A review of intensive care nurse staffing practices overseas: what lessons for Australia?

The evolution of Australian intensive care and its related costs: A narrative review

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a narrative review on the evolution of intensive care and the cost of intensive care services in Australia.

REVIEW METHOD

A narrative review using a search of online medical databases and grey literature with keyword verification via Delphi-technique.

DATA SOURCES

Using Medical Subject Headings and keywords (intensive care, critical care, mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, monitoring, staffing, cost, cost analysis) we searched MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Google and Google Scholar.

RESULTS

The search yielded 30 articles from which we provide a narrative synthesis on the evolving intensive care practice in relation to key service elements and therapies. For the review of costs, we found five relevant publications and noted significant variation in methods used to cost ICU. Notwithstanding the limitations of the methods used to cost all publications reported staffing as the primary cost driver, representing up to 71% of costs.

CONCLUSION

Intensive care is a highly specialised medical field, which has developed rapidly and plays an increasingly important role in the provision of hospital care. Despite the increasing importance of the specialty and the known resource intensity there is a paucity of data on the cost of providing this service. In Australia, staffing costs consistently represent the majority of costs associated with operating an ICU. This finding should be interpreted cautiously given the variation of methods used to cost ICU services and the limited number of available studies. Developing standardised methods to consistently estimate ICU costs which can be incorporated in research into the cost-effectiveness of alternate practice is an important step to ensuring cost-effective care.

Sedation management in Australian and New Zealand intensive care units: doctors' and nurses' practices and opinions

OBJECTIVE

To explore the use of sedatives and analgesics, tools for scoring level of sedation, sedation and pain protocols, and daily interruptions in sedation in Australian and New Zealand intensive care units and to examine doctors' and nurses' opinions about the sedation management of critically ill patients.

METHODS

A cross-sectional Internet-based survey design was used. In total, 2146 members of professional critical care organizations in Australia and New Zealand were e-mailed the survey during a 4-month period in 2006 through 2007.

RESULTS

Of 348 members (16% response rate) who accessed the survey, 246 (71%) completed all sections. Morphine, fentanyl, midazolam, and propofol were the most commonly used medicines. Newer medicines, such as dexmedetomidine and remifentanil, and inhalant medications, such as nitrous oxide and isoflurane, were rarely used by most respondents. Respondents used protocols to manage sedatives (54%) and analgesics (51%), and sedation assessment tools were regularly used by 72%. A total of 62% reported daily interruption of sedation; 23% used daily interruption for more than 75% of patients. A disparity was evident between respondents' opinions on how deeply patients were usually sedated in practice and how deeply patients should ideally be sedated.

CONCLUSIONS

Newer medications are used much less than are traditional sedatives and analgesics. Sedation protocols are increasingly used in Australasia, despite equivocal evidence supporting their use. Similarly, daily interruption of sedation is common in management of patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Research is needed to explore contextual and personal factors that may affect sedation management.

Úlcera por pressão: risco e gravidade do paciente e carga de trabalho de enfermagem

OBJETIVOS: Verificar a associação entre ocorrência de úlcera por pressão (UP) em pacientes em estado crítico com escores da escala de Braden, gravidade do paciente e carga de trabalho de enfermagem e, identificar os fatores de risco para UP em pacientes de Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI). MÉTODOS: trata-se de estudo transversal realizado em três UTIs de um hospital, cuja coleta prospectiva incluiu dados clínicos e de internação de 74 pcientes e a aplicação dos índices Simplified Acute Phisiology (SAPS II), Nursing Activities Score (NAS) e Escala de Braden. RESULTADOS: dos 74 pacientes estudados 31% apresentaram UP. As variáveis que se associaram a presença de UP foram: idade, tempo de internação, escores Braden e SAPSII. O NAS não se associou com ocorrência de UP. Escores SAPSII e NAS apresentaram correlação moderada com escores Braden e foram identificados como fatores de risco para UP. CONCLUSÃO: A ocorrência de UP associou-se à idade mais elevada, maior tempo de internação e gravidade do paciente. Identificaram-se como preditores de risco para UP a gravidade do paciente associada a carga de trabalho de enfermagem.

