ORIGINAL ARTICLES   Free access

Minerva Anestesiologica 2007 March;73(3):119-27

Copyright © 2007 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Managing intensive supports. The attitudes of the health care workers of five Italian Hospitals to institution of CPR and admission to the ICU

Zamperetti N. ¹, Mazzon D. ², Orsi L. ³, Barneschi M. G. ⁴, Marsili M. ⁵, Rossi C. ⁶, Primadei M. ¹ on behalf of Ethics Commission of the Italian Society of Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (Società Italiana di Anestesia, Analgesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Intensiva - SIAARTI)

¹ Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy; ² Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Belluno Hospital, Belluno, Italy; ³ Department of Palliative Care, Crema Hospital, Crema, Italy; ⁴ Department of Medical and Surgical Critical Care, Section of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Careggi Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; ⁵ Department of Anesthesiology, and Intensive Care, Prato Hospital, Prato, Italy; ⁶ Clinical Epidemiology Laboratory, Clinical Research Centre for Rare Diseases “Aldo e Cele Daccò”, Ranica (Bergamo), Italy

Aim. The aim of the paper was to examine the attitudes of the health care workers (HCW) of five Italian Hospitals towards intensive supports, in the hypothesis that a large involvement could help to solve the problems of a more adequate management of vital supports.
Methods. Design: Hospital HCWs’ attitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and ICU admission were investigated using a self-administered questionnaire. Setting: five Italian Hospitals. Participants: all the doctors (MD) and nurses (RN), except those working in obstetrics and in paediatrics. Intervention: a questionnaire was offered to all eligible participants (4903 HCW) and 2466 analysable files (50.3%) were obtained.
Results. In spite of a great variation in responses among health care givers, the majority of answers is almost in line with current professional and bioethical documents, at both international and national level. This, also when the proposed solution is not clearly recognised by the Italian laws. The statistically significant differences depend on profession (RN/MD), on working area and experiential working characteristics. A strict minority of workers would trust their colleagues in case of hypothetical personal critical illness.
Conclusion. Our data confirm both the importance of communication among HCW, in order to reach the best decision for every patient, and the great need of continuous educational programs which could compensate for lack of experience and help to create/maintain a strong bioethical and patient-oriented attitude