Nursing in critical care
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Nursing in critical care · May 2010
ReviewStandards for nurse staffing in critical care units determined by: The British Association of Critical Care Nurses, The Critical Care Networks National Nurse Leads, Royal College of Nursing Critical Care and In-flight Forum.
Since 1967 the gold standard for nurse staffing levels in intensive care and subsequently critical care units has been one nurse for each patient. However, critical care has changed substantially since that time and in recent years this standard has been challenged. Previously individual nursing organisations such as the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) and the Royal College of Nursing have produced guidance on staffing levels for critical care units. This paper represents the first time all three UK Professional Critical Care Associations have collaborated to produce standards for nurse staffing in critical care units. These standards have evolved from previous works and are endorsed by BACCN, Critical Care Networks National Nurse Leads Group (CC3N) and the Royal College of Nursing Critical Care and In-flight Forum. ⋯ The review of the evidence has shown that the contribution of nursing can be difficult to measure and consequently support nurse staffing ratios. However, there is a growing body of evidence which associates higher number of registered nursing staff to patient ratio relates to improved safety and better outcomes for patients. The challenge for nurses is to produce accurate and meaningful outcome measures for nursing and collect data that accurately reflect the input of nursing on patient outcomes and safety.
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Nursing in critical care · May 2010
Surviving sepsis: a trust-wide approach. A multi-disciplinary team approach to implementing evidence-based guidelines.
To share an experience of examining the true extent of the number of patients with severe sepsis being admitted, and the overall compliance with existing treatment guidelines in a district general hospital (DGH). ⋯ As an international campaign introduced predominantly within critical care, within this DGH the SSC teams' innovative approach has resulted in: * Better educated staff; * Objectives agreed within multi-disciplinary teams; * The appropriate assessment of resources; * Standardization of practice in terms of patients presenting with severe sepsis.
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Nursing in critical care · May 2010
Personality, stress and coping in intensive care nurses: a descriptive exploratory study.
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits, perception of workplace stress and coping among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. ⋯ The retention and recruitment of staff who have lower perceived workplace stress and who utilise problem-focused coping may result in less reported absences and fewer critical incidents and errors.