Nursing Actions in the Stroke Code of the Adult Emergency

Abstract

Introduction: Stroke, or cerebrovascular accident, is brain damage. Nursing is crucial for the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of the patient. Objective: To determine the performance of nursing staff in the management of stroke codes in the Adult Emergency Department of Sanatorio La Costa in Asunción during October 2022. Materials and Methods: Quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 43 registered nurses working in different shifts, recruited by non-probabilistic convenience sampling using a pre-structured questionnaire in the form of a survey, respecting confidentiality. Results: The nursing staff is mainly composed of women between 31 and 40 years of age, with a tertiary academic level and between 6 and 10 years of service. In relation to nursing performance in stroke code, it is argued that rapid identification and early diagnosis of stroke prevent irreversible neurological sequelae and even death of the patient. The triage staff is responsible for the initial identification of a stroke code, whose inclusion criterion is that the evolution be less than 8 hours. Conclusion: The nursing staff of the Adult Emergency Department at Sanatorio La Costa knows how to respond to a stroke code.