Nurses' rationale for blood glucose monitoring in critical care

Morbidity and mortality in a critical care environment is improved when there is tight control of blood glucose. This study aimed to explore nurses' rationale for blood glucose monitoring in a critical care setting. An exploratory qualitative design was utilized in one acute division of a large NHS Trust in Scotland. Volunteers were sought by letter and through posters in the clinical area. Five staff nurses from two critical care areas volunteered to take part in one-to-one interviews that were tape-recorded. All transcripts were analysed using content analysis. Nurses described differing perspectives on blood glucose monitoring. Nurses did not know the blood glucose level that defines hyperglycaemia, a knowledge gap which impacts on care intervention. Three sisters from the wards were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the reasons for the poor response rate. They identified several issues thought to impact on staff volunteering for research.