Nursing Practice in Intensive Care Units

Oftentimes, the theoretical assumptions of nursing authors are based on perceived reality and practice. As a result, many professionals apply a variety of nursing concepts in their every day work, without knowing exactly where they come from. This article is intended to analyze several aspects associated with comprehensive nursing care for critical patients subject to mechanical ventilation, based on the nursing concepts proposed in Joyce Travelbee's Human-to-Human Relationship Model. Eighty (80) hours of active observation in an intensive care unit made it possible to analyse normal, every day care provided by nurses on duty. Observation data were compared to Travelbee's theoretical proposals and to those of other authors. It was concluded that, even if nurses lack sufficient knowledge about nursing theories, their care-giving might be consistent with those theories, which often are formulated on the basis of practical experience.