Intensive Care Unit Nurses' Knowledge and Nursing Practices regarding Bedside Electrocardiograph Monitoring

Kang, Jeong Hee; Suh, In Sun; Kim, Ji Young

Abstract

PURPOSE
Bedside electrocardiograph (ECG) monitoring is continuously used for assessing patients' cardiac status in intensive care units. However, it has not been explored whether it is used with proper knowledge and nursing practices; if not, its usage will be limited and the risk for compromised patient safety might be significant. This study, therefore, explored knowledge and nursing practices regarding bedside ECG monitoring in nurses working at intensive care units.
METHODS
Participants in this survey research were a convenience sample of 156 nurses from 25 intensive care units distributed in five hospitals with more than 1,000 beds each in Seoul, South Korea.
RESULTS
Participants showed limited and incorrect knowledge and nursing practices. Only 4 (2.6%) participants correctly answered to all electrode placement sites of RA, LA, LL, and V1. Lead II was the most frequently monitored unit regardless of the main purpose of ECG monitoring, and nursing practices to manage noisy signals did not include skin care at the top priorities.
CONCLUSION
Educators and clinicians alike need to make an effort to ensure that a safe level of knowledge and practices for the monitoring is maintained in order to make sure that patient outcomes are not compromised.