Characteristics, management and survival of ICU patients with coronavirus disease-19 in Norway, March-June 2020. A prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Norwegian hospitals have operated within capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We present patient and management characteristics, and outcomes for the entire cohort of adult (>18 years) COVID-19 patients admitted to Norwegian intensive care units (ICU) from 10 March to 19 June 2020. METHODS: Data were collected from The Norwegian intensive care and pandemic registry (NIPaR). Demographics, co-morbidities, management characteristics and outcomes are described. ICU length of stay (LOS) was analysed with linear regression, and associations between risk factors and mortality were quantified using Cox regression. RESULTS: In total, 217 patients were included. The male to female ratio was 3:1 and the median age was 63 years. A majority (70%) had one or more co-morbidities, most frequently cardiovascular disease (39%), chronic lung disease (22%), diabetes mellitus (20%), and obesity (17%). Most patients were admitted for acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) (91%) and invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) was used in 86%, prone ventilation in 38% and 25% of patients received a tracheostomy. Vasoactive drugs were used in 79% and renal replacement therapy in 15%. Median ICU LOS and time of MV was 14.0 and 12.0 days. At end of follow-up 45 patients (21%) were dead. Age, co-morbidities and severity of illness at admission were predictive of death. Severity of AHRF and male gender were associated with LOS. CONCLUSIONS: In this national cohort of COVID-19 patients, mortality was low and attributable to known risk factors. Importantly, prolonged length-of-stay must be taken into account when planning for resource allocation for any next surge.

Pain in intensive care unit patients-A longitudinal study.

Aim: To assess occurrence of pain during the first 6 days of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and evaluate associations between occurrence of pain and selected patient-related variables. Design: A longitudinal study. Methods: Adult ICU patients from three units were included. Patients' pain was assessed with valid pain assessment tools every 8 hr during their first 6 days in ICU. Possible associations between occurrence of pain and selected patient-related variables were modelled using multiple logistic regression. Results: When pain was assessed regularly with pain assessment tools, 10% of patients were in pain at rest and 27% were in pain during turning. The proportions of patients who were in pain were significantly higher for patients able to self-report pain, compared with patients not able to self-report (p < .001). Several predictors were associated with being in pain. It is important to be aware of these predictors in order to improve pain management.

Competence in caring for patients with respiratory insufficiency: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare nurses' self-assessed competence and perceived need for more training in intensive care units treating patients with respiratory insufficiency before and after completion of a seven-hour educational programme, and to assess whether factors such as age, educational level, years of experience and percentage of employment are associated with these outcomes. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The study had a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive design, with two measurement times. The ProffNurse SAS questionnaire was used to assess nurses' self-assessed competence and perceived need for more training. SETTING: Nurses in one medical/surgical intensive care unit and one medical intensive care unit in a hospital in Norway. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Nurses' self-assessed competence and perceived need for more training. RESULTS: The pre- and post-education studies comprised responses from 85 (52%) and 52 (32%) nurses, respectively. The educational programme contributed to increased self-assessed competence in seven items. Self-assessed competence was significantly associated with nurses' educational level, and critical care nurses reported higher self-assessed competence than registered nurses on 50% of the items. CONCLUSION: The findings fill a gap in knowledge about nurses' competence in treating patients with respiratory insufficiency in intensive care units. Both education days and further education have beneficial effects on self-assessed competence.

Nurse's Evaluation of a Pain Management Algorithm in Intensive Care Units.

BACKGROUND: Many patients have memories of pain during intensive care unit stay. To improve pain management, practice guidelines recommend that pain management should be guided by routine pain assessment and suggest an assessment-driven, protocol-based, stepwise approach. This recommendation prompted the development of a pain-management algorithm. AIM: Evaluate the feasibility and clinical utility of this algorithm. DESIGN: A descriptive survey. SETTINGS: One medical/surgical intensive care unit, one surgical intensive care unit, and one postanesthesia care unit at two hospitals in Norway. PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: Nurses working at the three units. METHODS: A pain-management algorithm, including three pain assessment tools and a guide to pain assessment and pain management, was developed and implemented in three intensive care units. Nurses working at the three units (n = 129) responded to a questionnaire regarding the feasibility and clinical utility of the algorithm used. RESULTS: Our results suggested that nurses considered the new pain-management algorithm to have relatively high feasibility, but somewhat lower clinical utility. Less than half of respondents thought that pain treatment in clinical practice had become more targeted using the tree pain-assessment tools (45%) and the algorithm for pain assessment and pain management (24%). CONCLUSIONS: Pain-management algorithms may be appropriate and useful in clinical practice. However, to increase clinical utility and to achieve more targeted pain treatment, more focus on pain-treatment actions and reassessment of patients' pain is needed. Further focus in clinical practice on how to implement an algorithm and more focus on pain-treatment action and reassessment of patients' pain is needed.

