The evidence base for nursing care and monitoring of patients during therapeutic temperature management.

Therapeutic temperature management (TTM) is fast becoming a primary management strategy for a variety of medical conditions treated in critical care settings throughout the world. Nurses who provide direct care and who are tasked with developing multidisciplinary protocols and pathways are struggling to collate evidence from which to support specific nursing interventions. The aim of this project was to create the first comprehensive set of evidence-based guidelines specific to nursing care of the patient for whom TTM is medically necessary. Evidence-based nursing practice summaries are provided for nine nursing content areas: interventions to manage temperature, monitoring temperature, neurologic, cardiac, pulmonary, skin care, gastrointestinal/endocrine, laboratory findings, and general considerations for nursing care.