Nursing care complexity as a predictor of adverse events in patients transferred from ICU to hospital ward after general surgery

Abstract

Objectives: Predicting the likelihood of adverse events following discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) can contribute to improving the quality of surgical care. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of nursing care complexity as a predictor of adverse event development in general surgery patients transferred from the ICU to the hospital ward.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted with 100 patients in the ICU and general surgical inpatient unit of a training and research hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. The Nursing Care Complexity tool was used by ICU and hospital ward nurses to measure nursing complexity.

Results: A total of 65 adverse events developed in 51 patients during hospital ward hospitalization after discharge from the ICU. Nursing care complexity evaluations by the ICU nurses predicted overall and some specific adverse events, while hospital ward nurses' evaluations predicted ICU readmission and some follow-up abnormalities such as patients' blood pressure, pulse rate, and laboratory results.

Conclusion: The results of the current study validate that nursing care complexity can serve as a valuable tool for predicting the risk of adverse events and ICU readmission following discharge from the ICU.

Implications for clinical practice: The use of the Nursing Care complexity tool by the ICU and even hospital ward nurses after ICU discharge may have a significant impact on patient outcomes and contribute to the recognition of nursing efforts.

Keywords: Adverse events; Care complexity; Discharge; Intensive Care Unit.