Part 1. Chemical and physical restraints in the management of mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU: contributing factors

Chemical and physical restraints are frequently used in the intensive care unit (ICU) to control agitated patients and to prevent self-harm and unplanned extubations. Published work relating to the numerous issues of the care and treatment strategies for these patients remains conflicting and unclear. Literature regarding sedation and chemical restraint reveals a trend towards management with lighter sedation, use of sedation assessment tools and sedation protocols. It remains unclear which treatment is best for agitated and delirious patients, and the evidence on the effect of sedation is conflicting. A large portion of the literature on the use of physical restraint is from general hospital wards and residential homes, and not from the ICU environment. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the existing literature on the use of physical and chemical restraints in the ICU setting. In Part 1 of this two-part paper, the evidence on chemical and physical restraints is explored with specific focus on definition of terms, unplanned extubation, agitation, delirium and the impact of nurse-patient ratios in the ICU on these issues. Part 2 of the paper examines the evidence related to chemical and physical restraints from the perspective of the mechanically ventilated patient.

Critical care nursing: workforce issues and potential solutions

OBJECTIVE

To review the history and development of critical care nurses, the supply and demand issues related to critical care nursing, critical care nursing's contribution to patient outcomes, and recommendations to ensure a steady and strong workforce.

DATA SOURCE AND SELECTION

Information presented in this article is based on a review of past and current literature including international and U.S. government reports, professional publications, monographs, newspapers, and journal articles identified by MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. The Internet was used to contact international and national professional organizations and specialists.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Original and selected review articles and guideline documents were reviewed for references to critical care nurses and their role on the multiprofessional critical care team.

CONCLUSIONS

Critical care nurses are an essential and vital aspect of the critical care team. Nurses contribute to improved patient outcomes, reduced morbidity and mortality, reduced complications and errors, and reduced overall costs. More than 400,000 nurses practice in critical care, and additional opportunities exist and will develop. The challenge is to ensure an adequate supply of appropriately trained staff.

The role of the senior health care worker in critical care

This article identifies that the introduction of the support worker role in the critical care team facilitates flexibility when organizing and managing patient care. Qualified nurses' time can be used more effectively, enhancing the quality of the patient care delivered. Aspects of the qualified nurses' workload in critical care can be shared and delegated successfully to unqualified staff. It is our view that staffing levels in critical care environments need to be reviewed with more flexible working practices to meet the current and future demands of critical care. There is a need for national consensus amongst qualified nurses to clarify and define the role of the support worker and develop a critical care competency framework to standardize training. To ensure proficiency, adequate training and appropriate accountability, support workers require regulation by a nationally recognized body.

"Realising the potential of critical care nurses": an exploratory study of the factors that affect and comprise the nursing contribution to the recovery of critically ill patients

BACKGROUND

This study seeks to make evident the complexity of issues associated with the delivery of care by nurses to the critically ill. Emphasis had been placed on the results and implications of these for nursing practice. For a more in-depth account, the full report can be accessed on www.lscn.co.uk.

METHOD

Following multi-centre research ethics committee approval, 10 critical care units participated in the 3-month study. Data collection comprised 231 nurse interviews and 51 relative interviews during 33 observation participation periods.

RESULTS

Analysis demonstrated that the context of the critical care unit, in terms of geographical layout, unit activity, case mix and skill mix of nurses, had a major effect on the ability of nurses to contribute to the recovery of the critically ill. The effectiveness of the nursing resource appeared to be a function of knowledge (theoretical and patient related), experience and exposure. Nurses who were unused to a particular environment were not seen to be as effective as those who were. A model was constructed that identified the central tenets upon which nursing care can be optimised or compromised. When nursing care was optimised the difference nurses made potentially decreased risk to patients, enabled timely patient progression and increased the potential for patient recovery.

CONCLUSIONS

The results confirm that nurses have a significant contribution to make in the recovery of patients who have experienced critical illness. Recommendations are far reaching and include the need to develop a valid and reliable tool which addresses patients' need for nursing in terms of nurses' knowledge and experience, patient dependency and decreasing clinical risk across the continuum of care. Current nursing workload tools and patient:nurse ratios were seen to lack validity because they do not appraise the context in which care is delivered, define all nurses as equal and concentrate on activity rather than the effect nurses can have on the outcome of the critically ill.