ethical climate explained 5.9% of burnout. Statistically significant relationships were also found between these factors: age with ethical climate (p=0.001), work shifts with burnout (p=0.02), and gender and with intensity frequency of burnout in ICU nurses (p=0.038). The results of Spearman correlation coefficient showed significant and inverse relationships between ethical climate and job burnout (r=-0.243, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Nurses in ICUs perceived that ethical climate was favorable however, burnout was high. Therefore, burnout can be affected by many factors and it is necessary to support ICU nurses since they undertake difficult and complicated task. It is recommended to assess factors that increase burnout and adopt specific measures and approaches to relieve nursing burnout.

Establishment of a high-dependency unit in Malawi.

Adults admitted to hospital with critical illness are vulnerable and at high risk of morbidity and mortality, especially in sub-Saharan African settings where resources are severely limited. As life expectancy increases, patient demographics and healthcare needs are increasingly complex and require integrated approaches. Patient outcomes could be improved by increased critical care provision that standardises healthcare delivery, provides specialist staff and enhanced patient monitoring and facilitates some treatment modalities for organ support. In Malawi, we established a new high-dependency unit within Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, a tertiary referral centre serving the country's Southern region. This unit was designed in partnership with managers, clinicians, nurses and patients to address their needs. In this practice piece, we describe a participatory approach to design and implement a sustainable high-dependency unit for a low-income sub-Saharan African setting. This included: prospective agreement on remit, alignment with existing services, refurbishment of a dedicated physical space, recruitment and training of specialist nurses, development of context-sensitive clinical standard operating procedures, purchase of appropriate and durable equipment and creation of digital clinical information systems. As the global COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, we accelerated unit opening in anticipation of increased clinical requirement and describe how the high-dependency unit responded to this demand.

A California Hospital's Response to COVID-19: From a Ripple to a Tsunami Warning.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rippled across the world from Wuhan, China, to the shores of the United States within a few months. Hospitals and intensive care units were suddenly faced with a "tsunami" warning requiring instantaneous implementation and escalation of disaster plans. EVIDENCE REVIEW: An evidence-based question was developed and an extensive review of the literature was completed, resulting in a structured plan for the intensive care units to manage a surge of patients critically ill with COVID-19 in March 2020. Twenty-five sources of evidence focusing on pandemic intensive care unit and COVID-19 management laid the foundation for the team to navigate the crisis. IMPLEMENTATION: The Critical Care Services task force adopted recommendations from the CHEST consensus statement on surge capacity principles and other sources, which served as the framework for the organized response. The 4 S's became the focus: space, staff, supplies, and systems. Development of algorithms, workflows, and new processes related to treating patients, staffing shortages, and limited supplies. New intensive care unit staffing solutions were adopted. EVALUATION: Using a framework based on the literature reviewed, the Critical Care Services task force controlled the surge of patients with COVID-19 in March through May 2020. Patients received excellent care, and the mortality rate was 0.008%. The intensive care unit team had the needed respiratory and general supplies but had to continually adapt to shortages of personal protective equipment, cleaning products, and some medications. SUSTAINABILITY: The intensive care unit pandemic response plan has been established and the team is prepared for the next wave of COVID-19.

Challenging Precedent: Critical Care Nursing and Medical Product Innovation.

In this presentation, I will share my unconventional journey, starting from my first job as a critical care staff nurse to my current role as tenure-track faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I hold a joint position with the Institute for Applied Life Sciences and the College of Nursing. Throughout this journey, I have had many opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary clinical outcomes research and medical product development as a staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, and project lead from the clinical, industry, and academic perspectives. While passionate about my central clinical research interests in technology innovation and its responsible use in critical and acute care, the foundation of my approach is dedicated to the values and lessons of my earliest experiences in critical care bedside nursing: supporting and preserving the dignity and humanity of person-centered patient care. Early in my career as a critical care nurse, I realized how vitally important a critical care nursing perspective could be in the design of technology for meeting the critical care needs of patients, nurses, and other professionals who provide this care. As the nation's largest group of health care professionals, nurses use more products than any other health care professional, and thus nurses have a uniquely practical and care-sensitive perspective on the development and design of medical products. Nurses, especially critical care nurses, are in a unique position to identify and address everyday health care issues, challenge assumptions and the status quo, address unrecognized and unarticulated needs, and ensure that clinical outcomes research serves as the foundation for validating the effectiveness of medical product innovation. My goal is to share lessons learned and to help participants to see the many different ways that critical care nursing knowledge can be used to improve patient care.