Professional nurses’ facilitation of self-care in intensive care units: A concept analysis

OBJECTIVE: This article aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the concept of self-care in the intensive care unit and outline its defining attributes, antecedents, consequences and empirical referents. METHODS: The literature was searched electronically using databases such as CINAHL, Medline, Psych INFO, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Amed, EBSCO (Health Source: Nursing and Academic Edition), Sage, Ujoogle and Google Scholar. Articles from 2013 to 2020 were searched to target recent and up-to-date information about the definitions, attributes, antecedents and consequences of the concept of self-care. Walker and Avant’s framework was utilised to analyse the concept of self-care. RESULTS: The results of the concept analysis identified seven attributes, namely process, activity, capability, autonomous choice, education, self-control and interaction. The seven identified antecedents are self-motivation, participation, commitment, resources, religious and cultural beliefs, social, spiritual and professional support, and the availability of time. The consequences are the maintenance of health and wellbeing, autonomy, increased self-esteem, disease prevention, empowerment, increased social support and the ability to cope with stress. CONCLUSIONS: The result of the concept analysis was used to describe a model to facilitate professional nurses’ self-care in the intensive care unit.