Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion

Assessment 2 Instructions: Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices

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• PRINT
• Prepare a 2-page interprofessional staff update on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.

As you begin to consider the assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Breach of Protected Health Information (PHI) activity. The will support your success with the assessment by creating the opportunity for you to test your knowledge of potential privacy, security, and confidentiality violations of protected health information. The activity is not graded and counts towards course engagement.

Health professionals today are increasingly accountable for the use of protected health information (PHI). Various government and regulatory agencies promote and support privacy and security through a variety of activities. Examples include:

• • Meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR).
  • Provision of EHR incentive programs through Medicare and Medicaid.
  • Enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules.
  • Release of educational resources and tools to help providers and hospitals address privacy, security, and confidentiality risks in their practices. Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion

Technological advances, such as the use of social media platforms and applications for patient progress tracking and communication, have provided more access to health information and improved communication between care providers and patients.

At the same time, advances such as these have resulted in more risk for protecting PHI. Nurses typically receive annual training on protecting patient information in their everyday practice. This training usually emphasizes privacy, security, and confidentiality best practices such as:

• • Keeping passwords secure.
  • Logging out of public computers.
  • Sharing patient information only with those directly providing care or who have been granted permission to receive this information.

Today, one of the major risks associated with privacy and confidentiality of patient identity and data relates to social media. Many nurses and other health care providers place themselves at risk when they use social media or other electronic communication systems inappropriately. For example, a Texas nurse was recently terminated for posting patient vaccination information on Facebook. In another case, a New York nurse was terminated for posting an insensitive emergency department photo on her Instagram account.

Health care providers today must develop their skills in mitigating risks to their patients and themselves related to patient information. At the same time, they need to be able distinguish between effective and ineffective uses of social media in health care.

This assessment will require you to develop a staff update for the interprofessional team to encourage team members to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information.

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Demonstration of Proficiency

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• • Competency 1: Describe nurses’ and the interdisciplinary team’s role in informatics with a focus on electronic health information and patient care technology to support decision making.

• • • Describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.
    • Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information. Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion
  • Competency 2: Implement evidence-based strategies to effectively manage protected health information.

• • • Identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.
    • Develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.
  • Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication to facilitate use of health information and patient care technologies.

• • • Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
    • Create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Preparation

To successfully prepare to complete this assessment, complete the following:

• • Review the infographics on protecting PHI provided in the resources for this assessment, or find other infographics to review. These infographics serve as examples of how to succinctly summarize evidence-based information.
    • Analyze these infographics, and distill them into five or six principles of what makes them effective. As you design your interprofessional staff update, apply these principles. Note: In a staff update, you will not have all the images and graphics that an infographic might contain. Instead, focus your analysis on what makes the messaging effective.
  • Select from any of the following options, or a combination of options, the focus of your interprofessional staff update:
    • Social media best practices.
    • What not to do: Social media.
    • Social media risks to patient information.
    • Steps to take if a breach occurs.
  • Conduct independent research on the topic you have selected in addition to reviewing the suggested resources for this assessment. This information will serve as the source(s) of the information contained in your interprofessional staff update. Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and/or authoritative sources.

Instructions

In this assessment, assume you are a nurse in an acute care, community, school, nursing home, or other health care setting. Before your shift begins, you scroll through Facebook and notice that a coworker has posted a photo of herself and a patient on Facebook. The post states, “I am so happy Jane is feeling better. She is just the best patient I’ve ever had, and I am excited that she is on the road to recovery.”

You have recently completed your annual continuing education requirements at work and realize this is a breach of your organization’s social media policy. Your organization requires employees to immediately report such breaches to the privacy officer to ensure the post is removed immediately and that the nurse responsible receives appropriate corrective action.  Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion

You follow appropriate organizational protocols and report the breach to the privacy officer. The privacy officer takes swift action to remove the post. Due to the severity of the breach, the organization terminates the nurse.

Based on this incident’s severity, your organization has established a task force with two main goals:

• • Educate staff on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.
  • Prevent confidentiality, security, and privacy breaches.

The task force has been charged with creating a series of interprofessional staff updates on the following topics:

• • Social media best practices.
  • What not to do: Social media.
  • Social media risks to patient information.
  • Steps to take if a breach occurs.