Pain relief from nonpharmacological interventions in the intensive care unit: A scoping review.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe what is known from the existing literature on nonpharmacological interventions targeting pain in patients admitted to the ICU. BACKGROUND: Patients receiving intensive care nursing are exposed to a wide range of pain provoking tissue damage, diseases, surgery and other medical procedures in addition to the pain caused by nursing care procedures. The present shift to light sedation to improve patient outcomes and comfort underscores the need for effective pain management. Opioids are the mainstay for treating pain in the ICUs, whereas nonpharmacological treatments are understudied and possibly under-used. METHOD: A scoping review was undertaken using five of the six steps in the Arksey and O´Malley framework: (a) identification of the research question, (b) identification of relevant studies, (c) study selection, (d) charting the data and (e) collating, summarising and reporting the results. CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, BMJ Best Practice, British Nursing Index and AMED databases were searched using relevant keywords to capture extensive evidence. Data were analysed using the six-step criteria for scoping reviews suggested by Arksey and O´Malley for data extraction. To ensure quality and transparency, we enclosed the relevant Equator checklist PRISMA. RESULTS: Our search yielded 10,985 articles of which 12 studies were included. Tools for pain assessments were VAS, NRS, ESAS and BPS. Interventions explored were hypnosis, simple massage, distraction, relaxation, spiritual care, harp music, music therapy, listening to natural sounds, passive exercise, acupuncture, ice packs and emotional support. Reduction in pain intensity was conferred for hypnosis, acupuncture and natural sounds. CONCLUSION: The findings support further investigations of acupuncture, hypnosis and listening to natural sounds. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The main finding suggests the use of comprehensive multimodal interventions to investigate the effects of nonpharmacological treatment protocols on pain intensity, pain proportion and the impact on opioid consumption and sedation requirements.

Quality of life improves in patients with chronic heart failure and Cheyne-Stokes respiration treated with adaptive servo-ventilation in a nurse-led heart failure clinic.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate if quality of life improved in chronic heart failure patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration treated with adaptive servo-ventilation in nurse-led heart failure clinic. BACKGROUND: Cheyne-Stokes respiration is associated with decreased quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure. Adaptive servo-ventilation is introduced to treat this sleep-disordered breathing. DESIGN: Randomised, controlled design. METHODS: Fifty-one patients (ranging from 53-84 years), New York Heart Association III-IV and/or left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and Cheyne-Stokes respiration were randomised to an intervention group who received adaptive servo-ventilation or a control group. Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire was used to assess quality of life at randomisation and after three months. Both groups were followed in the nurse-led heart failure clinic. RESULT: Adaptive servo ventilation improved quality of life-scores both in a per protocol analysis and in an intention to treat analysis. Twenty-one patients dropped out of the study, nine in the control and 12 in the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Use of adaptive servo-ventilation improved quality of life in chronic heart failure patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration. However, the drop-out rate was high. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Chronic heart failure patients come regularly to the nurse-led heart failure clinic. The heart failure nurses' competency has to include knowledge of equipment to provide support and continuity of care to the patients.

Results of implementing a pain management algorithm in intensive care unit patients: The impact on pain assessment, length of stay, and duration of ventilation.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to measure the impact of implementing a pain management algorithm in adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients able to express pain. No controlled study has previously evaluated the impact of a pain management algorithm both at rest and during procedures, including both patients able to self-report and express pain behavior, intubated and nonintubated patients, throughout their ICU stay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The algorithm instructed nurses to assess pain, guided them in pain treatment, and was implemented in 3 units. A time period after implementing the algorithm (intervention group) was compared with a time period the previous year (control group) on the outcome variables: pain assessments, duration of ventilation, length of ICU stay, length of hospital stay, use of analgesic and sedative medications, and the incidence of agitation events. RESULTS: Totally, 650 patients were included. The number of pain assessments was higher in the intervention group compared with the control group. In addition, duration of ventilation and length of ICU stay decreased significantly in the intervention group compared with the control group. This difference remained significant after adjusting for patient characteristics. CONCLUSION: Several outcome variables were significantly improved after implementation of the algorithm compared with the control group.

Development of a pain management algorithm for intensive care units.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a pain management algorithm for intensive care unit (ICU) patients and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the translated tools used in the algorithm. BACKGROUND: Many ICU patients experience pain. However, an evidence-based algorithm for pain management does not exist. METHODS: Literature review, expert panel, and pilot testing were used to develop the algorithm. The tools were evaluated for inter-rater reliability between two nurses. Discriminant validity was evaluated by comparing pain during turning and rest. RESULTS: An algorithm was developed. The Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) and the Behavioral Pain Scale-Non Intubated (BPS-NI) discriminated between pain scores during turning and rest. Inter-rater reliability for the BPS varied from moderate (0.46) to very good (1.00). Inter-rater reliability for the BPS-NI varied from fair (0.21) to good (0.63). CONCLUSIONS: The content of the pain management algorithm is consistent with the latest clinical practice guideline recommendations. It may be a useful tool to improve pain assessment and management in adult ICU patients.

Implementation of a pain management algorithm in intensive care units and evaluation of nurses' level of adherence with the algorithm.

OBJECTIVES: To implement a pain management algorithm in intensive care units (ICU) and to evaluate nurses' level of adherence with the algorithm. BACKGROUND: Many ICU patients experience pain. Therefore, an evidence-based algorithm for pain management was developed. METHODS: A pain management algorithm was implemented in three units over three weeks. Nurses' level of adherence with the algorithm and associations between level of adherence and patient and unit characteristics over 22 weeks were evaluated using multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: Nurses' level of adherence was 74.6%. Adherence rates were lower on the evening and night shifts compared to the day shift. Males were assessed significantly less frequently than females. Patients with "injury, poisoning, or certain other consequences of external causes" were assessed significantly less frequently than patients with "diseases of the respiratory system." CONCLUSIONS: ICU nurses can use a pain management algorithm consistently. Findings from this study suggest that a pain management algorithm is a useful tool to increase ICU nurses' adherence with pain assessment.