Machines and Nursing Care in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) Using Ethnography and Naturalistic Approach

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My thanks go out to all who have helped me complete this study and with whom this project may have not been possible. In particular, my gratitude goes out to friends, facilitator and family for extensive and helpful comments on early drafts. I am also deeply indebted to the authors who have shared my interest and preceded me. Their works provided me with a host of information to learn from and build upon, also served as examples to emulate.

DECLARATION

I, [names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS & ANALYSIS1

3.1 Introduction1

3.2 Ethnographic Method2

PART ONE: NURSE'S CARING WORK IN THE CCU3

3.1.1 The Context of the CCU3

3.1.2 Nurses Perceive the Patients Needs In the CCU7

3.1.3 Essentiality of Physical Touch in CCU18

3.1.4 Time Spent Away From the Bedside23

3.3 Summary32

DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS34

3.4.1 Role of Nurses and Physicians in Patient's Management34

3.4.2 Environment of the CCU34

3.4.3 Touch Effectiveness35

3.4.5 Importance of Nurse Patient Communication36

REFERENCES42

CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

3.1 Introduction

The study on the “Machines and Nursing care in the Critical Care Unit (CCU)” is based on the professional ideology using ethnography, naturalistic inquiry for analysing the topic. The study has addressed two main areas of medical field that are the nursing care in the CCU and the usage on machines in the setting of CCU. As the study has adopted ethnography and naturalistic inquiry for analysing the topic, the data presented in the study has been collected by observing the Critical Care Unit (CCU) as a whole, by generally standing in corridors where the researcher could observe nurses in the CCU across the unit, monitor the coming and going of patients, visitors, and the multidisciplinary team. The study also observed various busy clinicians that were frequently called away while engaged in providing significant information about the topic to the researcher.

This ethnography inquiry has helped in understanding the CCU setting, the participants, the activities, and the meanings attributed to them from the perspectives of the participants (Patton, 1980). It also helped in examining the unforeseen circumstances and rapid change (Cassell, 2003, p. 1551; Forsythe 1999, p. 128) in the CCU, or when there are shifting sources of data (Carnevale 2008, p. 22).

A lot of time has been spent on examining the effect of machinery management on patient care and how the Critical Care Nurses (CCNs) interact with patients in the presence of these machines. In spite of the fact that the indispensability of machines in health care is well known, health care consists of much more than machines and medical technique (Locin, 1995). However, the quality of patient care cannot be maintained with the introduction of sophisticated machines (McConnell and Murphy, 1990). The increased use of machines in the CCU has the potential ...