You are asked to select one of the topics, or a combination of several topics, and create the content for a staff update containing a maximum of two content pages. When distributed to interprofessional team members, the update will consist of one double-sided page.

The task force has asked team members assigned to the topics to include the following content in their updates in addition to content on their selected topic(s):

• • What is protected health information (PHI)?
    • Be sure to include essential HIPAA information.
  • What are privacy, security, and confidentiality?
    • Define and provide examples of privacy, security, and confidentiality concerns related to the use of the technology in health care.
    • Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
  • What evidence relating to social media usage and PHI do interprofessional team members need to be aware of? For example:
    • How many nurses have been terminated for inappropriate social media usage in the United States?
    • What types of sanctions have health care organizations imposed on interdisciplinary team members who have violated social media policies?
    • What have been the financial penalties assessed against health care organizations for inappropriate social media usage?
    • What evidence-based strategies have health care organizations employed to prevent or reduce confidentiality, privacy, and security breaches, particularly related to social media usage?

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Notes

• • Your staff update is limited to two double-spaced content pages. Be selective about the content you choose to include in your update so that you are able to meet the page length requirement. Include need-to-know information. Leave out nice-to-know information.
  • Many times people do not read staff updates, do not read them carefully, or do not read them to the end. Ensure your staff update piques staff members’ interest, highlights key points, and is easy to read. Avoid overcrowding the update with too much content.
  • Also supply a separate reference page that includes 2–3 peer-reviewed and 1–2 non-peer-reviewed resources (for a total of 3–5 resources) to support the staff update content.

Additional Requirements

• • Written communication: Ensure the staff update is free from errors that detract from the overall message.
  • Submission length: Maximum of two double-spaced content pages.
  • Font and font size: Use Times New Roman, 12-point.
  • Citations and references: Provide a separate reference page that includes 2–3 current, peer-reviewed and 1–2 current, non-peer-reviewed in-text citations and references (total of 3–5 resources) that support the staff update’s content. Current mean no older than 5 years.
  • APA format: Be sure your citations and references adhere to APA format. Consult the Evidence and APA page for an APA refresher. Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion

Portfolio Prompt: Save your presentation to your ePortfolio. Submissions to the ePortfolio will be part of your final capstone course.

• SCORING GUIDE

Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.

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Resources: Nursing Infographics on Protecting PHI

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• These infographics serve as examples of how to succinctly summarize information. In your staff update assessment, you will not have all the images and graphics that infographics might contain; instead, focus your analysis on what makes the messaging effective. Apply these principles to writing your interprofessional staff update.
  • Atlantic Training. (2012). HIPAA infographic: Protecting patient privacy, how important is it? https://www.atlantictraining.com/blog/hipaa-infograhic-high-cost-violations/
  • HITC Staff. (2017). Infographic: The rise of medical data sharing and privacy concerns. https://hitconsultant.net/2017/08/11/infographic-medical-data-sharing/
  • University of Illinois at Chicago. (n.d.). Protecting patient information in the age of breaches. https://healthinformatics.uic.edu/blog/protecting-patient-information/

Resources: The Nurse’s Role in Patient Privacy

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• • ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights. (2015). American Nurses Association position statement on privacy and confidentiality [PDF]. Available from https://www.nursingworld.org/~4ad4a8/globalassets/docs/ana/position-statement-privacy-and-confidentiality.pdf

• • • This ANA position statement examines the role of nurses in protecting privacy and confidentiality and provides recommendations to maintain compliance.
  • McCartney, P. R. (2016). The electronic health record and nursing practice. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 41(2), 126.

• • • This article comments on the Joint Commission (TJC) alert on the safe use of health information technology (HIT) following an analysis of events that resulted in patient harm.

Resources: Social Media and Privacy

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• • Balestra, M. L. (2018). Social media missteps could put your nursing license at risk. Alabama Nurse, 45(3), 18.

• • • This article explores how social media can create legal problems for nurses and reviews best practices for managing social media missteps.
  • Green, J. (2017). Nurses’ online behaviour: Lessons for the nursing profession. Contemporary Nurse, 53(3), 355–367.

