French ICU's health care workers have a poor knowledge of the cost of the devices they use for patient care: A prospective multicentric study

Abstract

PurposeICU patient's care may require the use of onerous devices, which contributes to make this department one of the most expensive in the hospital. It seemed us relevant to assess healthcare workers' (HCWs) knowledge of the cost of the devices daily used in ICU. Materials and methodsAn anonymous questionnaire was administered on a voluntary basis to HCWs of 3 ICUs. Measurements and main resultsCost estimations were expressed as percentage of the real cost; an estimation was considered correct if it was ±50% of the true price. 107 HCWs (66 physicians and 41 nurses and nurse aids) answered the survey. Only 29% of estimations were within 50% of the real cost. The prices of the cheapest devices were overestimated, while the costs of the most expensive ones were underestimated. In multivariate analysis, cost less than50 euros [OR = 3.2; CI 95%(1.6–6.3)], professional experience <10 years [OR = 1.5; CI 95%(1.1–2.1)], being a medical student [OR = 2.0; CI 95%(1.3–3.0)], and working in a university affiliated hospital [OR = 0.6; CI 95%(0.4–0.9)] were associated with an incorrect estimation. ConclusionsICU's HCWs have a poor knowledge of the price of devices they regularly use for the care of their patients.