Critical care nursing interventions and the time required for their completion in Intensive Care Units: A Delphi study

Abstract

Objective: To determine which interventions within the Nursing Interventions Classification are most often applied in intensive care units and to validate the time required for each.

Methodology: A three-stage e-Delphi was conducted; 21 panelists were recruited, seven manager nurses and 14 clinical nurses with higher degrees and more than five years experience in intensive care nursing. The first round explored the most common interventions applied. Additionally, panelists were asked to propose others. In the second round, participants reflected on the interventions where no consensus was reached as well as to estimate the time required for each intervention. In the third, panelists were queried about the time required for the interventions for which consensus regarding the time was not reached.

Results: A total of 183 interventions were included; 50% of the "Physiological: Complex" domain. The list included 52 (90%) of the 58 "core interventions for critical care nursing" identified in the Nursing Interventions Classification. The time required for 89.1% of the interventions was the same as in the Nursing Interventions Classification seminal work recommendations.

Conclusion: Results provide a clear picture of nursing activity in general intensive care units, allows to tailor the Nursing Intervetions Classification in Catalonia context and to confirm findings of previous studies.

Keywords: Delphi method; Intensive care unit; NIC; Nursing interventions classification; Workload.