The Nurse-Patient Outcome Content Validation Method.

PURPOSE: To describe a new method of validating nursing outcomes and indicators that incorporates nurses' and patients' perspectives. METHODS: The Nurse-Patient Outcome Content Validation Method was developed in light of the experience of conducting the content validation of the nursing outcome Knowledge: Heart Failure Management (1835). It was developed based on Fehring's content validation model used for the validation of NANDA International nursing diagnoses. It expands the concept of who is an expert in the validation of nursing outcomes. FINDINGS: The Nurse-Patient Outcome Content Validation Method is a new method in which the concept of experts is expanded to gather patients' as well as healthcare professionals' perspectives on the importance of indicators to measure an outcome. Based on the importance ratios, the indicators are grouped into three categories: critical, supplemental, or unnecessary. To validate the outcome, importance ratios of critical and supplemental indicators are summed and divided by the total number of the indicators to calculate the outcome content validity (OCV) score of the nursing outcome. CONCLUSION: The Nurse-Patient Outcome Content Validation Method is a new method of content validation of nursing outcome and indicators that incorporates the patient perspective. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: The Nurse-Patient Outcome Content Validation Method provides a mechanism to include nurses' and patients' perspectives to content validity research of nursing outcomes. It supports patient empowerment since the patient is viewed as an expert regarding the experience of living and managing his/her clinical condition.

Pulse Pressure and Mortality Risk in Critically Ill Patients.

BACKGROUND: Pulse pressure is a hemodynamic variable easily measured in the intensive care unit. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether pulse pressure is an independent risk factor for mortality in intensive care unit patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was carried out in Brazil. Data were collected from medical records of patients admitted to intensive care units from September to December 2012. Pulse pressure was calculated from systolic and diastolic blood pressures recorded during the first 24 hours of stay. RESULTS: Records of 529 patients (mean [standard deviation] age 55.0 [17.3] years; 54.4% male, 45.6% female) were analyzed. Risk factors for mortality were age, use of vasoactive drugs, nursing workload, and length of stay in the intensive care unit. Analysis indicated that higher minimum pulse pressures were associated with lower mortality risk. CONCLUSION: Pulse pressure was not found to be an independent risk factor for mortality in patients who are critically ill.