[Nursing care in fever--a literature study and intensive care nurses' viewpoint on nursing care and treatment of fever].

Fever is a symptom of a disease which has caused people inconvenience since ancient times. The view upon fever, what it is and how to treat it, has been changing from time to time. Today there is at debate whether fever is friend or foe. Patients in an intensive care unit almost always has an increased body temperature. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU)-staff look upon fever as a natural response to an infection but they have different opinions about what treatment should be used. The purpose of this study was to investigate what was written about fever and compare to the knowledge and nursing care among nurses working in a specific ICU. Thirty-six questionnaires were distributed and 28 were answered. We have found that the nurses, among themselves, have different ways of caring for the feverish patient. Administration of antipyretics, fluids, nutrition and furthermore cooling and warming measures differ between nursing and literature. Particularly concerning the cooling measures nurses take without previous administration of antipyretics. This is something that the literature definitely dissuades from because of the risk of initiating a chill and perhaps rise the temperature instead. We can also conclude that the nurses do not describe their patients feverish conditions in similar words which can lead to misunderstandings. Finding a similar language in nursing documentation is therefore essential.