Development of the American association of critical-care nurses' sedation assessment scale for critically ill patients.
Clinicians commonly sedate critically ill patients. Sedatives should be administered to achieve predetermined end points. Most currently available scales used to assess sedation are inadequate because they focus on a single domain, such as consciousness. The development of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Sedation Assessment Scale is described. This new scale consists of 5 domains: consciousness, agitation, anxiety, sleep, and patient-ventilator synchrony. A major advantage of the scale is that its domains parallel common goals of sedation therapy for critically ill patients. The proposed measurements for each domain are based on a comprehensive evaluation of the science and expert recommendations. Before the scale is widely used, clinical testing is required to determine its validity and reliability in a variety of critically ill patients and care situations.
De Jong
Maj Marla J
MM
Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, Tex., USA.
Burns
Suzanne M
SM
Campbell
Margaret L
ML
Chulay
Marianne
M
Grap
Mary Jo
MJ
Pierce
Lynelle N B
LN
Simpson
Terri
T
D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy; D016292:Procedural Sedation / Q000451:nursing*; D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000592:standards*; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D012956:Societies, Nursing; D014481:United States