Is nursing education adequate for pulmonary artery catheter utilization?

Objective: To review the literature addressing the nursing education of pulmonary artery catheterization.

Data source: All pertinent English language articles dealing with nursing education and pulmonary artery catheterization were retrieved from 1983 through 1996.

Study selection: Clinical studies related to nursing education in this field were selected. Only two studies addressing nursing knowledge of pulmonary artery catheterization have been published to date.

Data extraction: Both studies suggest that an improvement in several areas of nursing knowledge is necessary. Unfortunately, these studies are limited in scope and depth.

Data synthesis: The adequacy of nursing education in hemodynamic monitoring, ranging from cognitive to technical issues, has not been addressed in a systematic fashion in the literature.

Conclusion: Nurses need a standardized hemodynamic monitoring curriculum. At present, education of nurses is primarily institutionally based. While national guidelines exist for hemodynamic monitoring, no mechanisms are in place to verify the skills of individual nurses. Since physicians depend on the knowledge and skill of the bedside nurse to obtain accurate information, any study evaluating the impact of pulmonary artery catheterization should first control for nursing knowledge. Since this information is not currently known, the precise impact of pulmonary artery catheterization cannot be assessed at this time.