[Neurosurgical patients in intermediate care. Annual study 1995]

The critical neurosurgical patient requires specialized nursing care. His satisfactory recovery depend an our nurses's work, since their permanence beside the patient and an appropriate treatment make them indispensable. A descriptive and retrospective study of 68 neurosurgical patients admitted at the Intermediate Therapy Unit of the "Gustavo Alderguia" Clinical ans Surgical Teaching Hospital was conducted to determine within the Nursing Care Process (NCP) the main specific nursing procedures and those variables of interest, such as sex, age, type of operation, NCP, mechanical ventilation, medication, evolution, and the nursing procedures carried out. A computerized system was used to analyze the data and the chi-square test of statistical significance. Of the 68 patients studied, 33 were males (p < 0.001). Patients aged 26-30 were the most affected. 13 patients were operated on, and NCP was performed in 20% of the cases. The most important nursing care activities were the vital signs checking, the measurement of diuresis, and the active surveillance of neurological focalization and phlebitis (p < 0.001).