BACKGROUND: Providing sedation and analgesia for patients especially in the intensive care units remains difficult and controversial for clinicians and many institutions.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices on sedation and analgesia among medical residents and pulmonary fellows-in-training in a tertiary care hospital.
METHODS: The research design is a prospective descriptive survey of 67 participants.
RESULTS: Midazolam is the preferred sedative agent for continuous infusion. The top two reasons why sedation is used according to the knowledge of the study participants were agitation and patient comfort. Monitoring neurologic status is the primary reason why sedation is not used. Majority of the medical residents said that 50% of the mechanically ventilated patients require continuous intravenous sedation. On the other hand, pulmonary fellows-in-training said that 50-75% of mechanically ventilated patients require continuous intravenous sedation. Twenty three participants (34.32%) have used a sedation scale, of which majority uses Ramsay Sedation Scale. Morphine is the preferred analgesic agents of the study participants. Unavailability of analgesic agents is the top reason why analgesia is not used.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The medical residents and pulmonary fellows-in-training showed differences in
knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to use of sedation and analgesia. To increase their knowledge and improve their practice, they should be given medical education and training in sedation and analgesia.