• • • Green states that nurses need to carefully navigate the complexities between the personal and the professional on social media. The article includes a look at the legalities and etiquette of the online environment.
  • Heath, S. (2018). How does social media impact perceived provider professionalism? https://patientengagementhit.com/news/how-does-social-media-impact-perceived-provider-professionalism

• • • This study shows that clinicians can maintain provider professionalism by keeping their own personal social media posts to a minimum.
  • Healthcare Compliance Pros. (n.d.). Posting with caution: The do’s and don’ts of social media and HIPAA compliance. http://www.healthcarecompliancepros.com/blog/posting-with-caution-the-dos-and-donts-of-social-media-and-hipaa-compliance-2/ Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion

• • • This is a list of do’s and dont’s of social media and HIPAA compliance.
  • HIPAA Journal. (2018). HIPAA social media rules. https://www.hipaajournal.com/hipaa-social-media

• • • This article reviews the HIPAA laws and standards that apply to social media use by health care organizations and their employees.
  • National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (2018). A nurse’s guide to the use of social media [PDF]. https://www.ncsbn.org/NCSBN_SocialMedia.pdf

• • • Inappropriate social media posts by nurses have resulted in licensure and legal repercussions. This guide was developed by NCSBN nurses and nursing students on how to use social media responsibly.
  • Ryan, G. (2016). International perspectives on social media guidance for nurses: A content analysis. Nursing Management, 23(8), 28–35.

• • • This report analyzes the content of national and international professional guidelines on social media and consolidates good practice examples for the nursing profession.

Resources: HIPAA

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• • Borten, K. (2016). The role of nurses in HIPAA compliance, healthcare security. https://healthitsecurity.com/news/the-role-of-nurses-in-hipaa-compliance-healthcare-security

• • • Due to nurses’ focus on patient health and contact with patient data, many may become desensitized to the importance of HIPAA compliance.
  • Heath, S. (2017). Do health data security concerns influence patient data sharing? https://patientengagementhit.com/news/do-health-data-security-concerns-influence-patient-data-sharing

• • • Heath explains why patients need better assurances of PHI and health data security before opting into a health information exchange or other patient data sharing model.
  • HIPPAA Training. (2015, February 8). Understanding the 5 main HIPAA rules [Blog post]. https://www.hipaaexams.com/blog/understanding-5-main-hipaa-rules/

• • • This is an in-depth look at five HIPAA laws and regulations to ensure training and documentation protocols are error-free and are consistent with the current standards.​​
  • Zabel, L. (2016). Ten common HIPAA violations and preventative measures to keep your practice in compliance. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/10-common-hipaa-violations-and-preventative-measures-to-keep-your-practice-in-compliance.html

• • • HIPAA violations can result in fines of up to $1.5 million and include possible sanctions or loss of license. This article reviews the ten most common violations. Inter-professional Staff Update On HIPAA And Social Media Use Discussion

 

 

 

 

Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion

 

Application and implications for practice come from the interpretation of meaning from research findings. Communicating and using research evidence is an expectation of a BSN graduate.

Select and describe one of the conclusions from the required article from the Week 6 assignment that you found interesting and applicable to practice. Describe how you would apply the evidence to improve nursing practice. Explain your answer.
Discuss ways you would disseminate research-based evidence; how would you share with your peers? Include your thoughts on why it is important for you to be involved in communicating and applying nursing research evidence.
Notes

1. Week 6 article attached.

1. Minimum one scholarly source including the text book

Houser, J. (2018). Nursing research: Reading, using, and creating evidence (4 th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion

