Clinical trial NCT01633606: Drawing the Line Between Medium Care and Intensive Care. A Prospective Observational Study Based on the Nursing Activities Score
Official title: Drawing the Line Between Medium Care and Intensive Care. A Prospective Observational Study Based on the Nursing Activities Score
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Critical Illness
Keywords: severity of illness
scoring
medium care
intensive care
staffing
Lead sponsor: KU Leuven
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2012-07-04
Enrollment: 1000
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: acute patients

Brief summary: The aim of the study is to develop a screening instrument, based on the nursing activities score, by which we can distinguish medium care patients from the intensive care patients in terms of nurse staffing.

The main study question is: What is the most discriminative NAS cut off for medium care patient?

Each nursing shift the NAS and TISS 28 scores will be calculated for each patient who is admitted to the 8 participating units.

Nurses will be asked to answer 3 questions (see detailed description here under)at the end of their working shift concerning each patient appointed to them.

Each morning medical staff and head nurses will be asked 2 questions (see detailed description here under) for concerning patient admitted to there ward.

In order to determine the NAS cut off for medium care patient, all morning questionnaire scores will be compared to the NAS an TISS28 scores of that same morning.

Secondary study questions are:

* Can NAS score based on one nursing shift predict the severity of care in the subsequent nursing shift?
* Is there a difference in appreciation of severity of care between nurses, head nurses and medical staff?
* Which variables influence the perception of severity of care?
* How does NAS relate to TISS28, APACHE and NEMS?

Detailed description: Nursing questionnaire:

1. How many beds were appointed to you?

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4
   5. 5
   6. 6
2. For how many of such patients you could care for maximally?

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4
   5. \>4
3. This patients' burden of care corresponds to:

   1. An intensive care patient who requires more than standard intensive care
   2. An intensive care patient who requires standard intensive care
   3. A medium care patient

medical staff and head nurse questionaire:

1. For how many of such patients you could care for maximally?

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4
   5. \>4
2. This patients' burden of care corresponds to?

   1. An intensive care patient who requires more than standard intensive care
   2. An intensive care patient who requires standard intensive care
   3. A medium care patient

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* admission to one of the 9 critical area's

Primary outcomes:
measure: most discriminative NAS cut off for identifying medium care patient versus intensive care patient
timeFrame: 1 year
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Catholic University Leuven
name: Greet Van den Berghe, MD PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
name: Karen Decock, RS
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: