Nursing specialization in intensive care: A scoping review

Nursing in Intensive Care Units (ICU) presents an additional difficulty due to the highly complex nature of the patients. This implies a demand for training, skills, and management from the nurses attending to this type of patient, which is not currently guaranteed due to the lack of mandatory prior training. Despite the importance of such education and training, there is currently no existing regulation or national or international consensus regarding its mandatory requirement for performing professional activities in ICUs.

The main research question posed is to identify the existing recommendations on specialised nursing care in adult intensive care.

A scoping review was conducted using the databases PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, COCHRANE, CUIDEN, and SciELO. The review included studies in both Spanish and English with varied designs on the topic of study. The quality of the articles was analyzed, achieving moderate to high levels of compliance with quality guidelines.

A sample of N = 25 was selected, divided according to the primary theme of the articles: 40% (n = 10) on the implementation of training programmes in ICUs, 24% (n = 6) on nursing competencies, 16% (n = 4) on the needs identified by ICU staff themselves, and 20% (n = 5) on the clinical specialty of ICU nursing.

The findings indicate an improvement in both patient outcomes and the functioning of ICUs following appropriate training of nursing staff. A model for an Intensive Care Nursing Specialty in Spain is proposed as a viable option to develop the necessary specific training.