Physical assessment skills practised by critical care nurses: A cross‐sectional study

Background: Burnout syndrome occurs in people who work in jobs which involve frequent and intense contact with people, especially healthcare workers. High dependency departments such as critical care units are very stressful environments, and this can lead to a greater incidence of burnout, especially of emotional exhaustion and poor personal accomplishment. Nurses are the largest group of healthcare workers, and so it is reasonable to expect they would have a high prevalence of burnout.Subjects and methods: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of burnout in critical care nurses in Croatia and explore its association with demographic features. A cross-sectional study of 620 nurses was conducted in several university hospitals, using convenience sampling. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered, together with questions about the sociodemographic and work characteristics of the participants (age, gender, length of work in ICU, education, type of ICU).Results: The majority of the sample were female nursing staff (87.7%), aged 26-35 (38.9%). The results showed that approximately every fifth nurse (22.1%) expressed a high emotional exhaustion (EE), with lesser burden of a high depersonalisation (D) in 7.9%, yet every third nurse (34.5%) scored low on PA. Male nurses reported more depersonalisation (p=0.045), yet neither EE nor the PA dimensions differed by gender.Conclusion: The results of this study concerning burnout are comparable to those of studies of other professions, but the results vary with regard to the sample and the working conditions of the countries.

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Awareness and practice of patient’s oral care among critical care nurses in a rural tertiary care hospital

Anaesthesia, Pain & Intensive Care ◽

10.35975/apic.v23i3.1139 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Singla Bhavika ◽

Akshaya N. N.Shetti ◽

Rachita Mustilwar ◽

Singla Anshul

Keyword(s):

Critical Care ◽

Critical Care Unit ◽

Tertiary Care Hospital ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Oral Care ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Critical Care Nurses ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional

Background and aim: Oral care contributes significantly to the patients’ health outcome in a critical care unit. Nurses play a vital role in maintaining good oral health. However, there remains a dearth of literature regarding oral care practices among nurses workingin an Indian critical care unit. In this descriptive cross sectional study, we assessed the level of awareness and the existing practices of patients’ oral care among our critical care unit (CCU) nurses. Methodology: After obtaining approval from the institutional ethics committee, 64 CCU nurses, having work experience of atleast 6 months in the CCU, were enrolled in this descriptive cross sectional study. A self-structured questionnaire was used to assess the awareness and practice of the nurses. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and results were expressed as percentages.Result: Of the 64 nurses enrolled in the study, there were no dropouts. It was found that 62 (96.87%) nurses provided oral care to all the CCU patients. 60 (93.7%) nurses claimed that a standard oral care protocol has been provided to them. Documentation of the oral care was carried out by 54 (84.37%) nurses. Although 50% of the nurses had been trained to provide oral care, 54 (84.37%) nurses felt the need of fresh training. 60 (93.7%) nurses preferred using toothbrush in conscious patients. Chlorhexidine was the most commonly used solution. Bleeding, extubation and biting were among the few complications that they faced during routine oral care.Conclusion: Despite working in a rural set up with limited resources available, oral care was provided by most of the nurses. Following a standard protocol and documentation of the same, has helped maintain consistency in oral care of all critical care patients.Citation: Bhavika S, Shetti AN, Mustilwar R, Anshul S. Awareness and practice of patient’s oral care among critical care nurses in a rural tertiary care hospital. Anaesth pain & intensive care 2019;23(3):295-300

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