Critical care nurses' workload estimates for managing patients during induced hypothermia.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to provide an initial foundation for exploring how induced hypothermia impacts nursing workload in an intensive care unit setting.


METHODS
This descriptive study used a questionnaire to obtain input from critical care nurses.


RESULTS
The results represent 107 returned surveys from 120 surveys distributed to seven different critical care units. Nurses estimate a mean time of 9.27 min (95% CI = 5.63-12.92 min) per shift for each intervention. Nurses indicate that they typically consider employing over 10 interventions to reduce temperature or induce hypothermia (95% CI = 9.67-10.81).


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses are open to using a variety of different interventions to manage temperature in critically ill patients. The time required to complete any one intervention varies significantly, but the combination of interventions most certainly has a significant impact on the workload for bedside nurses.
Olson
DaiWai M
DM
Medicine/Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. olson006@mc.duke.edu
Kelly
Amy P
AP
Washam
Nicole C
NC
Thoyre
Suzanne M
SM
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001831:Body Temperature; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000451:nursing; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000451:nursing; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*