Computerized nursing process in intensive therapy unit: an educative practice with the nurses

Abstract

Understanding that the nursing process is a crucial tool in Intensive Care Units (ICU), this convergent-care research aimed to evaluate the application of the computerized Nursing Process, from the International Classification of Nursing Practices (ICNP®) version 1.0 with the nurses from the Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital in Santa Catarina. As strategy for data collection three meetings were carried out with five intensive care nurses of the hospital. For the implementation of the meetings the Arc of the Problematical by Maguerez was used with the theoretical support of the Problematical Pedagogy. The study was performed from October to November of 2007 and the results showed that the computerized nursing process in intensive care in according to the ICNP® has criteria of ergonomics, usability and content in accordance with international standards. It also contributes to the improvement of nursing practice. While a terminology of reference for nursing, in agreement with the nurses, this classification showed to be a language of easy understanding and close to the reality and, therefore, allows the development of evidence-based nursing practice in intensive unit.