Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Volume 24, Issue 2 , Pages 78-89 , April 2008

Competence in intensive and critical care nursing: A literature review

  • Riitta-Liisa Ääri

      Affiliations

    • University of Turku, Department of Nursing Science, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +358 5036 52885; fax: +358 2333 8400.
    • ,
  • Suominen Tarja

      Affiliations

    • University of Turku, Department of Nursing Science, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • University of Kuopio, Department of Nursing Science, Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland
    • Tel.: +358 1716 2240.
    • ,
  • Leino-Kilpi Helena

      Affiliations

    • University of Turku, Department of Nursing Science, 20014 Turku, Finland
    • Tel.: +358 2333 8404; fax: +358 2333 8400.

,Accepted 28 November 2007.

References 

  1. Ääri R-L, Ritmala-Castrèn M, Leino-Kilpi H, Suominen T. Biological and physiological knowledge and skills of graduating Finnish nursing students to practice in intensive care. Nurse Educ Today. 2004;24:293–300
  2. Albert NM, Collier S, Sumodi V, Wilkinson S, Hammel JP, Vopat L, et al. Nurses’ knowledge of heart failure education principles. Heart Lung. 2002;31:102–112
  3. Bench S, Crowe D, Day T, Jones M, Wilebore S. Developing a competency framework for critical care to match patient need. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2003;19:136–142
  4. Benner P. Issues in competency-based testing. Nurs Outlook. 1982;30:303–309
  5. Brazier H, Begley C. Selecting database for literature searches in nursing: MEDLINE or CINAHL?. J Adv Nurs. 1996;24:868–875
  6. Bucknall T. Critical care nurses’ decision-making activities in the natural clinical setting. J Clin Nurs. 2000;9:25–36
  7. Bucknall T. The clinical landscape of critical care: nurses’ decision-making. J Adv Nurs. 2003;43:310–319
  8. Bucknall T, Copnell B, Shannon K, McKinley D. Evidence based practice: are critical care nurses ready for it?. Aust Crit Care. 2001;14:92–98
  9. Bucknall T, Thomas S. Nurses’ reflections on problems associated with decision-making in critical care settings. J Adv Nurs. 1997;25:229–237
  10. Bunch EH. Hidden and emerging drama in a Norwegian critical care unit: ethical dilemmas in the context of ambiguity. Nurs Ethics. 2001;8:57–67
  11. Burns N, Grove S. The practice of nursing research. Conduct, critique & utilization. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Company; 2001;
  12. Cavanagh S. Content analysis: concepts, methods and applications. Nurse Res. 1997;4:5–16
  13. Christensen M, Hewitt-Taylor J. Defining the expert ICU nurse. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2006;22:301–307
  14. Corwin RG. Role Conception and Mobility Aspiration: A study in the Formation and Transformation of Bureaucratic, Professional, and Humanitarian Nursing. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota; 1960. Unpublished dissertation.
  15. Crego PJ, Lipp EJ. Nurses’ knowledge of advance directives. Am J Crit Care. 1998;7:218–223
  16. Day T, Wainwright SP, Wilson-Barnett J. An evaluation of a teaching intervention to improve the practice of endotracheal suctioning in intensive care units. J Clin Nurs. 2001;10:682–696
  17. Dunn SV, Lawson D, Robertson S, Underwood M, Clark R, Valentine T, et al. The development of competency standards for specialist critical care nurses. J Adv Nurs. 2000;31:339–346
  18. Egerod I. Uncertain terms of sedation in ICU. How nurses and physicians manage and describe sedation for mechanically ventilated patients. J Clin Nurs. 2002;11:831–840
  19. Erkes EB, Parker VG, Carr RL, Mayo RM. An examination of critical care nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain management in hospitalized patients. Pain Manag Nurs. 2001;2:47–53
  20. Facione NC, Facione PA, Sanchez CA. Critical thinking dispositions as measure of competent clinical judgement: the development of the California Critical Thinking Inventory. J Nurs Educ. 1994;33:345–350
  21. Facione PA. The California critical thinking skills test manual. Millbrae (CA): California Academic Press; 1992;
  22. Ferrell BR, McCaffery M. Nurses knowledge and attitudes survey regarding pain; 1998 [Accessed July, 27, 1999 at http://mayday.coh.org/Instruments/k&a.htm].
  23. Fox S, Jeffrey J. The role of the nurse with families of patients in ICU: the nurses’ perspective. Can J Cardiovasc Nurs. 1997;8:17–23
  24. Giuliano KK, Kleinpell R. The use of common continuous monitoring parametres. A quality indicator for critically ill patients with sepsis. AACN Clin Issues. 2005;16:140–148
