Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Volume 25, Issue 3 , Pages 120-127 , June 2009

Quality of practice in an intensive care unit (ICU): A mini-ethnographic case study

  • Anette Storesund

      Affiliations

    • Haukeland University Hospital, Surgery Department, Postoperative Section, 5021 Bergen, Norway
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +47 99 73 52 74; fax: +47 55 97 24 68.
    • ,
  • Anne McMurray

      Affiliations

    • Murdoch University, Education Drive, Mandurah, Western Australia 6210, Australia

,Accepted 4 February 2009.

References 

  1. Australian College of Critical Care Nurses . Competency standards for specialist critical care nurses. Carlton: Aust Crit Care Nurs; 2002;
  2. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, 2007. The commission's nine priority programs. Canberra: Australian Health Ministers’ Conference on July 24, 2007. http://www.safetyandquality.org/internet/safety/publishing.nsf/Content/programs-lp.
  3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004. Australian Health 2004, the Nursing labour force. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/ah04/ah04-c10-040804.pdf [accessed July 10, 2008].
  4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2006. Australia's health 2006. AIHW cat. no. AUS 73. Canberra: AIHW. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/ah06/ah06.pdf [accessed July 10, 2008].
  5. Aiken LH, Clarke SP, Sloane DM, Sochalski JA, Busse R, Clarke H, et al. Nurses’ reports on hospital care in five countries. Health Affairs. 2001;20:43–53
  6. Aiken LH, Clarke SP, Sloane DM, Sochalski JA, Silber JH. Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. J Am Med Assoc. 2002;288:1987–1993
  7. Best MF, Thurston NE. Measuring nurse job satisfaction. J Nurs Admin. 2004;34(6):283–290
  8. Brewer JD. Ethnography. Buckingham: Open University Press; 2000;
  9. Brooten D, Youngblut JM, Kutcher J, Bobo C. Quality and the workforce: APNs, patient outcomes and health care costs. Nurs Outlook. 2004;52(1):45–52
  10. Bucknall T, Thomas S. Nurses’ reflections on problems associated with decision-making in critical care settings. J Adv Nurs. 1997;25(2):229–237
  11. Cartledge S. Factors influencing the turnover of intensive care nurses. Int Crit Care Nurs. 2001;17(6):348–355
  12. Chaboyer W, Najman J, Dunn S. Factors influencing job valuation: comparative study of critical care and non-critical care nurses. Int J Nurs Studies. 2001;38(2):153–161
  13. Darvas JA, Hawkins LG. What makes a good intensive care unit: a nursing perspective. Aust Crit Care. 2002;15(2):77–82
  14. De Laine M. Ethnography. Theory and applications in health research. Sydney: MacLennan & Petty Pty Limited; 1997;
  15. Duffield C, O’Brien-Pallas L. Nursing workforce in Canada and Australia: two sides of the same coin. Aust Health Rev. 2002;25(2):136–144
  16. Farnell S, Dawson D. It's not like the wards”. Experiences of nurses new to critical care: a qualitative study. Int J Nurs Stud. 2006;43:319–333
  17. Fitzgerald D. Aging, experienced nurses: their value and needs. Contemporary nurse. J Aust Nurs Prof. 2007;24(2):237–242
  18. Francis K. Reflections on nursing. Aust J Adv Nurs. 2008;25(4):6–8
  19. Hinshaw AS. Nursing knowledge for the 21st century: opportunities and challenges. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2000;32(2):117–123
  20. Holloway I, Wheeler S. Qualitative research in nursing. 2nd ed.. Melbourne: Blackwell Publishing; 2002;
  21. Huggins K. Lifelong learning—the key to competence in the intensive care unit?. Int Crit Care Nurs. 2004;20(1):38–44
  22. International Council for Nurses . The global shortage of registered nurses: an overview of issues and actions. Geneva: International Council for Nurses; 2004;
  23. Kim MJ. Priorities for advancing nursing knowledge. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2002;34(3):211–212
  24. Kuokkanen L, Leino-Kilpi H, Katajisto J. Nurse empowerment, job-related satisfaction, and organizational commitment. J Nurs Care Qual. 2003;18(3):184–192
