Scope of Nursing Care in Polish Intensive Care Units

Table 1

Frequency of occurrence and mean duration of observed interventions performed by Polish nurses in ICU.

No.	Intervention	𝑁	Mean time of performance in sec.	Median (Me)	SD
1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Direct observation of a patient	513	34.28	18	60.37
2	Removing mucus from the airways	357	23.37	14	92.18
3	Measurement of arterial blood pressure	250	40.65	34	30.67
4	Making and maintaining contact with patient’s family	229	67.91	40	73.70
5	Change of patient’s body position	221	365.47	240	430.27
6	Measurement of diuresis	197	34.20	30	27.79
7	Performance of intravenous injection	196	66.21	42.6	57.89
8	Feeding of a patient	158	252.96	189.2	239.97
9	Connecting intravenous drip	152	88.98	81.5	65.07
10	Measurement of body temperature	103	16.89	6	21.92
11	Placing of pulsoxymeter	75	6.84	4.9	6.81
12	Taking venous blood for laboratory tests	69	92.94	50	102.22
13	Flushing of peripheral venous catheter	64	21.26	13.5	21.17
14	Changing dressing on wound	60	137.05	127	136.62
15	Removing of mucus from the oral cavity	58	45.00	24.5	46.21
16	Connecting infusion pump	58	80.41	62.5	61.77
17	Disconnecting infusion pump	52	47.51	36.5	50.21
18	Toilet of patient’s whole body	52	784.94	578.3	580.63
19	Care of peripheral venous catheter	48	63.75	18	94.53
20	Measurement of saturation	47	38.65	30	29.43
21	Disconnecting intravenous drip	44	53.35	22.5	88.05
22	Performance of inhalation	43	434.04	409	154.74
23	Partial toilet of a patient	41	184.40	94.1	192.34
24	Changing bed sheets with a patient in bed	40	241.84	158.7	161.66
25	Deflation of tracheal tube cuff	35	18.82	18	10.74
26	Application of conveniences or immobilization of a patient	33	77.03	47	55.44
27	Administration of oral drug	31	26.70	20	27.80
28	Assisting at procedures and diagnostic tests	31	323.25	120	512.77
29	Administration of oxygen	22	15.59	9	13.75
30	Supporting expectoration of secretion from the airways	22	311.36	300	24.74
31	Exchange of nebulisator	20	14.53	14.1	7.07
32	Exchanging Redon’s bag	20	63.25	60	14.53
33	Performance of subcutaneous injection	19	15.63	14	7.13
34	Provision of bed pad	18	64.98	25	89.62
35	Tapping patient’s back	18	35.81	30.5	12.32
36	Performing thermoregulatory procedures	17	43.78	17.1	36.64
37	Insertion of gastric tube	16	151.62	173.5	88.91
38	Indirect observation of a patient	16	1165.62	1200	413.31
39	Feeding by gastric tube	16	358.12	360	16.31
40	Making tactile contact with patient	14	62.5	52	40.87
41	Connection of ECG electrodes	14	75	31.5	95.27
42	Carrying out of respiratory exercises	14	72.78	55	58.82
43	Suction of gastric tube	13	57.83	73	24.42
44	Changing tracheostomial tube tie	13	90.30	83	56.39
45	Administration of inhalation drugs	13	9.61	9	4.92
46	Flushing of gastric tube	13	165.76	180	47.69
47	Connecting hemodialysis	12	994.41	429	973.07
48	Care of sucking drainage	10	72.2	29	58.38
49	Change of dressing on central venous catheter	10	404	235	356.81
50	Hygienic washing of hands	10	82	60	94.46
51	Rehabilitation exercises	10	110.28	124.1	29.23
52	Removal of gastric tube	7	15.71	16	7.47
53	Disconnecting hemodialysis	7	608.71	430	433.01
54	Connecting blood or blood-related products	7	131.57	150	53.73
55	Insertion of peripheral catheter	6	439.33	332.5	218.46
56	Removal of peripheral catheter	5	133.6	62	164.87
57	Application of drug on skin	5	102	102	0
58	Flushing of sucking drainage	5	50	50	0
59	Administration of oral fluids	5	164	138	126.53
60	Provision of a strip of lignin	5	44	44	0
61	Application of ointment into nose	5	67.8	30	65.20
62	Application of suppository	5	9.2	10	3.11
63	Taking smear for laboratory tests	4*	54.5*	69*	29*
64	Tilting a patient to erect position	4*	214.25*	192.5*	146.23
65	Performance of intramuscular injection*	3*	26.66*	22*	11.71*
66	Exchanging urine bag	3*	11.66*	10*	2.88*
67	Flushing ultrafiltrator’s filter	3*	683.33	655	71.82
68	Taking capillary blood for laboratory tests	2*	6.5*	6.5*	2.12*
69	Performance of enema	2*	64.5*	64.5*	6.36*
70	Application of ointment on eye	2*	340*	340*	0*
71	Measurement of central venous pressure	1*	138*	138*	—
72	Ventilation with Ambu bag	1*	28*	28*	—
73	Removal of urinary catheter	1*	32*	32*	—
74	Performance of ECG	1*	738*	738*	—
75	Performance of intradermal injection*	1*	9*	9*	—
Total number of time schedule measurements of duration of nursing interventions		3697

𝑁: number of measurements of an individual intervention.
∗number of measurements smaller than 5.