Nurses' perceptions of point of care testing in critical care: A cross‐sectional survey

Background Nurses working in critical care (intensive or high dependency care units) perform a multitude of tasks including point‐of‐care testing (POCT), where diagnostic tests are performed at or near a patient's bedside. POCT can speed up clinical decision‐making, but errors can occur at any point in the pre‐analytical phase. Aim To investigate nurses' perceptions of current POCT practice in critical care pre and post the COVID‐19 pandemic. Study Design An online cross‐sectional survey of critical care nurses undertaken 2019–2021. Nurses across Europe were invited to participate during a conference and via communication from professional organizations. Results A total of 158 critical care nurses responded to the survey. All respondents who stated their location reported being residents of the UK. Alongside challenges related to training and competence, frequency of sampling and sampling volumes were key concerns, seen to be associated with increased blood wastage and nursing workload, potentially increasing the potential for error, and leading to poorer patient and staff outcomes. Conclusions Results from this study highlight the impact of POCT on nurses' workload, patient care provision and staff wellbeing. Relevance to Clinical Practice Alongside exploring feasible and effective training models, innovative roles, which provide technical support, including undertaking POCT could enable nurses more time to provide care to patients and families. Any future changes in workforce allocation must, however, be fully evaluated from the perspective of both patient and staff outcomes.