Mid Sweden University

Objective: Being a nurse in an intensive care unit entails caring for seriously ill patients. Vasoactive drugs are one of the tools that are used to restore adequate circulation. Critical care nurses often manage and administer these potent drugs after medical advice from physicians.

Aim: To describe the experiences of critical care nurses learning to manage vasoactive drugs, and to highlight the competence required to manage vasoactive drugs.

Research methodology/setting: Twelve critical care nurses from three hospitals in Sweden were interviewed. Qualitative content analysis was applied.

Results: The theme "becoming proficient requires accuracy, practice and precaution" illustrated how critical care nurses learn to manage vasoactive drugs. Learning included developing cognitive, psychomotor, and effective skills. Sources for knowledge refers to specialist education combined with practical exercises, collegial support, and accessible routine documents. The competence required to manage vasoactive drugs encompassed well-developed safety thinking that included being careful, in control, and communicating failures. Specific skills were required such as titrating doses, being able to analyse and evaluate the technological assessments, adapting to the situation, and staying calm.

Conclusion: Learning to manage vasoactive drugs requires a supportive introduction for novices, collegial support, lifelong learning, and a culture of safety.