Search

Background: Physical restraint is applied in pediatric intensive care units to carry out certain painful procedures and to ensure the maintenance and continuity of life support devices. There is a need to analyse the factors that influence the behaviour or intention to use physical restraint. Aim: To create and test psychometrically a paediatric version of the Physical Restraint‐Theory of Planned Behaviour Questionnaire to assess paediatric critical care nurses' intention to use physical restraint. Study Design: A psychometric study. Five medical‐surgical Paeditric Intensive care Units from five hospitals in Spain. The study took place in three phases. In phase 1, the questionnaire was adapted. In phase 2, the content validity of each item was determined, and a pilot test was conducted. In phase 3, we administered the questionnaire and determined its psychometric properties. Results: The assessment of the intention to use physical restraint was extended to all critical paediatric patients, two items were eliminated from the initial questionnaire, four new items were included, and the clinical scenarios of the intention subscale were expanded from three to six. Overall content validity index for the full instrument of 0.96 out of 1. The Paediatric Physical Restraint‐Theory of Planned Behaviour Questionnaire is made up of four subscales (attitude, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC), and intention) subdivided into 7 factors and 51 items. The internal consistency for the attitude subscale obtained a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.80 to 0.73, for the SN it was 0.72 to 0.89, for the PBC it was from 0.80 to 0.73 and for the intention subscale it was 0.75. Conclusions: The Paediatric Physical Restraint‐Theory of Planned Behaviour Questionnaire is an instrument composed of seven factors and 51 items that validly and reliably assesses the intention of paediatric nurses to apply PR in PICUs. Relevance for Clinical Practice: Having this instrument will help health centres move towards restraint‐free care by allowing managers to assess professionals' attitudes, beliefs, and intentions around the use of PR in PICUs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surgical wound complications are adverse events with important repercussions for the health of patients and health system. Surgical site infections and wound dehiscences are among the most important surgical wound complications, with a high incidence in paediatric patients undergoing surgery for non‐idiopathic scoliosis. Incisional negative pressure wound therapy for surgical incisions is used as a preventive measure against surgical wound complications in adults; however, there has been scant evidence for using it in children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the cost‐effectiveness of incisional negative pressure wound therapy in preventing surgical wound complications in paediatric patients undergoing surgery to treat non‐idiopathic scoliosis. Randomized clinical trial. Children younger than 18 years of age undergoing surgery for non‐idiopathic scoliosis were randomly assigned into two groups to receive one of two different types of dressings for the first 7 days after surgery. One group were treated with a postoperative hydrofibre and hydrocolloid dressing with silver for wounds (control group), and the other group received a single‐use incisional negative pressure wound therapy system (intervention group). The wounds were assessed after removal of the dressings at 7 days after surgery and again at 30, 90, and 180 days after surgery. Surgical wound complications, sociodemographic variables, variables related to the procedure and postoperative period, economic costs of treatment of surgical wound complications, and time to healing of the surgical wound were recorded. Per protocol and per intention to treat analysis was made. The per protocol incidence of surgical wound complications was 7.7% in the intervention group versus 38.5% in the control group (p = 0.009; Fisher exact test. RR = 0.20 IC95%: 0.05–0.83). Surgical wound dehiscence, surgical site infections, seroma, and fibrin were the most common surgical wound complications. The type of surgery, duration of surgery, and patients' age were associated with a higher risk for surgical wound complications. Postoperative hydrofibre and hydrocolloid dressing with silver for wounds were found to be associated with a longer time to healing. Initial costs for dressings in the group receiving incisional negative pressure wound therapy were higher, but the total postoperative costs were higher for those receiving postoperative hydrofibre and hydrocolloid dressing with silver for wounds. It was found that for each US$1.00 of extra costs for using incisional negative pressure wound therapy, there was a benefit of US$12.93 in relation to the cost of complications prevented. Incisional negative pressure wound therapy is cost‐effective in the prevention of surgical wound complications in children undergoing surgery for non‐idiopathic scoliosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To identify factors underlying ethical conflict occurring during the current COVID‐19 pandemic in the critical care setting. Background: During the first wave of the COVID‐19 outbreak, Spanish and Italian intensive care units were overwhelmed by the demand for admissions. This fact revealed a crucial problem of shortage of health resources and rendered that decision‐making was highly complex. Sources of evidence: Applying a nominal group technique this manuscript identifies a series of factors that may have played a role in the emergence of the ethical conflicts in critical care units during the COVID‐19 pandemic, considering ethical principles and responsibilities included in the International Council of Nurses Code of Ethics. The five factors identified were the availability of resources; the protection of healthcare workers; the circumstances surrounding decision‐making, end‐of‐life care, and communication. Discussion: The impact of COVID‐19 on health care will be long‐lasting and nurses are playing a central role in overcoming this crisis. Identifying these five factors and the conflicts that have arisen during the COVID‐19 pandemic can help to guide future policies and research. Conclusions: Understanding these five factors and recognizing the conflicts, they may create can help to focus our efforts on minimizing the impact of the ethical consequences of a crisis of this magnitude and on developing new plans and guidelines for future pandemics. Implications for nursing practice and policy: Learning more about these factors can help nurses, other health professionals, and policymakers to focus their efforts on minimizing the impact of the ethical consequences of a crisis of this scale. This will enable changes in organizational policies, improvement in clinical competencies, and development of the scope of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore the meaning of comfort and know the factors that contribute to it from the point of view of the young adults who received care in a paediatric intensive care unit, the family of the patient and the interdisciplinary team attending the patient. Findings: A total of 30 people were invited to participate in the focus groups; 24 did so. Thematic analysis yielded the following common categories: meaning of comfort, environmental factors in paediatric intensive care unit, family accompaniment during paediatric intensive care unit stay, management of information in the paediatric intensive care unit and, finally, the intimacy and privacy of the critically ill paediatric patient and their family. Conclusions: Paediatric intensive care unit professionals need to consider not only the environmental input that may lead to discomfort but also aspects such as continuous family accompaniment, the sharing of complete information with the family and the promoting of privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]