Developing and validating a patient monitoring flow sheet in intensive care units

Intensive care unit is a center to provide comprehensive care for critically ill patients whose condition can be improved by receiving specialized care. The importance of accurate and rapid monitoring of patients at this precise moment is in recording patient data and its comparison with previous data. Monitoring the patient by either devices or direct examination of the nurses requires accurate documentation. Hence, accuracy of the documentation is essential to enhance the quality of care, despite the high volume of data in intensive care unit.

This study was conducted by review of domestic and international texts through Delphi method. There were 20 participants in Delphi stage. Data were collected by the questionnaires sent in two stages. Experts' panel was used to complete and finalize the obtained structures. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive statistics in the form of frequency percentage.

In a review of 15 domestic and international flow sheets as well as 30 reference texts and 80 articles, 99 primary flow sheet structures were detected, of which 58 had a consensus of >70%. With the goal of avoiding repetition and making the recordable data brief, and with respect to the nurses' initial assessment in better planning and administration of care, a flow sheet was designed as a nursing admission sheet to be completed at the moment of admission. Its content and template had consensus among the panel of experts, and the instruction for complement of the sheets was finally developed.

After obtaining content validity and including the given indications, daily monitoring sheet and admission sheet were developed.