| Learning Objective #1: Describe nursing interventions for fever commonly used in the hospital setting | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss factors that influence nurses' selection and use of fever interventions for specific patient populations |
Objective: Although acute-care nurses independently assess and make decisions regarding fever management (Grossman et al, 1995; Holtzclaw, 1999), no study clearly demonstrates the best way to manage fever. There is also minimal research on clinical decision-making of foreign-born or educated nurses working in the USA. Study purpose: Determine what interventions are currently used for fever care by nurses from different countries, and factors influencing intervention selection. Design: Descriptive exploratory Population, Sample, Setting, Years: Convenience sample of nurses on five specialty units at five hospitals,1999 Variables: Nurses, ethnicity, fever interventions Methods: Nurses from ICU, ID/AIDS, Medical, Surgical and Telemetry units at five hospitals were asked to complete Grossman and Keen's (1995) Fever Questionnaire. Final sample: 165 nurses, 144 females, 21 males. Less than a third of the nurses (31.5%)were born in USA. Asia= 30.9%; Caribbean/West Indies= 25.5% Findings: Similarities between specialties and ethnic groups were noted, such as administering antipyretics and adding/removing bed clothes/linens. Other interventions had wide variations. Multiple regression analysis revealed that some variance in using ice packs was related to place of birth (p= .047, R2 = 0. 024, adjusted R2 = 0.018). Variance in use of sponging was related to where the nurse was born and where went to school. Variance in the use of hypothermia units was related to age of nurse, years worked in a specialty and years in nursing (p= .001, R2 = 0.103, adjusted R2 = 0.085). Conclusions: Nurses in this sample made decisions on fever care based on two factors: personal (culture, ethnicity, where born, where went to school) and on knowledge gained by working in a specialty area. Implications: Further research is needed to understand the clinical decision-making process of multi-ethnic nurses in the acute-care setting, as the nursing workforce in the USA continues to grow in cultural diversity.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003