Validation of a care protocol for the septic patient in the Intensive Care Unit

to elaborate and validate a protocol for the care of the nurse to the septic patient in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

instrument validation study. Two steps were followed: instrument development and content validation according to the Delphi technique.

the validation of contents related to the nurse's assistance to the septic patient in intensive care was initially composed of eighteen items analyzed by the evaluators/judges. From this, through the Content Validity Index (CVI), thirteen items with strong evidence of validation were identified, CVI = 0.79. Then the instrument was refined, being then composed of fifteen items, which in the second phase Delphi had a percentage of agreement above 84% for the variables pertinent to the protocol.

the method was effective to validate the contents of a protocol for the nurse's assistance to the septic patient in the ICU.