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E vidence-Based Practice in Critical Care E FFECTIVENESS OF NURSING INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT DRY EYE IN CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS By Diego Dias de Araujo, PhD, MSN, RN, Daniel Vinicius Alves Silva, Carolina Amaral Oliveira Rodrigues, Patricia Oliveira Silva, Tamara Goncalves Rezende Macieira, BSN, and Tania Couto Machado Chianca, PhD, MSN, RN ©2019 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses doi:https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2019360 Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion www.ajcconline.org Background Critically ill patients are susceptible to the development of dry eye. Few studies have been conducted on how to best prevent and treat this condition. Objective To compare the effectiveness of 2 nursing interventions in preventing dry eye in adult intensive care unit patients: liquid artificial tears (Lacribell; Latinofarma) and artificial tears gel (Vidisic Gel; Bausch and Lomb). Methods In this randomized controlled trial, 140 participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups: a liquid artificial tears group (n = 70) and an artificial tears gel group (n = 70). The study inclusion criteria were as follows: admission to the intensive care unit, age of 18 years or older, no diagnosis of dry eye at admission, receipt of mechanical ventilation, blink rate of less than 5 times per minute, and a score of 7 or less on the Glasgow Coma Scale. On 5 consecutive days, a single researcher who was unaware of the treatment assignment assessed the participants’ eyes using the fluorescein eye stain test and the Schirmer test for dry eye. Results Dry eye developed in 21% of participants who received liquid artificial tears versus 9% of participants who received artificial tears gel (P = .04). Conclusions In this study, artificial tears gel was superior to liquid artificial tears in preventing the development of dry eye. These results may help nurses deliver evidencebased eye care aimed at reducing the risk of dry eye in critically ill patients. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2019;28:299-306) AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, July 2019, Volume 28, No. 4 299 I ntensive care unit (ICU) patients often have conditions leading to compromised physiological mechanisms of eye protection. These conditions include being unconscious or comatose; taking several medications such as diuretics, sedatives, and `-blockers; receiving mechanical ventilation; and being exposed to air conditioning and low air humidity.1-4 Consequently, these patients are susceptible to the development of dry eye and other ocular surface disorders.4-7 Clinical guidelines that have been developed for eye care in the ICU refer to a variety of interventions designed to reduce the prevalence and incidence of ocular surface alterations in critically ill patients, such as corneal ulcerations and keratitis. These interventions include ointments, liquid eyewashes, gels, moist gauze, paraffin gauze, hydrogel, and polyethylene film.6-8 Dry eye has been defined as a multifactorial change in tears and the ocular surface that results in discomfort, visual disturbances, and tear film instability, with potential damage of the ocular surface.9 In nursing, the diagnosis of “risk for dry eye” is applied to patients who are “vulnerable to eye discomfort or damage to the cornea and conjunctiva due to reduced quantity or quality of tears to moisten the eye, which may compromise health.”10(p387) Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion
A recent study in Brazil showed that dry eye is a common problem in patients admitted to ICUs, with an incidence of 53%.5 Intensive care unit patients have a higher probability of dry eye developing than do other hospitalized patients because of a variety of internal and external risk factors.1-3,5 Dry eye can be chronic and progressive, imposing limitations on patients’ ability to perform activities of daily living and negatively affecting their quality of life. Therefore, a preventive approach that includes appropriate eye care is crucial to minimize the risk of dry eye and avert possible complications. Fifty-three percent of adult patients admitted to intensive care units have dry eye. About the Authors Diego Dias de Araujo is assistant professor and Daniel Vinicius Alves Silva, Carolina Amaral Oliveira Rodrigues, and Patricia Oliveira Silva are undergraduate students, Department of Nursing, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil. Tamara Goncalves Rezende Macieira is a PhD candidate, College of Nursing, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Tania Couto Machado Chianca is professor, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Corresponding author: Diego Dias de Araujo, PhD, MSN, RN, Av Ruy Braga, Predio 6 (CCBS), Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil 39401-089 (email: diego.dias1508@gmail.com). 