The Application of the Nurse-Led Sedation and Analgesia Management in ICU after Heart Surgeries

Traditional sedation management consists of doctors adjusting the dosage of sedative drugs or adding other drugs in combination according to the evaluation of nurses; the nurses then execute the orders. The nurses' passive execution in the process is not the ideal model for continuous evaluation and observation of sedation. This study aims to investigate the application and effects of nurse-provided procedural sedation and analgesia for patients in intensive care unit.

The experimental group consisted of 354 heart surgery patients who received procedural sedation and analgesia from nurses from November 2020 to August 2021. The control group consisted of 301 patients who had had heart surgery and received the traditional sedation management program from January to October 2020. The differences in levels of the sedative effect, delirium, and unplanned extubation of patients between these two groups were compared.

There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups (P > 0.05). It was found that both insufficient sedation and excessive sedation decreased in the experimental group when compared to the control group, while the appropriate proportion of sedation increased (72.41% versus 37.98%); the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of delirium was lower for patients in the experimental group than for patients in the control group (37.01% versus 66.45%); the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of unplanned extubation caused by patient factors was lower for the experimental group than for the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).

The programmed sedation scheme led by nurses can improve the sedation effect and reduce the incidence of delirium. Implications for Practice. The management team gives the sedative goal and establishes the standard flowchart. The sedation management led by the nurse according to the goal and flowchart is better than the traditional sedation management.