Comparison of complications and procedural activities of pulmonary artery catheter removal by critical care nurses versus medical doctors

• Published in: Nursing in critical care Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 105 - 115
• Main Authors: Öztekin, Deniz S, Akyolcu, Neriman, Öztekin, İlhan, Kanan, Nevin, Göksel, Onur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2008
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Catheter; Catheterization, Swan-Ganz - nursing; Catheters, Indwelling; Clinical Competence; Device Removal - adverse effects; Device Removal - nursing; Female; Humans; Inservice Training; Male; Middle Aged; Nurse; Nursing; Nursing Staff, Hospital - education; Physicians; Prospective Studies; Pulmonary artery; Removal; Task Performance and Analysis; Turkey
• ISSN: 1362-1017; 1478-5153
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-5153.2007.00266.x

Background:  None of the nursing studies on PA catheter removal pointed out any differences in complications after removal and procedural activities for removal of PA catheter by CCNs vs MDs in Turkey. Aims:  This quasi‐experimental study was conducted to determine the occurrence and type of complications and to indicate the differences between CCNs and medical doctors’ (MDs) activities for removal of PA catheter. Methods:  Totally, 60 critical care unit patients were scheduled as a sample, and they were assigned randomly to the CCN (n = 30) or to the MD (n = 30) groups. For the comparison purposes of the different activities and complications of PA catheter removal procedure between the two groups, ‘Instruction Form’ was followed step by step. The differences in the prevalence of variables were tested using Student’s t statistics. For categorical data, Fisher’s exact test was used. Significance was declared by P value of <0·05. Results:  Preprocedural activities like patient positioning (P < 0·001) and instructing the patient for breathing (P = 0·001) demonstrated statistically significant differences between the two groups. The PA catheters were removed properly in both groups (P > 0·05). The majority of postprocedural activities were completed successfully. The complications of the catheter removal were documented more carefully by nurses compared with doctors (P < 0·01). Additionally, singular premature ventricular complexes were observed on electrocardiogram in both groups (P > 0·05). Conclusion:  Instructing CCNs to remove a PA catheter has been highlighted in keeping the number of complications associated with removal procedure of PA catheter.