300 Because nurses are the frontline health care providers in hospitals, they have an important role to play in reducing the risk of dry eye in critically ill patients through effective nursing interventions. A study reported in 2011 compared the effectiveness of 2 nursing interventions—polyethylene film and carbomer drops—in the prevention of dry eye among 18 adult ICU patients.2 The polyethylene film was found to prevent dry eye in all of the cases, while the carbomer drops were effective in only 17% of the patients (P < .001).2 However, large studies of polyethylene film for the prevention of dry eye have not yet been conducted. Moreover, more research is needed on evidence-based nursing interventions that result in less discomfort for patients and can be more easily applied by nurses than polyethylene film. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of 2 nursing interventions in preventing dry eye in adult patients admitted to an ICU: liquid artificial tears (Lacribell; Latinofarma) and artificial tears gel (Vidisic Gel; Bausch and Lomb). Methods This study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02767258) and in the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (ReBec) (Identifier: RBR5r8syp). Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais before the study was begun. We followed the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines for nonpharmacological interventions.11 Written informed consent was obtained from each patient’s family member or next of kin before recruitment. Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion. Design This was a double-blind (patients, outcome assessor) randomized controlled trial with 2 parallel groups. The data reported here were collected between January 14, 2016, and March 14, 2017, in a 10-bed ICU at a large tertiary care, nonprofit hospital in Brazil. Patients recruited for the study met the following inclusion criteria: age of 18 years or older, no diagnosis of dry eye at ICU admission, receipt of mechanical ventilation, blink rate of less than 5 AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, July 2019, Volume 28, No. 4 www.ajcconline.org Inclusion Assessed for eligibility (N = 546) Excluded (n = 406) • Admitted with the diagnosis of brain death (n = 33) • Less than 18 years of age (n = 20) • Diagnosed with dry eye at admission (n = 23) • Family members did not give consent to patient’s participation in the study (n = 50) • Length of stay less than 48 hours (n = 85) • Patient not receiving mechanical ventilation; blinking 5 or more times per minute; score higher than 7 on Glasgow Coma Scale (n = 95) • Failure to locate patient’s next of kin in time to get consent for patient’s participation and sign the informed consent form (n = 100) Randomized (n = 140) Allocation Intervention group, artificial tears gel (n = 70) Intervention group, liquid artificial tears (n = 70) Evaluation Loss to follow-up (n = 2) • Death (n = 1) • Failure to check if intervention was performed at the correct time (n = 1) Loss to follow-up (n = 2) • Death (n = 1) • Patient discharged before completing 5 days of evaluation (n = 1) Analysis Included in the analysis (n = 70) Included in the analysis (n = 70) Figure Flowchart illustrating the 4 phases of the study, following the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) recommendations for nonpharmacological interventions. times per minute, and a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 7 or lower.2 Patients were excluded if they had an ICU stay of less than 48 hours or were admitted to the unit with a diagnosis of brain death. Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion
Failure to document the delivery of nursing interventions (liquid artificial tears or artificial tears gel) at the correct time resulted in the participant’s exclusion from the study and discontinuation of treatment. Sample Size and Randomization We performed a pilot study involving 30 patients between November and December 2015, with 10 patients allocated to each of 3 groups (liquid artificial tears, artificial tears gel, and 0.9% sodium chloride solution), to estimate sample size. In the pilot study, 40% of the patients treated with liquid artificial tears had dry eye develop, compared with 10% of those treated with artificial tears gel (P = .01). www.ajcconline.org Power analysis using the proportion of unfavorable results in the pilot study (40%), a significance level of .05, power of 80%, and a relative risk (RR) of 0.5 in favor of artificial tears gel (or RR reduction of 20%) resulted in an estimated sample size of 134 patients: 67 patients for each of the 2 intervention groups. If any participants were lost during the study, more would be recruited until at least 67 patients were allocated to each group. The initial study population consisted of 546 medical or surgical patients who had been admitted to the ICU of the target hospital. Of the 546 patients assessed for eligibility, 406 were excluded according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The resulting final sample consisted of 140 patients, 70 in each group (see Figure). Despite