Critical care nurses’ perceptions of caring for patients at a selected hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Background: Caring in a critical care setting requires a holistic process of
individualised, patient-focused, and specialised care within a work intensive and
technologically focused environment. These are what have an impact on how caring
unfolds within a critical care environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has further altered
the care relationship between critical care nurses, critically ill patients and their
families.
Aim: To determine critical care nurse’s perceptions of caring for patients at a selected
hospital in KwaZulu-Natal
Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 139
participants in a tertiary quaternary hospital. Data collection used the Caring
Assessment for Caregivers questionnaire, and analysis was with descriptive statistics.
Results: Results revealed that most of the participants were females above 30 years,
holding a Diploma in Nursing and had > 10 years of work experience. Participants had
an overall high perception of caring, with a total mean score of 116.01 (range of 25-
125). Of the five subscales, the subscale of “Maintaining belief,” had the highest mean
composite score 24.25(range of 5-25) and the subscale of “Being with,” had the lowest
mean composite score 22.70. There was no significant relationship found between the
critical care nurses’ socio-demographic characteristics, the overall score and the total
scores of each of the five subscales.
Conclusion:
Whilst critical care nurses reported a high overall perception of caring, lower mean
scores on the subscale “Being with” suggest that there areas for critical care nurses to
grow in their role as carers. Further research is necessary for replication of the study
using qualitative approaches to bring forth valuable findings on how the critical care
environment has an impact on the caring experiences of critical care nurses.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.