Introduction: It is not allways possible that a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure in a
critically ill patient is performed in the area of an intensive care unit. In such a case, it is
necessary to carry out the intra-hospital transport of a critically ill patient from an intensive
care unit to a diagnostic or therapeutic unit. During the intra-hospital transport, a critically
ill patient is vulnerable to risk factors that may cause adverse events. Planning, staffing,
equipment, monitoring and communication are the key elements for increasing patient
safety during transport. Managing these elements significantly improves patient safety
during transport. The role of registred nurses in ensuring patient safety during transport is
extremely important. Purpose: The purpose of the diploma work was to determine, by
studying the relevant literature, what are the moste imporatant risks for adverse events
during intra-hospital transport of critically ill patients and what are the recommendations
for quallity assurance of transports. Methods: In the diploma work we used a descriptive
method with a systematic review of literature. We searched for a time frame from 2006 to
2017. We searched literature in the English language with the phrase "intra-hospital
transport" in the CINAHL and Medline (PubMed) databases and the Google search engine.
We searched Slovenian literature in the COBIB.SI catalog database using the phrase
"znotrajbolnišnični transport". Results: On the basis of theoretical knowledge, we
developed a conceptual framework for the quality assurance for the process of intrahospital
transport of a critically ill patient, the concept of a set of contents for the
development of a check-list, and the example of the check-list for the neurological
intensive care unit, as well as an audit tool for assessing the process of intra-hospital
transport of a critically ill patient. Discussion and conclusion: Registred nurses can
greatly contribute to the establishment of a comprehensive system of quality assurance for
intra-hospital transports with their knowledge and experience. The diploma work could be
helpful for developing strategies for improving the process of intra-hospital transport of
critically ill patients.
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