Related Experiment Videos
Nurses' perceptions of critical incidents
Jillian O'Connor1, Sue Jeavons
1Aged Psychiatry, Caulfield General Medical Centre, Caulfield, Victoria, Australia.
Journal of Advanced Nursing
|January 10, 2003
Summary
Nurses identified child abuse and child death as critical incidents. Stressful events were categorized into Grief, Emergency, and Risk scales, with Grief-related incidents being most impactful.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Psychology
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Limited research exists on nurses' perceptions of critical clinical events.
- Exploratory research in Australia aimed to understand nurses' views on critical incidents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify clinical events nurses perceive as critical.
- To explore associations between critical incident experiences and nurse demographics.
Main Methods:
- A survey questionnaire was administered to 227 registered nurses.
- The questionnaire was based on previous critical incident studies.
Main Results:
- Child abuse and death were perceived as most critical.
- Emergency situations were the most frequent and stressful incidents.
- Factor analysis revealed three critical incident types: Grief, Emergency, and Risk.
Conclusions:
- The study identified three key scales for conceptualizing critical incidents.
- Further research is needed to validate these findings.