Theoretical elements of nursing care in ICU

Elementos teóricos del cuidado de enfermería en UCI

Qualitative research of descriptive type that aims to identify the theoretical elements of nursing care in the ICUs of two hospitals in Bogotá. It was carried out between July 2006 and November 2007 and the sample was made up of the NFS that worked there. The information was obtained from a semi-structured interview recorded in audio and the number of participants was determined by saturation principle. The results obtained are the answers of the NFIs interviewed on nursing care, who define it as the direct attention given to a holistic being, whose purpose is the satisfaction of needs, with a high priority being those of physiological origin. Six ENF report having known the models and theories during their university education, four mentioned some author or concepts of a theory and only one demonstrated the basic domain of one of the theories. Three ENFs reported total ignorance on the subject. This research suggests that NFE do not make methodical use of models and theories, their practice does not find important ground in these and very few are interested in its study and formal application. However, many of the theoretical elements of nursing, such as the holism of the human being, the satisfaction of needs and problem solving, the therapeutic capacity, the accompaniment in the disease processes and the shared knowledge coming from other areas that are used for professional practice purposes. The recommendations arise from the own suggestions of the NFIs interviewed, which in their entirety consider continuing education in institutions as the most important strategy for the knowledge of models and theories, and their subsequent application in practice. Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; ENF, nurse (s).

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