Sammanfattning
Background: Mobile intensive care nurses (MICNs) have been established at Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål, but there is little knowledge about how these resources are used or what their work entails.
Objective: To map the number of requests for MICNs during a six-month period, and to assess the reasons for the requests, measures initiated by MICNs and the number of admissions to an intensive care unit.
Method: We recorded the requests for MICNs over the period June–December 2015. The MICNs recorded socio-demographic and clinical variables on a registration form for each call-out. When the data on the registration form were inadequate, we retrieved information from DIPS, the electronic patient record system.
Results: The MICNs received a total of 163 requests during the registration period. Of these, 91 were either for advice to ward nurses or assistance in dealing with various nursing procedures (group 1), while 72 were mainly associated with respiratory (56.9 per cent) and circulatory (18.1 per cent) deterioration in a patient (group 2). The most common measures taken in group 2 were the following: supplying O2, intravenous fluid, medication, correct positioning for bedrest and consulting with an MICN. Of the patients in group 2, 22.1 per cent were transferred to an intensive care unit for treatment.
Conclusion: In most cases, MICNs were called out due to deterioration in a patient as a result of respiratory distress. Future studies should map whether MICNs can prevent admissions to intensive care.