Publication
Oxygen therapy audit in two medical wards
| Summary: | Oxygen therapy is the mainstay of treatment in acute respiratory failure. Several works have shown the correct procedure is seldom performed. We carried out an audit to identify a faulty practice and to plan strategies to provide the best care.The audit was performed in the first quarter of 2008. All patients to whom oxygen was administered or prescribed were included. All the process of oxygen therapy, from medical prescription through nursing transcription, administration and medical and nursing monitoring, had to be in accordance with the recommendations of “Guideline for emergency oxygen use in adult patients: Summary of draft guideline” by the British Thoracic Society. The administration of oxygen while patients were transported, having meals, in hygiene and using humidifiers was also audited.A total of 472 episodes of oxygen therapy were audited, corresponding to 178 patients. There was a medical prescription of oxygen in 97.7% of the audited episodes. A complete “fixed dose” oxygen prescription was present in only 51.2%. Just 51.1% episodes of oxygen administration fully respected the transcription. Monitoring was the same as transcribed in 86.7% episodes.Oxygen therapy, although being a common treatment in most hospitals for acute conditions, is not implemented according to international recommendations of care. There are practices to improve in oxygen prescription, transcription, administration and monitoring. Clinical audit is an excellent tool to recognising and improving the quality of delivering oxygen therapy. |
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| Main Authors: | Neves, J. |
| Other Authors: | Sousa, C.; Marques, I.; Barbosa, M.; Pereira, P.; Ramos, S.; Martins, A.; Rocha, N. |
| Subject: | oxigenoterapia auditoria clínica oxygen therapy clinical audit |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | article |
| Associated institution: | Sociedade Portuguesa de Medicina Interna |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Origin: | Revista Portuguesa de Medicina Interna |
| Summary: | Oxygen therapy is the mainstay of treatment in acute respiratory failure. Several works have shown the correct procedure is seldom performed. We carried out an audit to identify a faulty practice and to plan strategies to provide the best care.The audit was performed in the first quarter of 2008. All patients to whom oxygen was administered or prescribed were included. All the process of oxygen therapy, from medical prescription through nursing transcription, administration and medical and nursing monitoring, had to be in accordance with the recommendations of “Guideline for emergency oxygen use in adult patients: Summary of draft guideline” by the British Thoracic Society. The administration of oxygen while patients were transported, having meals, in hygiene and using humidifiers was also audited.A total of 472 episodes of oxygen therapy were audited, corresponding to 178 patients. There was a medical prescription of oxygen in 97.7% of the audited episodes. A complete “fixed dose” oxygen prescription was present in only 51.2%. Just 51.1% episodes of oxygen administration fully respected the transcription. Monitoring was the same as transcribed in 86.7% episodes.Oxygen therapy, although being a common treatment in most hospitals for acute conditions, is not implemented according to international recommendations of care. There are practices to improve in oxygen prescription, transcription, administration and monitoring. Clinical audit is an excellent tool to recognising and improving the quality of delivering oxygen therapy. |
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