Nursing attitudes about the strenuous of nursing procedures in comatose neurosurgical patients

Introduction: Virginia Henderson considered that every person is unique with all her biological, psychological and social characteristics, and therefore defines 14 basic human needs, that each person has to satisfy. She also advised that a nurse should help helpless people who do not have the strength, desire, or knowledge to satisfy one or more of the basic human needs. Neurosurgical patients with the most severe quantitative disorder of consciousness certainly represent a particularly vulnerable group of patients, who have deficits in all domains of basic life needs. Goal: The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of nurses about the strenous of health care procedures in comatose neurosurgical patients. Material and methods: The research was conducted at the Clinic for Neurosurgery, Clinical Center of Vojvodina as a descriptive cross-sectional study, by surveying 30 nurses. A modified questionnaire, by Marianne Neuberg, was used to assess the degree of complexity of conducting 19 health activities in patients with impaired consciousness concerning meeting their basic human needs, used is as a research instrument. Results: The results show that the nursing procedures of maintaining personal hygiene, movement and positioning of patients are considered by about 90% of nurses to be very demanding. Similar results were obtained for nursing procedures in the domains of communication, religious and religious needs. Only 4% of nurses believe that providing informational and psychological support and support to the family is not a required health care procedure. Conclusion: The nurses' attitudes indicated that the most demanding procedures for them are the provision of mental and physical care, such as transfers and positioning of patients whose extremities are in spasm. A particular challenge for nurses is health care procedures aimed at providing support to family members.