Alternative delivery system for controlled drugs in the surgical intensive care unit. J Trauma 1990 Sep;30(9):1141-6; discussion 1146-7
Date
09/01/1990Pubmed ID
2213947DOI
10.1097/00005373-199009000-00010Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0025131655 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 7 CitationsAbstract
Faced with a serious shortage of qualified nurses for critically ill patients, methods to reduce the time required to deliver care without sacrificing quality are needed. A non-electronic device designed as a patient-controlled analgesic (PCA) was evaluated as a nurse-controlled device (NCA). Twenty-five intubated patients received morphine sulfate (MS) with the nurse-controlled device (NCA) and 12 by standard IV push policy. The average nursing time for narcotic dosing with the standard policy was 5 minutes/unit dose. A total of 1,183 NCA doses were given over 77 patient days. The average doses per patient day were 15 (2-38). The average nursing time was 22 seconds/NCA dose. The NCA saved 85 nursing minutes/patient day. Annual nursing labor costs were reduced by $77,000.00 with NCA. Total costs for standard IV push narcotic use were $36.43/patient day versus $35.45/patient day for NCA. Using this protocol, the NCA system saved $8,500.00 annually. By increasing the duration of PCA use to 72 hours, the annual savings would become $49,500.00. These data indicate that a simple NCA can deliver controlled drugs rapidly and safely, save valuable nursing time, and decrease the cost of ICU care.
Author List
Weigelt JA, Dyke C, Martin RLMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Economics, NursingHumans
Infusion Pumps
Intensive Care Units
Morphine
Postoperative Period
Self Administration
Time and Motion Studies
