Professional profile and work conditions of nurses working in intensive care units: A multicentre study.

AIM: To determine the professional profile and the work conditions of nurses working in intensive care units (ICU) in Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Brazil. BACKGROUND: ICUs require a differentiated professional profile to provide quality care, and appropriate working conditions, leading to a transformation of care and management practices. DESIGN: Descriptive multicentre cross-sectional observational study. METHODS: An online survey was applied to identify both the characteristics of the professional profile and the working conditions. 1,427 ICU nursing professionals were included. RStudio statistical software was used for the analysis of the information. Descriptive statistics were used for the presentation of the results. The STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies was used in this study. RESULTS: Only 33.6% of the professionals had a specialisation degree in intensive care. The skills that were most frequently put into practice were communication (68.5%) and care management (78.5%). The most predominant nurse-to-patient ratios were 1:2, and greater than 1:6. 59.1% of the nurses had an indefinite term contract, 38.8% worked 48 hours per week and 49.8% had rotating shifts. Only 50.4% of them received incentives. The average salary ranged between 348 and 1,500 USD. 64.5% of the participants were satisfied with their job. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to strengthen nurses' professional profile by promoting both postgraduate education and the development of troubleshooting and teamwork skills. It is necessary to standardise the nurse-to-patient ratio, improve wages and increase incentives to achieve greater job satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE: The knowledge and the improvement of both the professional profile and the work conditions of nurses working in intensive care units will improve the quality of the care given to critical patients and, therefore, the quality of health outcomes.

Estudio de eventos adversos, factores y periodicidad en pacientes hospitalizados en unidades de cuidado intensivo / Study of adverse events, factors and periodicity in hospitalized patients in ICU

Objetivo: Determinar los eventos adversos (EA) reportados por enfermería y sus factores en unidades de cuidado intensivo (UCI) adulto, pediátrica o neonatal de tres países participantes (México, Argentina y Colombia). Método: Se desarrolló un estudio multicéntrico, descriptivo, correlacional. La unidad de observación la constituyeron los EA reportados por enfermería durante un periodo de seis meses en 17 UCIS. Para el reporte se diseñó un formulario digital, presentado en línea, que contenía las categorías y los factores relacionados de los Eventos Adversos. La información se analizó con el programa estadístico SPSS Statistics 22.0, versión 2013. Resultados: Se reportaron 1163 eventos, de los cuales el 34 %, se relacionó con el cuidado, el 19 % con vía aérea y ventilación mecánica, el 16 % con el manejo de accesos vasculares y drenajes, el 13 % con infección nosocomial y el 11 % con la administración de medicamentos. El 7 % restante correspondió a relacionados con pruebas diagnósticas y equipos. El 94,8% se consideraron prevenibles. Para determinar los factores presentes en los EA, se utilizó el coeficiente Phi y se encontró que los que podrían estar relacionados fueron aquellos del sistema en los que predominó la falta de adhesión a protocolos, problemas de comunicación, formación y entrenamiento inadecuado (Phi 0-1 p<0,05). Conclusiones: Los EA con mayor prevalencia están relacionados, en su mayoría, con el cuidado directo al paciente y el de vía aérea. El posible factor relacionado fue el del sistema. Por tal motivo, el profesional de enfermería debe establecer estrategias para fortalecer y mejorar los procesos relacionados con la aplicación de protocolos, comunicación y una política de recursos humanos (AU)

Objective: To determine adverse events (AEs) reported by nursing and its related factors in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in three participating countries (Mexico, Argentina and Colombia) in 2013. Method: A multicenter, prospective and descriptive study was conducted. The observation unit was constituted with AEs reported by nurses over a period of 6 months in 17 ICUs. To report AEs, a digital and on line form that contained the categories and factors related adverse event was designed. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Results: 1163 adverse events were reported, 34% were related to care, 19 % with airway and mechanical ventilation, 16 % with the management of vascular access and drainage, 13 % with nosocomial infection and 11 % with administration of medication, the remaining 7 % were related to testing diagnostic and equipment. 94.8 % of these AEs were considered preventable. To determine the importance of the factors present in AEs, the Phi coefficient was used, finding that the factors related were those of the system where predominate the non-adherence to protocols, communication problems, training and inadequate training ( Phi 0-1 p <0.05 ). Conclusions: AEs most prevalent are mostly related to direct patient care and airway care, in addition to that, its related factor was the system, therefore the nurse must develop strategies to strengthen and improve processes related with application of protocols, communication and human resources policy (AU)