Echocardiographic Examination Performed by Nurses in Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Echocardiographic Examination Performed by Nurses in Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Is it Clinical Useful?

The purpose of this study is:

• To study the clinical usefulness of nurse-performed ultrasound and echocardiographic examinations in a cardiac intensive care unit.
• To study reproducibility of nurse-performed ultrasound and echocardiographic examinations in a cardiac intensive care unit.
• To study which ultrasound measure that best correlate with the amount of pleural effusion.

For a period of 1 year patients in our cardiac intensive care unit will be recruited to nurse-drive ultrasound and echocardiographic examinations, after informed consent. Nurses underwent a training programme and their skills are approved by cardiologist. Our department does not always have a cardiologist on duty and indication for nurse-driven ultrasound examination is decided by the doctor responsible for the treatment, who not always are trained in echocardiography/ultrasound. We aim to study the described hypothesis.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient at Cardiac intensive care unit, Levanger Hospital
• Doctor responsible for treatment finds echocardiographic/ultrasound examination indicated.

Exclusion Criteria:

• None