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The Impact of under-Staffing of Nurses on Sedative/Analgesic Agents Administration in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit [PICU]

Received: 18 November 2020    Accepted: 17 December 2020    Published: 21 May 2021
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Abstract

Institution: Department of Pediatrics, pediatric critical care, University of Buffalo Oishei Children’s’ hospital. Objective: To evaluate the impact of understaffing on administration of sedatives and analgesics to patients in pediatric intensive care unit [PICU]. Design: Retrospective cohort. Setting: PICU in a university-affiliated children’s hospital. Patients: Fifteen intubated children 0-21 years of age admitted to the PICU in September and October 2017 at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. Twenty-one intubated children admitted in January and February 2018 at Oishei Children’s Hospital. All intubated patients in our study received sedation and analgesic drips and/or boluses. Intervention: None. Results: We used NEMS [Nine Equivalent of nursing use Manpower score] as a way of evaluating the ‘appropriateness’ of nurse-patient ratio. Appropriate shifts were defined as shifts with Nurse/Patients [N/P] ratio similar to that determined per NEMS. Under-staffed Shifts were shifts with N/P ratio less than determined per NEMS. Sedation burden was defined as extradoses of sedation given or rate change of drip per shift. There were no differences in age, sex, race, weight and PRISM score between patients admitted in both hospitals. There was no significant difference in sedation burden between appropriate shifts 207/429 [48.2%] vs under-staffed shifts 26/44 [59.1%], p-value=0.17. Linear regression was used to account for severity of disease using PRISM score, there was no significant difference between the two groups. There was significant sedation burden in shifts with higher N/P ratio [1:1 or 2:1] vs lower N/P ratio [1:2] [112/191 58.6% vs 121/281 43%, p-value=0.0009]. Conclusion: We could not prove that understaffing would be associated with increase sedation. In our study group, there was increase sedation administration to patients when they had more nurses at their bedside. We think having an established sedation score and collecting these scores with the amount of sedation given during appropriate and under-staffed shifts might help controlling for some of the variables and give a more objective method to judge the patients’ depth of sedation. More studies need to be conducted on the effect of nurse staffing and the amount of sedation.

Published in Pharmaceutical Science and Technology (Volume 5, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12
Page(s) 7-13
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sedation, Analgesics, NEMS, Under-staffing

References
[1] Neuraz et al. Patient mortality is associated with staff resources and workload in the ICU: Multicenter observational study. Critical Care Medicine Aug 2015 43 (8): 1587.
[2] Penoyer et al. Nurse staffing and patient outcomes in critical care: a concise review.. Crit Care med Jul 2010: 38 (7): 1521.
[3] Jane Ball et al. ‘Care left undone during nursing shifts: associations with workload and perceived quality of care. BMJ, quality and safety on line July 2013.
[4] Nursing shortage fact sheet. American association of colleges of nursing April 24 2014.
[5] Oliveria et al. Use of scores to calculate the nursing workload in a pediatric intensive care unit. Rev Bras Ter Intensiva. 2014: 26 (1): 36.
[6] Canabarro et al. concurrent validation of nursing scores (the NEMS and TISS-28) in pediatric intensive care. Acta Paul Enferm. 2013: 26 (2): 123.
[7] Monroy et al. utilization of the NEMS in pediatric intensive care unit. Enfer Intensiva. 2002 July: 13 (3): 107.
[8] Moreno et al. Nursing staff in Intensive Care in Europe. Chest March 1998. 113 (3): 752.
[9] Miranada et al. Critical care medicine in the hospital: lessons from the EURICUS database. Med Intensiva. 2007: 31 (4): 194
[10] Defining sedation-related adverse events in the Pediatric intensive care unit. Grant et al. Heart Lung 2013; 42 (3): 171.
[11] Protocolized sedation versus usual care in pediatric patients mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory failure: RCT. RESTORE Curley et al. JAMA Jan 2015; 31 (4): 379.
[12] Oversedation from continuous sedation and extubation failures in the pediatric intensive care unit. Cole et al. Critical Car Med Dec 2013; 41.
[13] Robert S. Ream et al. Association of nursing workload and unplanned exubation in a pediatric care unit. PCCM 2007 vol. 8, No. 4. 366.
[14] Griffith et al. The association between nurse staffing and omissions in nursing care: A systematic review. Journal of Advanced nursing 2018 Jul; 74 (7): 1474.
[15] Guttormson et al. Nurses’ Attitudes and Practices Related to Sedation: A National Survey. Am J Crit Care. 2019 July; 28 (4): 255–263.
[16] Guttormson et al. Factors influencing nurse sedation practices with mechanically ventilated patients: a U.S. national survey. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2010; 26 (1): 44–50.
[17] Kydonaki et al. challenges and barriers to optimizing sedation intensive care: a qualitative study in eight Scottish intensive care units. BMJ open 2019; 9.
[18] Wang et al. The effect of nurse staffing on patient-safety outcomes: A cross-sectional survey. J Nurs Manag. Aug 2020; 28: 1758–1766.
[19] Akkadechanunt et al. The Relationship Between Nurse Staffing and Patient Outcomes. The Journal of Nursing Administration Oct 2003; 33 (9): 478-85.
[20] Hickey et al. Critical Care Nursing’s Impact on Pediatric patient outcomes. Ann Thoracic surg May 2016.
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    Khaled Abdelmagid, Kramer Bree, Heard Christopher. (2021). The Impact of under-Staffing of Nurses on Sedative/Analgesic Agents Administration in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit [PICU]. Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, 5(1), 7-13. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12

