Enhancing Critical Thinking Competency and Nursing Quality in Critically Ill Patient Care

NCT06997614 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: No. 20240625
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 84
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The EBN-based nutritional management protocol effectively enhances junior nurses' specialized critical thinking competency and improves patient nutritional outcomes and satisfaction, demonstrating its potential to optimize critical care quality. However, further validation through multicenter studies with larger cohorts, extended follow-up periods, and additional outcome measures is warranted.

Conditions

Evidence-Based Nursing; Critically Ill Patient; Training

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Improvement in Junior Nurses' Specialized Critical Thinking Competency

  Change in critical thinking scores measured by the Chinese Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CTDI-CV), a 70-item scale evaluating 7 dimensions (truth-seeking, open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, cognitive maturity) on a 6-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate superior competency.

  Baseline: Before training (Day 0). Post-intervention: 3 months after protocol implementation.

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Serum Albumin Levels

  ICU admission (Day 0) and Day 14.

• Serum Prealbumin Levels

  Day 0 and Day 14.

• Patient Satisfaction

  Day 15.

Other Outcomes (5)

• Incidence of Aspiration

  Daily monitoring until Day 14

• Incidence of Diarrhea

  Daily monitoring until Day 14.

• Incidence of Abdominal Distension

  Daily monitoring until Day 14.

Study Arms (2)

Conventional group

OTHER

The conventional group adhered to conventional nutritional management methods and training

Other: Conventional group

Evidence-based nursing group

OTHER

The study group implemented the EBN-based protocol alongside structured training

Other: evidence-based nursing group

Interventions

Conventional group OTHER

The conventional group adhered to conventional nutritional management methods and training

Conventional group

evidence-based nursing group OTHER

The study group implemented the EBN-based protocol alongside structured training

Evidence-based nursing group

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• diagnosis of critical illness by attending physicians or higher-qualified specialists according to established critical care diagnostic standards
• requirement for ICU admission with full access to standardized critical care and medical resources
• preserved partial gastrointestinal function without severe intestinal obstruction or perforation confirmed by certified nutritionists or senior nurses, enabling potential enteral nutrition (EN) or combined EN-parenteral nutrition (PN) support.

You may not qualify if:

• patients with severe cognitive impairment or psychiatric instability (e.g., advanced dementia, schizophrenia, status epilepticus) impairing capacity to engage in nutritional assessments or adhere to clinical protocols, which would jeopardize data collection reliability
• terminal-stage conditions (malignancies, renal/hepatic failure) with life expectancy \< 7 days or exclusively receiving palliative care, leading to misalignment between their palliative nutritional goals and the study's therapeutic intervention objectives
• congenital metabolic disorders (e.g., phenylketonuria) or short bowel syndrome requiring specialized nutritional protocols, which were incompatible with conventional critical care nutritional protocols and could compromise the generalizability of study findings
• pregnancy/lactation due to unique nutritional demands and potential risks to fetal/infant development inherent in the study design, contravening established ethical standards
• cases involving transfer, voluntary discharge, or withdrawal of consent that compromised data completeness.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Taizhou Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Taizhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Taizhou, Jiangsu, 225300, China

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 21, 2025
• First Posted: May 30, 2025
• Study Start: May 25, 2025
• Primary Completion: October 5, 2025
• Study Completion: November 30, 2025
• Last Updated: March 19, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Locations

CN (1)