  25. LeBlanc PM, de Jonge J, de Rijk AE, Schaufeli WB. Well-being of intensive care nurses (WEBIC): a job analytic approach. J Adv Nurs. 2001;36(3):460–470
  26. Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park: Sage Publication; 1985;
  27. Lumby J. Solving the global nursing workforce shortage problem. Nurs Aust. 2008;16
  28. Manias E, Street A. Rethinking ethnography: reconstructing nursing relationship. J Adv Nurs. 2001;33(2):234–242
  29. Martin JN, Nakamaya TK, Flores LA. Readings in intercultural communication. Experiences and contexts. 2nd ed.. Sydney: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.; 2002;
  30. McCue M, Mark BA, Harless DW. Nurse staffing, quality, and financial performance. J Health Care Finances. 2003;29(4):54–76
  31. Messmer PR, Jones SG, Taylor BA. Enhancing knowledge and selfconfidence of novice nurses: the “shadow-a-nurse” ICU program. Nurs Health Care Perspect. 2004;25(3):131–137
  32. Miller PA. Nurse–physician collaboration in an intensive care unit. Am J Crit Care. 2001;10(5):341–350
  33. Morrison AL, Beckmann U, Durie M, Carless R, Gilles DM. The effects of nursing staff inexperience (NSI) on the occurrence of adverse patient experiences in ICUs. Aust Crit Care. 2001;14(3):116–120
  34. Needleman J, Buerhaus P, Mattke S, Stewart M, Zelevinsy K. Nurse-staffing levels and the quality of care in hospitals. N Eng J Med. 2002;346:1715–1722
  35. Polit DF, Beck CT. Nursing research. Principles and methods. 7th ed.. Sydney: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004;
  36. Reising DL. Early socialization of new critical care nurses. Am J Crit Care. 2002;11(1):19–26
  37. Rose S, Bisson J, Churchill R, Wessely S. Psychological debriefing for preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002;2
  38. Sagie A, Krausz M. What aspects of the job have most effect on nurses?. Hum Resour Manage J. 2003;13(1):46–63
  39. Santiano N, Daffurn K. Registered nurses’ self-perceived level of competence following completion of a specialist graduate certificate. Aust Crit Care. 2003;16(7):16–23
  40. Spradley JP. The ethnographic interview. Sydney: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.; 1979;
  41. Stake RE. Case studies. In:  Denzin NK,  Lincoln YS editor. Handbook of qualitative research.. 2nd ed.. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 2000;p. 435–454
  42. Stechmiller JK. The nursing shortage in acute and critical care settings. Am Assoc Crit Care Nurs. 2002;13(4):577–584
  43. Suominen T, Leino-Kilpi H, Merja M, Doran DI, Puukka P. Staff empowerment in Finnish intensive care units. Int Crit Care Nurs. 2001;17(6):341–347
  44. Upenieks V. Recruitment and retention strategies: a magnet hospital prevention model. Nurs Econ. 2003;21(1):7–23
  45. Varjus S, Suominen T, Leino-Kilpi H. Autonomy among intensive care nurses in Finland. Int Crit Care Nurs. 2003;19(1):31–40
  46. Wikoff K. Culture, generational differences, and spirituality. In:  Kelly P editors. Nursing leadership and management. 2nd ed.. Washington: Thomson Delmar Learning; 2008;p. 536–562
  47. Williams AM. The delivery of quality nursing care: a grounded theory study of the nurses’ perspective. J Adv Nurs. 1998;27(4):808–816
  48. Williams S, Ogle KR, Leslie G. ACCCN national nursing workforce survey of intensive care units. Aust Crit Care. 2001;14(2):50–54
  49. Williams G, Chaboyer W, Alberto L, Thorsteinsdottir R, Schmollgruber S, Fullbrook P, et al. Critical care nursing organizations and activities—a second worldwide review. Int Nurs Rev. 2007;54(2):151–159
  50. Wynne R. Ten Australian ICU nurses’ perceptions of organisational restructuring. Aust Crit Care. 2004;17(1):16–24
  51. Yin RK. Case study research. Design and methods. 3rd ed.. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks; 2003;
  52. Zaccaro S, Rittman A, Marks M. Team leadership. Leadersh Quart. 2001;12:451–483

PII: S0964-3397(09)00004-4

doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2009.02.001

Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Volume 25, Issue 3 , Pages 120-127 , June 2009

Article Tools