Staffing and Organisation of Nursing Care in Cardiac Intensive Care Units in Greece

• Published in: European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology 2003-07, Vol.2 (2), p.123-129
• Main Authors: Merkouris, Anastasios, Papathanassoglou, Elizabeth D.E., Pistolas, Dimitrios, Papagiannaki, Vasileia, Floros, John, Lemonidou, Chryssoula
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Coronary Care Units - organization & administration; Cross-Sectional Studies; Education, Nursing, Continuing - organization & administration; Greece; Guidelines as Topic; Health Services Needs and Demand; Hospital Bed Capacity - statistics & numerical data; Hospitals, Rural; Hospitals, Urban; Humans; Inservice Training - organization & administration; Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data; Models, Nursing; Nurse's Role; Nursing Administration Research; Nursing Staff, Hospital - education; Nursing Staff, Hospital - organization & administration; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling - organization & administration; Professional Autonomy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time and Motion Studies; Workforce; Workload
• ISSN: 1474-5151; 1873-1953
• DOI: 10.1016/S1474-5151(03)00029-X

Purpose: To explore staffing and organisational characteristics of nursing care in cardiac intensive care units (CICUs) in Greece. Methodology: An exploratory descriptive survey design with additional cross-sectional comparisons was employed. A specifically developed survey-type questionnaire, addressed to nurse managers, was distributed to all CICUs in Greece. Results: The response rate was 76.2% (N=32 units). Nursing staff per bed ratios over 24 h (whole-time equivalent) were very low and exhibited a mean of 1.25 (±0.53). The total registered nurse to assistance nurse (RN/AN) ratio was 2.74, but a lot of variability was observed and in many units ANs operated in RNs positions. Only 42% of the nurses had participated at in-service continuing education programs and a systematic training program in cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was provided in only 12 (37.5%) units. The reported frequencies at which specific technical tasks were performed autonomously by nurses varied substantially and reflected a medium to low level of practice autonomy; the most frequently reported tasks were: peripheral IV line insertion, CPR chest compression, titration of vasoactive drugs and administration of analgesics. Higher percentages of nurses had received in-service training associated with the likelihood of performance of several technical tasks (P