Ocular dryness in intensive care: proposal for a new nursing diagnosis.
Jéssica Naiara de Medeiros Araújo, Ana Paula Nunes de Lima Fernandes, Ana Clara Dantas and 3 others
PMID 37971054WHAT IT FOUND
A proposed ICU nursing diagnosis for ocular dryness suggests checking redness, burning, and decreased tear volume, plus risks like sedation and mechanical ventilation.
It is not tested for outcomes.
Key findings
01Two core attributes were tear film deficiency and ocular signs or symptoms.
02The proposed diagnosis has 12 defining characteristics, including redness, decreased tear volume, blurred vision, burning, and foreign body sensation.
03The analysis identified 32 antecedents, or risk factors, including incomplete eyelid closure, decreased blinking, drugs that damage eye surface homeostasis, sedation, and mechanical ventilation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is a concept analysis and scoping review, not a test of whether the proposed diagnosis improves eye care or patient outcomes. The proposed diagnosis was not validated with ICU patients or nurses in this paper. The review searched only Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French studies, so relevant work in other languages may have been missed. The suggested NOC outcomes and NIC interventions were chosen by the researchers' expertise, not by testing them in practice. The included evidence was mainly observational and not from trials, so the listed attributes, antecedents, and consequences may reflect previous reports rather than a confirmed nursing diagnosis.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that eye assessments or the suggested interventions prevent ocular dryness or corneal injury in ICU patients. It proposes and maps a nursing diagnosis from existing literature; it did not test the diagnosis or care in patients.