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    ACS Style

    Khaled Abdelmagid; Kramer Bree; Heard Christopher. The Impact of under-Staffing of Nurses on Sedative/Analgesic Agents Administration in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit [PICU]. Pharm. Sci. Technol. 2021, 5(1), 7-13. doi: 10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12

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    AMA Style

    Khaled Abdelmagid, Kramer Bree, Heard Christopher. The Impact of under-Staffing of Nurses on Sedative/Analgesic Agents Administration in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit [PICU]. Pharm Sci Technol. 2021;5(1):7-13. doi: 10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12,
      author = {Khaled Abdelmagid and Kramer Bree and Heard Christopher},
      title = {The Impact of under-Staffing of Nurses on Sedative/Analgesic Agents Administration in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit [PICU]},
      journal = {Pharmaceutical Science and Technology},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {7-13},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pst.20210501.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pst.20210501.12},
      abstract = {Institution: Department of Pediatrics, pediatric critical care, University of Buffalo Oishei Children’s’ hospital. Objective: To evaluate the impact of understaffing on administration of sedatives and analgesics to patients in pediatric intensive care unit [PICU]. Design: Retrospective cohort. Setting: PICU in a university-affiliated children’s hospital. Patients: Fifteen intubated children 0-21 years of age admitted to the PICU in September and October 2017 at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. Twenty-one intubated children admitted in January and February 2018 at Oishei Children’s Hospital. All intubated patients in our study received sedation and analgesic drips and/or boluses. Intervention: None. Results: We used NEMS [Nine Equivalent of nursing use Manpower score] as a way of evaluating the ‘appropriateness’ of nurse-patient ratio. Appropriate shifts were defined as shifts with Nurse/Patients [N/P] ratio similar to that determined per NEMS. Under-staffed Shifts were shifts with N/P ratio less than determined per NEMS. Sedation burden was defined as extradoses of sedation given or rate change of drip per shift. There were no differences in age, sex, race, weight and PRISM score between patients admitted in both hospitals. There was no significant difference in sedation burden between appropriate shifts 207/429 [48.2%] vs under-staffed shifts 26/44 [59.1%], p-value=0.17. Linear regression was used to account for severity of disease using PRISM score, there was no significant difference between the two groups. There was significant sedation burden in shifts with higher N/P ratio [1:1 or 2:1] vs lower N/P ratio [1:2] [112/191 58.6% vs 121/281 43%, p-value=0.0009]. Conclusion: We could not prove that understaffing would be associated with increase sedation. In our study group, there was increase sedation administration to patients when they had more nurses at their bedside. We think having an established sedation score and collecting these scores with the amount of sedation given during appropriate and under-staffed shifts might help controlling for some of the variables and give a more objective method to judge the patients’ depth of sedation. More studies need to be conducted on the effect of nurse staffing and the amount of sedation.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AU  - Khaled Abdelmagid
    AU  - Kramer Bree
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    AB  - Institution: Department of Pediatrics, pediatric critical care, University of Buffalo Oishei Children’s’ hospital. Objective: To evaluate the impact of understaffing on administration of sedatives and analgesics to patients in pediatric intensive care unit [PICU]. Design: Retrospective cohort. Setting: PICU in a university-affiliated children’s hospital. Patients: Fifteen intubated children 0-21 years of age admitted to the PICU in September and October 2017 at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. Twenty-one intubated children admitted in January and February 2018 at Oishei Children’s Hospital. All intubated patients in our study received sedation and analgesic drips and/or boluses. Intervention: None. Results: We used NEMS [Nine Equivalent of nursing use Manpower score] as a way of evaluating the ‘appropriateness’ of nurse-patient ratio. Appropriate shifts were defined as shifts with Nurse/Patients [N/P] ratio similar to that determined per NEMS. Under-staffed Shifts were shifts with N/P ratio less than determined per NEMS. Sedation burden was defined as extradoses of sedation given or rate change of drip per shift. There were no differences in age, sex, race, weight and PRISM score between patients admitted in both hospitals. There was no significant difference in sedation burden between appropriate shifts 207/429 [48.2%] vs under-staffed shifts 26/44 [59.1%], p-value=0.17. Linear regression was used to account for severity of disease using PRISM score, there was no significant difference between the two groups. There was significant sedation burden in shifts with higher N/P ratio [1:1 or 2:1] vs lower N/P ratio [1:2] [112/191 58.6% vs 121/281 43%, p-value=0.0009]. Conclusion: We could not prove that understaffing would be associated with increase sedation. In our study group, there was increase sedation administration to patients when they had more nurses at their bedside. We think having an established sedation score and collecting these scores with the amount of sedation given during appropriate and under-staffed shifts might help controlling for some of the variables and give a more objective method to judge the patients’ depth of sedation. More studies need to be conducted on the effect of nurse staffing and the amount of sedation.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 1
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Author Information
  • Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care, University of Buffalo Oishei Children’s’ Hospital, Buffalo, USA

  • Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care, University of Buffalo Oishei Children’s’ Hospital, Buffalo, USA

  • Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care, University of Buffalo Oishei Children’s’ Hospital, Buffalo, USA

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