allocation to a third group in the pilot study, we decided not to treat patients with 0.9% AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, July 2019, Volume 28, No. 4 301 sodium chloride solution in this study. The results of the pilot study showed that 60% of patients allocated to this intervention group had dry eye develop. The findings of previous studies support our decision not to use 0.9% sodium chloride solution as a study intervention.1,12 A statistician performed block randomization of patients using the computer software R-3.2.3. The randomized list was subdivided every 10 patients into 2 groups in a 1:1 ratio. The list was sent directly to the research coordinator of the study (T.C.M.C.) and to 2 undergraduate research assistants (D.V.A.S., C.A.O.R.) who were responsible for the allocation of the patients. Two lubricant eye drops were used as interventions: liquid artificial tears (Lacribell) and artificial tears gel (Visidic Gel). Interventions Two types of lubricating eye drops—liquid artificial tears (Lacribell) and artificial tears gel (Vidisic Gel)—were used as the study interventions. After a patient was recruited for the study, the ICU nurses were notified through an information center which of the 2 interventions would be used for that patient. The intervention was prepared by a nurse and stored in a brown envelope. The ICU’s nursing technicians delivered the intervention twice a day (at 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM) for 5 consecutive days. The nursing technicians followed a protocol for cleaning the patient’s eyes with 0.9% sodium chloride before administering 2 drops of the predetermined intervention to each eye. Before the study was begun, we trained the nursing team in the study protocols and procedures. The training consisted of an explanation of the study problem; an overview of the study methods; description of the inclusion and exclusion criteria; instruction on when to discontinue the interventions; explanation of informed consent, its importance, and how to obtain it; and the techniques for application of each intervention. To increase the chances of recruiting participants, nurses were given the responsibility for obtaining informed consent because of the study personnel’s inability to be present on the unit for 24 consecutive hours. The ocular assessment consisted of the Schirmer test and the fluorescein test. 302 Outcome The study outcome was the development of dry eye. Potentially confounding variables included in the data analysis were age, sex, unit of origin, Nursing Activities Score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score; patient type (medical condition only or postsurgical), death, length of stay, referral unit, medical diagnosis at admission, sedation, Ramsay Sedation Scale score, Glasgow Coma Scale score, intubation, tracheostomy, mechanical ventilation, days of mechanical ventilation, mode of mechanical ventilation, fraction of inspired oxygen, positive endexpiratory pressure, other ventilatory assistance device, blink rate per minute, ocular surface exposure, edema, severity of corneal ulcer, medications, and positioning (degree of head elevation). Data Collection On 5 consecutive days, one of the researchers (D.D.A.) collected data and performed ocular assessment for each participant included in the sample. This 5-day period was established on the basis of the reported mean time of 3.5 days for development of dry eye in critically ill patients.5 Before ocular assessment, the nursing technicians cleaned the patient’s eyes with 0.9% sodium chloride solution to remove any traces of the intervention substances, ensuring that the researcher remained unaware of the treatment allocation of each patient. The ocular assessment consisted of the Schirmer test and the fluorescein eye stain test. Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion. The Schirmer test was used to analyze tear volume. Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion
This test involved placing a strip of Whatman filter paper grade 41 or 50 measuring 5 mm wide and 35 mm long with the tip folded (about 5 mm) in the bottom of the lower conjunctival sac in the temporal region (outer corner of the lower eyelid). After 5 minutes, the strip was removed and the moistened part was measured and the result documented.13 The fluorescein eye stain test was used to evaluate the cornea for possible abnormalities. A drop of fluorescein was placed in each of the patient’s eyes; after 1 to 2 minutes, under low-light conditions, the cornea was examined using an ophthalmoscope with a cobalt blue light filter and a magnifying glass.13 Data Analysis Two of the researchers (C.A.O.R., P.O.S.) independently entered the data into the Epi Info software program, version 3.5.1. The data entered were checked for consistency and then extracted and analyzed in the R-3.2.3 software. Frequency, central tendency (average), and standard deviation were measured. Categorical variables in the 2 intervention AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, July 