A qualitative study of nurses' perception on patients' thirst in intensive care units

Background: Thirst is a prevalent and intense symptom among patients in intensive care units. Occurrence of thirst in the intensive care unit cannot be avoided because of the nature of critical illnesses and their treatments like the side effects of administered medication or dehydration. In the intensive care unit, nurses have the opportunity and responsibility to prevent and reduce thirst by recognizing the different types of thirst. Thus, knowing nurses' perception on patients' thirst is crucial. Objectives: Exploration of intensive care nurses' perception on patients' thirst. Research design: A qualitative descriptive study. Methods: Data were collected from December 2020 to January 2021 and analyzed by using a phenomenographic methodology. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was performed. Results: Sixteen nurses, in Chongqing, China, aged 25-48 years, were interviewed. Four themes emerged: (1) perceived barriers for thirst; (2) perceived signs of thirst; (3) perceived reasons of thirst; (4) perceived consequences for thirst. Overall nurses' perception of patients' thirst is poor. Nurses give a low priority and insufficient attention to the issue of thirst in intensive care patients. Conclusion: Intensive care nurses' perception on thirst in patients should be evaluated and, if necessary, this issue should be given more attention in training in order to create sufficient awareness about the topic.