Mapping Strategies to Threats in Critical Care Nursing

Abstract

Nurses in the critical care environment encounter numerous threats while performing critical tasks. These threats may emerge from different sources such as the environment or the patient. Effective mitigation of the threats while managing the condition of the patient entails the use of strategies. The strategies that are used to manage the threats aim at changing the state of particular characteristics of the environment or the patient. This study attempted to classify the threats and strategies used by intensive care unit nurses into different types, and to map commonalities between the threats and strategies. Results indicated that although nurses managed threats with a cocktail of strategies, the most prominent strategy in the cocktail typically belonged to the same category as that of the threat.

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