Nursing Protocols of Cold Application in Different Medical Institutions in Korea

전국 의료기관의 냉 요법 실무지침 및 임상간호사의 냉 요법 실무 현황

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate nursing protocols for superficial cryotherapy in different medical institutions. Methods: The study was conducted with a cross-sectional descriptive design. The medical institutions including general hospitals, hospitals, and geriatric hospitals were randomly selected. A total of 435 nurses from 126 institutions completed a questionnaire. Data were collected from December 2014 to June 2015. Results: Forty-two institutions (39.5%) had nursing protocol for cryotherapy. The nurses reported that durations of cold application were 2 minutes to 5 hours. Frequently used cold therapy devices in order of frequency were frozen gel packs, ice packs, and frozen IV fluid bags. There were variances in the duration of cold application according to the types of institution ($x^2=7.78$, p=.020) and nursing units ($x^2=26.42$, p<.001). In addition, intervals of cold application were different according to the nursing units (x=12.23, p=.032). There were differences in cold application instruments by regional groups (x=70.38, p<.001). Most of the nurses (95.6%) responded that national nursing protocol for superficial cryotherapy were needed. Conclusion: There were difficulties in providing consistent nursing interventions because of the practical differences and absence of evidence-based guidelines for cryotherapy. The researchers recommend that basic studies with various instruments be conducted and proper nursing protocols be developed for cryotherapy.