Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and University of Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada. taz.sinuff@sunnybrook.ca
To understand clinicians' perceptions regarding practice guidelines in Canadian intensive care units (ICUs) to inform guideline development and implementation strategies.
We developed a self-administered survey instrument and assessed its clinical sensibility and reliability. The survey was mailed to ICU physicians and nurses in Canada to determine local ICU guideline development and use, and to compare physicians' and nurses' attitudes and preferences towards guidelines.
The survey was completed by 51.6% (565/1095) of potential respondents. Although less than half reported a formal guideline development committee in their ICU, 81.0% reported that guidelines were developed at their institutions. Of clinicians who used guidelines in the ICU, 70.2% of nurses and 42.6% of physicians reported using them frequently or always. Professional society guidelines (with or without local modification) were reportedly used in most ICUs, but physicians were more confident than nurses of their validity (P