  25. Gramling KL. A narrative study of nursing art in critical care. J Holist Nurs. 2004;22:379–398
  26. Hendersson V. Basic principles of nursing care. London: International Council of Nurses; 1961;
  27. Hickey M, Lewandowski L. Critical care nurses’ role with families: a descriptive study. Heart Lung. 1988;17(6 Pt. 1):670–676
  28. Hicks FD, Merritt SL, Elstein AS. Critical thinking and clinical decision making in critical care nursing: a pilot study. Heart Lung. 2003;32:169–177
  29. Hind M, Jackson D, Anderewes C, Fulbrook P, Galvin K, Frost S. Exploring the expanded role of nurses in critical care. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1999;15:147–153
  30. Holl RM. Characteristics of the registered nurse and professional beliefs and decision making. Crit Care Nurs Q. 1994;17:60–66
  31. Houston KA, Lach HW. Restraints: How do you score? Take this quiz to see how well you can separate the facts from the fallacies of restraints. Geriatr Nurs. 1990;11:231–232
  32. Hughes F, Bryan K, Robbins I. Relatives’ experiences of critical care. Nurs Crit Care. 2005;10:23–30
  33. Hughes KK, Young WB. The relationship between task complexity and decision-making consistency. Res Nurs Health. 1990;13:189–197
  34. ICN framework of competencies for the generalist nurse. Geneva: Standards and Competencies Series; 2003.
  35. Irvine D, Leatt P, Evans MG, Baket RG. Measurement of staff empowerment within health service organizations. J Nurs Meas. 1999;7:79–96
  36. Jamieson L, Williams LM, Dwyer T. The need for a new advanced nursing practice role for Australian adult critical care settings. Aust Crit Care. 2002;15:139–145
  37. Janelli LM, Kanski GW, Scherer YK, Neary MA. Physical restraints: practice, attitudes and knowledge among nursing staff. J Long Term Care Adm. 1992;20:22–25
  38. Johansson I, Fridlund B, Hildingh C. What is supportive when an adult next-of-kin is in critical care?. Nurs Crit Care. 2005;10:289–298
  39. Jones H, Newton JT, Bower EJ. A survey of the oral care practices of intensive care nurses. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2004;20:69–76
  40. Jones M. Critical care competencies. Nurs Crit Care. 2002;7:111–120
  41. King L, Macleod Clark J. Intuition and the development of expertise in surgical ward and intensive care nurses. J Adv Nurs. 2002;37:322–329
  42. Kuokkanen L, Leino-Kilpi H, Katajisto J. Do nurses feel empowered? Nurses’ assessments of their own qualities and performance with regard to nurse empowerment. J Prof Nurs. 2002;18:328–335
  43. Lehwaldt D, Timmins F. Nurses’ knowledge of chest drain care: an exploratory descriptive survey. Nurs Crit Care. 2005;10:192–200
  44. Leino-Kilpi H, Suominen T, Tepponen H. Hoidon laatu—miten arvioin ja kehitän?. Tehohoito. 1998;16:134–136[in Finnish, English abstract]
  45. Lindahl B, Norberg A. Clinical group supervision in an intensive care unit: a space for relief, and sharing emotions and experiences of care. J Clin Nurs. 2002;11:809–818
  46. Lingard L, Espin S, Evans C, Hawryluck L. The rules of the game: interprofessional collaboration on the intensive care unit team. Crit Care. 2004;8:403–408
  47. Manias E, Street A. The interplay of knowledge and decision making between nurses and doctors in critical care. Int J Nurs Stud. 2001;38:129–140
  48. McCready T. Portfolios and the assessment of competence in nursing: a literature review. Int J Nurs Stud. 2006;44:143–151
  49. McGhee BH, Woods S. Critical care nurses’ knowledge of arterial pressure monitoring. Am J Crit Care. 2001;10:43–51
  50. Medline. Accessed February 12, 2007, at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=mesh.
  51. Meretoja R, Leino-Kilpi H, Kaira A-M. Comparison of nurse competence in different hospital work environments. J Nurs Manag. 2004;12:329–336
  52. Molter NC. Needs of relatives of critically ill patients: a descriptive study. Heart Lung. 1979;8:332–339
  53. Moss AH, Demanelis AR, Murray J, Jack J. Barriers to quality end-of-life care in West Virginia ICU units: physicians’ and nurses’ prospectives. W V Med J. 2005;101:200–204
  54. O’Brien JL, Moser DK, Riegel B, Frazier SK, Garvin BJ, Kim KA. Comparison of anxiety assessments between clinicians and patients with acute myocardial infarction in cardiac care units. Am J Crit Care. 2001;10:97–103
  55. O'Sullivan S, Preston DB, Forti EM. Predictors of rural critical care nurses’ willingness to care for people with AIDS. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2000;16:181–190