2019, Volume 28, No. 4 www.ajcconline.org Table 1 Risk scores, demographic variables, and baseline comorbidities by group Variable Continuous Age, y APACHE II score Score on Ramsay Sedation Scale Score on Glasgow Coma Scale Schirmer test result, mm Liquid artificial tears Artificial tears gel Pa 52.8 (19.9) (n = 70) 21.5 (7.6) (n = 70) 5.9 (0.3) (n = 63) 0 (0) (n = 7) 12.9 (3.7) (n = 70) .98 .94 .24 .49 .19 Mean (SD) 52.8 (19.8) (n = 70) 22.2 (8.9) (n = 70) 5.9 (0.3) (n = 59) 0.1 (0.3) (n = 11) 13.6 (3.9) (n = 70) No. (%) of 70 patients in each group Categorical Female sex Heart disease Vascular disease Neurologic disease Pneumonia Trauma Gastric disease Metabolic disease Neoplasm Patient sedated 30 0 12 5 3 22 3 2 1 60 (43) (0) (17) (7) (4) (31) (4) (3) (1) (86) 24 (34) 4 (6) 13 (19) 9 (13) 4 (6) 16 (23) 9 (13) 2 (3) 5 (7) 63 (90) .38 .12 > .99 .40 > .99 .34 .13 > .99 .21 .61 Abbreviation: APACHE II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II. a Mann-Whitney test was used to compare continuous variables; Fisher exact test was used to compare categorical variables. For both tests, P ) .05 was considered significant. groups were compared using the Fisher exact test. Continuous variables were compared using the Mann-Whitney test. The assumption that the distribution of the continuous variables was normal was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test. The incidence of dry eye and the effect of the nursing interventions were analyzed using the Fisher exact test. The results were presented with a 95% CI. Poisson regression was used to present the results, with the model adjusted for potential confounders (the risk factors of age, sex, and ocular surface exposure). Statistical significance was set at P ≤ .05. Results Participants In total, 140 patients were included and randomized in the study. No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups at baseline (P ≤ .05; Tables 1 and 2), confirming that randomization was sufficient to match the groups. The fluorescein eye test indicated the presence of corneal ulceration in 1 participant treated with liquid artificial tears and 2 participants treated with artificial tears gel (Table 2; P > .99). Development of Dry Eye Table 3 shows the incidence of the primary outcome (dry eye) during the 5-day evaluation period. On the fifth day of hospitalization, dry eye was present in 21% of patients (incidence rate of 4.28 per 100 patient-days) in the liquid artificial tears group and 9% of patients (incidence rate of 1.72 per 100 patient-days) in the artificial tears gel group. www.ajcconline.org The RR estimated for the effect of the intervention was 0.400 (95% CI, 0.166-0.964; P = .04; Table 4), indicating that the chance of dry eye developing was twice as high in the liquid artificial tears group as in the artificial tears gel group. The effect of the artificial tears gel intervention remained statistically significant (P = .04) after model adjustment for the risk factors (age, sex, and ocular surface exposure) identified in the sample (Table 4). The nursing team should identify risk factors for dry eye as soon as a patient is admitted to the ICU and then implement the needed interventions, such as artificial tears gel. Discussion Most studies conducted to date on eye care practices for hospitalized patients focus on the prevention of corneal ulcers and associated risk factors. Little attention has been given to the problem of dry eye, especially among patients admitted to ICUs. Yet dry eye, if not adequately treated, can lead to corneal ulcers.9,13 Our results showed that artificial tears gel is more effective than liquid artificial tears (RR = 0.400; 95% CI, 0.166-0.964; P = .04) in preventing dry eye in adult ICU patients. We found no other published studies comparing these 2 interventions. Ezra et al14 compared artificial tears gel and hydrogel in the prevention of exposure keratopathy among critically ill AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, July 2019, Volume 28, No. 4 303 Table 2 Characteristics of hospitalization, baseline lesions, and use of medications by group No. (%) of 70 patients in each group Liquid artificial tears Characteristic Unit of origin Emergency unit Emergency department Medical unit Other institution Surgical unit 10 1 17 3 39 Patient type, surgical 42 (60) Pa .25 Ocular surface exposure (14) (1) (24) (4) (56) 19 3 14 1 33 (27) (4) (20) (1) (47) 33 (47) .18 7 (10) .76 5 (7) Type of lesion (corneal ulcer) 1 (1) 2 (3) Analgesic 42 (60) 45 (64) .73 Antibiotic 48 (69) 51 (73) .71 Anticoagulant 34 (49) 25 (36) .17 Antiepileptic 14 (20) 21 (30) 4 (6) 4 (6) > .99 Antiemetic 18 (26) 17 (24) > .99 Antihypertensive 14 (20) 10 (14) .50 Antiprotozoal 1 (1) 3 (4) .62 Bronchodilator 5 (7) 7 (10) .76 Corticosteroid 10 (14) 7 (10) .61 Diuretic 26 (37) 29 (41) .73 Vasodilator 50 (71) 53 (76) .70 Hypnotics 58 (83) 63 (90) .32 Hypolipid 8 (11) 3 (4) .21 Hormone 1 (1) 1 (1) > .99 Gastric bypass inhibitor 57 (81) 59 (84) .82 Insulin 30 (43) …
Nursing Interventions Prevent Dry Eye Critically Ill Patient Article Discussion