Identification of Low Cardiac Output Syndrome at the Bedside: A Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Survey

• Published in: Critical care nurse 2019-04, Vol.39 (2), p.e1-e7
• Main Authors: Nordness, Matthew J, Westrick, Ashly C, Chen, Heidi, Clay, Mark A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiac Output, Low - diagnosis; Cardiac Output, Low - nursing; Cardiovascular Nursing - standards; Cardiovascular Nursing - statistics & numerical data; Critical Care Nursing - standards; Critical Care Nursing - statistics & numerical data; Education, Nursing, Continuing; Female; Hospitals, Pediatric - standards; Hospitals, Pediatric - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric - standards; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric - statistics & numerical data; Male; Nursing; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0279-5442; 1940-8250
• DOI: 10.4037/ccn2019794

Low cardiac output syndrome is a transient constellation of signs and symptoms that indicate the heart's inability to supply sufficient oxygen to tissues and end-organs to meet metabolic demand. Because the term lacks a standard clinical definition, the bedside diagnosis of this syndrome can be difficult. To evaluate concordance among pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurses in their identification of low cardiac output syndrome in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery. An anonymous survey was distributed to 69 pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurses. The survey described 10 randomly selected patients aged 6 months or younger who had undergone corrective or palliative cardiac surgery at a freestanding children's hospital in a tertiary academic center. For each patient, data were presented corresponding to 5 time points (0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours postoperatively). The respondent was asked to indicate whether the patient had low cardiac output syndrome (yes or no) at each time point on the basis of the data presented. The response rate was 46% (32 of 69 nurses). The overall Fleiss k value was 0.30, indicating fair agreement among raters. When the results were analyzed by years of experience, agreement remained only slight to fair. Regardless of years of experience, nurses have difficulty agreeing on the presence of low cardiac output syndrome. Further research is needed to determine whether the development of objective guidelines could improve recognition and facilitate communication between the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurse and the medical team.