What are the measures that can be adopted to improve the working environment for the Critical Care Nurses?

The following is the first part of a 4 part assignment: Evidence Based Practice

PICOT Question and Justification: What are the measures that can be adopted to improve the working environment for the Critical Care Nurses?

Background of the Research Question Critical care nursing has brought a significant impact on modern patient care. The critical care nurses provide care to patients with extreme health conditions such as life-threatening diseases, terminal injuries as well as patients who require surgery. Therefore, Intensive Care Nurses usually experience a working environment characterized by a heavy workload, trauma, and stress. Health organizations have recognized the need to adopt strategies that can create a sustainable work environment for critical care nurses. The stressful environment in intensive care units has played a tremendous role in shaping the performance of the nurses. This paper, therefore, will examine the measures that can be adapted to create an enabling working environment in critical care nursing. I have chosen this research question since critical care nursing is important in contemporary patient care; hence there is a need to create an enabling environment for the critical care nurses. Problems Statement Since the establishment of critical care nursing, the nursing department has been faced by several problems that have affected the patient outcome. The working environment in intensive care units plays a major role in influencing the provision of care among critical care nurses. The presence of heavy workload due to a high number of critically ill patients results in stress and trauma. This is because the nurses have trouble in providing effective treatment to critically ill patients. Moreover, the intensive care unit is usually full of patients who have been involved in accidents, patients with brain injuries as well as patients with terminal illness. The nature of the ailments of the patients creates tension and pressure in the intensive care unit, unlike the pressure that occurs in general wards. Another issue is the urgency in which the patients require treatment. Since most of the patients are almost dying, they require fast and reliable intervention that is provided by both the physicians and the nurses. The nurses, therefore, experience a lot of stress and trauma due to the high number of critically ill patients as well as the nature of their ailments. The research, therefore, seeks to investigate the measures that can be adopted to improve the working environment of critical care nurses. Intervention Healthcare organizations have adopted nurse-centered strategies aimed at creating an enabling working environment. The measures focus on changing how critical care nurses perceive their working environment. The strategies include: Training and Skill development-Health organizations have introduced training programs that are meant to enhance the skills of the nurses (McHugh 208).

The critical care nurses are trained on how to embrace commitment and dedication while working in a highly stressful environment. An improved patient-nurse relationship-Another measure that has been adopted is to improve the relationship between the nurses and the patients. According to Rushton (165), lack of trust between patients and nurses have caused disagreement resulting in the development of violent behavior among the patients. Increasing the Number of skilled nurses- Health organizations have also increased the number of intensive care unit nurses. The measure has led to a reduction of work since the nurse’s share the work in intensive care units. Comparison of Intervention Increasing the amount of compensation-Since critical care nurses work in a highly stressful environment that is characterized by a heavy workload, healthcare organization have increased the payment of the nurses. Unlike other nurses, critical care nurses highly compensated for motivating them as they work in intensive care units. Increased salary has therefore improved the performance of the nurses despite the stressful environment. Outcome The adoption of critical intervention methods has led to improved performance among critical care nurses. For example, training has led to the acquisition of skills on how to handle critically ill patients hence reducing the stress in the work environment. Improving the nurse-patient relationship, on the other hand, has created a bond between the two parties hence reducing the tension and allowing free interaction and the provision of high-quality care. Increasing both the compensation and the number of skilled nurses has improved nurse performance by reducing workload and stress in intensive care units. Type of Study The research, therefore, will adopt a qualitative study that will investigate the strategies that can be implemented in ICUs to improve the nurses’ performance. Due to the nature of the care provided by nurses in intensive care units, the nurses experience nurse burn out, stress and heavy workload. The study will adopt evidence-based research that will provide a solution to the problem.

Conclusion

The research, therefore, will be beneficial to my area of research since it will enable me to investigate the measures that can be used to improve the work environment among critical care nurses. Critical care nurses provide crucial healthcare services that are more important than the services provided by general ward nurses. Hence, there is a need to investigate the strategies that can be used to eliminate the challenges they face in their line of duty.