Critical Care Nurses' Performance Regarding Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Medical Surgical Nursing Faculty of Nursing, Suez Canal University

2 Associate professor of medical-surgical nursing- Suez canal university- Ismailia- Egypt

3 Lecturer of Cardiology Medicine - Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.

4 Lecturer of Medical- Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, College of Nursing, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Ventricular is a is a life-threatening condition, known as disturbance in the normal rhythm of the electrical activity of the heart arises in the ventricles, which may lead to cardiac arrest. Critical Care Nurses are responsible for early identification and management of ventricular arrhythmias. Aim: The current study aimed to assess critical care nurses' performance regarding management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias. Design & Setting: A descriptive cross-sectional study design utilized to conduct the current study in Cardiac Care Unit at Suez Canal University Hospitals, Ismailia, Egypt. Sample: A convenient sample of 85 nurses working at Cardiac Care Unit Tools: Three tools were utilized: 1) Structured self-administrated questionnaire about nurses’ profile sheet and knowledge regarding ventricular arrythmias. 2) nurses’ practice observational checklist 3) Nurses’ attitude self-administrated scale. Results: Current study results revealed that more than half of the nurses studied were females 57%, and had a technical degree. The present study clarified that 69.4% of the studied nurses had unsatisfactory level of knowledge and 63.5% of the studied nurses had unsatisfactory practice, 87.1% had a negative attitude score toward management of VA. Conclusion: The studied nurses had unsatisfactory level of knowledge and practice regarding management of patients with VA. Also, the majority of studied nurses had a negative total attitude. Recommendations: There is a need to in–service training programs to improve the performance of nurses working in Critical Care Units and periodic evaluation of nurses' knowledge, practice and attitude.

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Keywords: Critical Care, Nurses’ Performance, Ventricular arrhythmias.

Keywords