Perceived Barriers among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Nurses in the Delivery of Nursing Care to ICU Patients

BACKGROUND: Nurses in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) routinely provide care to patients and their families nearing the end of their lives. ICU nurses encounter numerous barriers while caring for ICU patients. STUDY AIMS: This study aims to assess the barriers faced by the nurses working in intensive care units while performing their duties. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among intensive care unit nurses at four hospitals. A total of 289 nurses were enrolled in the current investigation. An adapted and modified questionnaire was utilized to collect data. The questionnaire includes demographic information about nurses and questions about nursing care barriers. A five-point Likert scale was used for each aspect, with 1 signifying strong disagreement and 5 denoting strong agreement. RESULTS: In this study, among 289 participants, most of the study participants 176 (60.9%) were in the age group 20-30 years. Most ICU nurses reported the family barrier as the major perceived barrier, with a mean score of 4.01 +/- 0.50. The other related barriers include task, environmental, technological, and organizational barriers. CONCLUSION: The current study concluded that ICU nurses faced various perceived barriers while caring for ICU patients. The family barrier was the most prevalent perceived barrier among ICU nurses (mean score 4.01 +/- 0.50). Most of the nurses agreed that spending time on explanation to family members (87.9%) was the most common family barrier. Nursing administrators and healthcare policymakers can use the current study findings to improve the healthcare system's performance.