Emergency nursing staff's awareness of intrahospital transport for critical patients

Abstract

Objective To explore emergency nursing staff's awareness of intrahospital transport for critical patients, and to offer reference for improving intrahospital transport of critical patients. Methods Totally 528 emergency nursing staff members from 142 Class Ⅲ and Class Ⅱ hospitals with independent emergency departments from 14 provinces and cities were selected by convenient sampling and investigated for current status and awareness of intrahospital transport. Results Totally 466 emergency nursing staff members were involved in intrahospital transport of critical patients, accounting for 88.25% of the total number. A total of 604 cases of catheter slip or obstruction occurred. And 19.32% nursing staff members believed that all nurses could be qualified for intrahospital transport of critical patients as experience accumulated and that they did not need special training. Conclusions Currently many risks exist in intrahospital transport of critical patients, and there is a lack of effective precautions against transport risks or complete transport procedures. A feasible standardized transport model and effective transport training may be the direction for future development. Key words: Critical illness; Safety management; Intrahospital transport