Since the early 1960s of the last century, dynamic challenges and changes have accompanied modern nursing in cardiology with the opening of independent units for the intensive treatment of cardiac patients. Department of Intensive Cardiac Care Unit at Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Centre was founded in September 1971, as the oldest intensive care unit for cardiology patients in Southeast Europe. In 2016, it grew into an Institute for Intensive Cardiac Care with ten intensive care beds and associated monitoring. A team of nurses and doctors annually cares for around 1,600 hemodynamically unstable and vitally endangered patients with an average of 2.2 days in bed, putting us next to the European average. The introduction of new technologies and sophisticated equipment challenges nurses to master the skills needed to participate in complex procedures. Medical care for cardiovascular patients is highly specialized and specific, and as such, it requires lifelong learning, flexibility, and critical thinking from nurses to acquire a higher level of professional knowledge and skills (1). With a holistic approach and 24-hour presence at the patient’s bedside, nurses give patients security, removing the fear and uncertainty that occurs during hospitalization. All the patient’s observations about his condition and procedures have always been recorded in writing on the patient’s daily sheet, and today we use the hospital’s information system. Continuous training of nurses is carried out through various courses, symposia, and congresses. Well-educated nurses base their work on evidence-based knowledge with the goal of improving the quality of health care outcomes for this specific group of patients.
Copyright: 2022, Croatian Cardiac Society
Date received: 02 November 2022
Date accepted: 10 November 2022
Publication date (print and electronic): November 2022
Volume: 17
Issue: 9-10
Page: 346
Publisher ID: CC 2022 17_9-10_346
DOI: 10.15836/ccar2022.346