Research utilization barriers for emergency medical technicians in Saudi Arabia

The Prevalence and Utilization of Prehospital IV Access in Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department

BACKGROUND

Despite the pivotality of emergency medical services (EMS) in prehospital care for patient stabilization, prehospital intravenous (IV) access, a standard practice, remains an ambiguity in Saudi Arabia in terms of its prevalence of placement, justification, and utilization.

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we aim to estimate the prevalence and utilization rate of prehospital IV access placement in patients transported to King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) Emergency Medicine Department in Riyadh by EMS and determine the relationship between the prevalence and utilization rate of prehospital IV access in Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) levels 1 and 2 in trauma and non-trauma patients.

METHODS

This observational cross-sectional study was conducted over six months. A total of 181 cases of CTAS levels 1 and 2 adult patients were included. Data were collected by trained nurses using convenient sampling through an author-developed questionnaire.

RESULTS

 The prevalence of prehospital IV line placement was 28.7%, with a utilization rate of 50%, and was notably higher among CTAS level 1 cases (69.2%). Additionally, trauma cases had a higher prevalence of prehospital IV access (53.5%) compared to medical cases (odds ratio (OR): 4.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.73, 4.73, p<0.05). Among patients with prehospital IV lines, the majority (92.3%) were patent and functional. Upon arrival, 73.1% of patients had their prehospital IV line replaced, with hospital protocol being the most common reason for the replacement (73.7%).

CONCLUSION

A minority of the patients had prehospital vascular access, and of those, half remained unused. Trauma cases and CTAS level 1 patients had a higher prevalence and utilization of prehospital IV access. Furthermore, trauma cases were more associated with prehospital IV access establishment and utilization.

Croatian Registered Nurses - Perception of Barriers to Research Utilization: A Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Despite positive effects of research utilization on improving the quality of care, nurses meet numerous obstacles when trying to bridge the gap between the theory and utilization of research findings in nursing practice. AIM: The study was conducted to identify barriers to research utilization in daily nursing practice among registered nurses in University Hospital Center Osijek, Croatia. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in University Hospital Center Osijek, Croatia in 2014. The study included 415 registered nurses, randomly selected. The BARRIERS Scale and a demographic data questionnaire were used to collect data. RESULTS: The study identified organizational barriers as major obstacles to implementing research findings. The items rated highest were “there is insufficient time on the job to implement new ideas” (78.2%), “nurse does not feel she/he has enough authority to change patient care procedures” (77.5%), “relevant literature is not compiled in one place” (72.1%), “physicians will not cooperate with implementation” (70.5%), and “nurse does not have time to read research” (70.4%). The item “relevant literature is not compiled in one place” belongs to communication subscale, while the other items belong to organizational barriers subscale. CONCLUSION: Registered nurses employed in University Hospital Center Osijek, Croatia perceived organizational barriers as major obstacles to research utilization.