Nurses' Predictions of Blood Volume Status After Brain Hemorrhage
Author Information
Author(s): Hoff Reinier G, Rinkel Gabriel JE, Verweij Bon H, Algra Ale, Kalkman Cor J
Primary Institution: University Medical Center Utrecht
Hypothesis
Can nursing staff accurately predict hypovolaemia or hypervolaemia in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage based on haemodynamic data?
Conclusion
Nurses' assessments of blood volume status in patients with SAH are not reliable, indicating a need for more advanced techniques for fluid management.
Supporting Evidence
- Nurses' predictions of hypovolaemia had a sensitivity of only 0.10.
- Only 21% of patients were consistently considered normovolaemic by nurses.
- Mean circulating blood volume was significantly lower when nurses predicted hypervolaemia.
Takeaway
Nurses often guess if patients have too little or too much blood volume after a brain bleed, but they usually get it wrong.
Methodology
A prospective cohort study where nurses predicted blood volume status based on haemodynamic parameters, compared to actual measurements using pulse dye densitometry.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the subjective nature of nurses' predictions and the lack of data on their motivations.
Limitations
The study's findings are based on a limited number of patients and may not be generalizable.
Participant Demographics
{"total_patients":43,"women":32,"mean_age":56.6}
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% CI = 0.06 to 0.16
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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