Effect of Implementing Nurse-led Eye Care Protocol on the Control of of Eye Complications among Mechanically Ventilated Patients.

Background: Critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units are at a great risk for the developing eye complications as a result of the impairment of normal eye protection mechanisms, such as tear production, blinking, and keeping the eye closed. This is attributed to many risk factors including connecting to a mechanical ventilator, sedation, and decreased level of consciousness. Implementing of protocolized eye care such as nurse-led eye care protocol can have an impact on incidences of eye complications and patient quality of life after discharge from the ICU. Design: A quasi experimental research design was used to conduct this study .Settings: The study was carried out in the General Medical Intensive Care Units at Damanhur Medical National Institute in Damanhur City, Egypt. Subjects: A convenience sampling of 100 newly adults admitted mechanically ventilated patients was included in the study. Subjects were divided into 2 equal groups: 50 patients for control group and 50 for intervention group. Tools: two tools were used. Tool one: “Patient’s Admission Assessment Form ".Tool two: “Eye Complications’ Evaluation Scales ". Results: The study showed that the incidence of overall ECs decreased significantly from 84% in the control group to 46% in the intervention group (p <0.001) after the implementation of the nurse-led eye care protocol. Furthermore, the intervention group exhibited a significantly lower incidence of eye dryness, conjunctival injection, periorbital edema, and eye discharge than the control group (p<0.001). Conclusion: The implementation of nurse-led eye care protocol significantly decreased the incidence and severity of eye dryness, conjunctival injection, periorbital edema, and eye discharge. Recommendations: Critical care nurses should implement the nurse-led eye care protocol for mechanically ventilated patients to prevent ECs after establishing educational programs to increase their knowledge and expertise about the protocol.