Impact of nursing education by a pharmacist on sedation practice in a trauma surgical intensive care unit.

Abstract

Benefits of pharmacist-provided education on nurse-driven sedation protocols have not been assessed. Trauma intensive care unit nurses received pharmacist-provided education on the hospital's sedation protocol. Sedation outcomes were assessed for patients in the preeducation (n = 29) and posteducation (n = 33) groups. The primary outcome of sedation scores at goal was not significantly different (41% vs 60%; P = .169), while more patients experienced oversedation (50% vs 32%; P = .013) in the pre- vs posteducation groups, respectively. No patient experienced self-extubation. Despite similar achievement of goal sedation scores before and after pharmacist-provided education, the posteducation group experienced fewer incidences of oversedation with no difference in self-extubation.