  56. Peden-McAlpine C. Early recognition of patient problems: a hermeneutic journey into understanding expert thinking in nursing. Sch Inq Nurs Pract. 2000;14:191–226
  57. Potinkara H, Paunonen M. Alleviating anxiety in nursing patients’ significant others. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1996;12:327–334
  58. Preston DB, Young EW, Koch PB, Forti EM. The nurses’ attitudes about AIDS scale (NAAS): development and psychometric analysis. AIDS Educ Prev. 1995;7:443–454
  59. PubMed Services. MeSH database. Accessed June, 18, 2007 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=mesh.
  60. Puntillo KA, Benner P, Drought T, Drew B, Stotts N, Stannard D, et al. End-of-life issues in intensive care units: a national random survey of nurses’ knowledge and beliefs. Am J Crit Care. 2001;10:216–229
  61. Reischman RR, Yarandi HN. Critical care cardiovascular nurse expert and novice diagnostic cue utilization. J Adv Nurs. 2002;39:24–34
  62. Santiano N, Daffurn K, Lee A. The basic knowledge assessment tool: is it useful?. Aust Crit Care. 1994;7:18–23
  63. Schribante J, Muller ME, Lipman J. A guideline for competency of the critical care nurse. Am J Crit Care. 1996;5:217–226
  64. Sjöström B, Dahlgren LO, Haljamäe H. Strategies in postoperative pain assessment: validation study. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1999;15:247–258
  65. Sjöström B, Jakobsson E, Haljamäe H. Clinical competence in pain assessment. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2000;16:273–282
  66. Slomka J, Hoffman-Hogg L, Mion LC, Bair N, Bobek MB, Arroliga AC. Influence of clinicians’ values and perceptions on use of clinical practice guidelines for sedation and neuromuscular blockade in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Am J Crit Care. 2000;9:412–418
  67. Spielberger C, Jacobs G, Russel S, Crane R. Assessment of anger: the state trait anger scale. In:  Butcher JN,  Spielberger C editor. Advances in Personality Assessment. vol. 2:Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; 1983;p. 56–66
  68. Strumpf NE, Evans LK. Physical restraint of the hospitalized elderly: perceptions of patients and nurses. Nurs Res. 1988;37:132–137
  69. Suominen T, Leino-Kilpi H, Mäkelä M, Doran Irvine D, Puukka P. Staff empowerment in Finnish intensive care units. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2001;17:341–347
  70. Takman C, Severinsson E. Comparing Norwegian nurses’ and physicians’ perceptions of needs of significant others in intensive care units. J Clin Nurs. 2005;14:621–631
  71. The Cochrane library. Accessed February 15, 2007, at http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/cochrane_search_mesh_fs.html.
  72. Toth JC, Ritchey KA. New from nursing research: the basic knowledge assessment tool (BKAT) for Critical Care Nursing. Heart Lung. 1984;13:272–279
  73. Tuning Educational Structures in Europe. Accessed February 15, 2007, at http://tuning.unideusto.org/tuningeu/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=112&Itemid=139.
  74. UKCC. Fitness for Practice, 1999. Accessed February 15, 2007, at http://www.nschtr.wmids.nhs.uk/files/users/wilsos/Downloads/Fitness%20for%20practice.pdf.
  75. Washburn SC, Hornberger CA, Klutman A, Skinner L. Nurses’ knowledge of heart failure education topics as reported in a small midwestern community hospital. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2005;20:215–220
  76. Watts R, Gardner H, Pierson J. Factors that enhance or impede critical care nurses’ discharge planning practices. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2005;21:302–313
  77. Wood CJ. Can nurses safely assess the need for endotracheal suction in short-term ventilated patients, instead of using routine techniques?. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1998;14:170–178
  78. Yeh S-H, Hsiao C-Y, Ho T-H, Chiang M-C, Lin L-W, Hsu C-Y, et al. The effects of continuing education in restraint reduction on novice nurses in intensive care units. J Nurs Res. 2004;12:246–256
  79. Yeh S-H, Lee L-N, Ho T-H, Chiang M-C, Lin L-W. Implications of nursing care in the occurrence and consequences of unplanned extubation in adult intensive care units. Int J Nurs Stud. 2004;41:255–262

PII: S0964-3397(07)00122-X

doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2007.11.006

Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Volume 24, Issue 2 , Pages 78-89 , April 2008

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution