Factors affecting cognitive work ability among intensive care unit nurses

This study introduces a conceptual model for cognitive work ability. Factors influencing CWA were identified in the context of intensive care unit (ICU) nursing. Senior nurses (45 and above) were subjected to a virtual simulation of an emergency ICU situation with three patients to care for. Color cues in the vital signs monitor, visual cues in the physician´s orders, abnormalities and arrangement of medicine in the e-cart were adjusted into different settings to produce two trials per nurse. Color cues, visual cues and alphabetical arrangement were found to improve response time and accuracy. Greater task complexity also led to poorer performance quality. Other relationships in the CWA model were also validated.