ArticleNursing in critical care2026
Cross-Sectional Survey of Critical Care Provision in Ministry of Health Hospitals in Zambia.
Article in Nursing in critical care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCritical care is an essential component of universal health care; however, its provision in low- and middle-income countries remains poorly understood. Although Zambia has expanded critical care services over the last 15 years, national evidence regarding workforce capacity, infrastructure and service provision remains limited.
aimsTo evaluate critical care workforce, service provision and patient case mix across Ministry of Health hospitals in Zambia. STUDY
designA cross-sectional survey was administered across 14 public hospitals with critical care units across Zambia, representing all 10 provinces. Data were collected via an e-survey questionnaire instrument. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS. Ethics approval was obtained prior to the study.
resultsAll hospitals responded (n = 14/14, 100% response rate), accounting for a capacity of 131 critical care beds. Only 28.6% of hospitals had 24-h intensivist coverage, whereas all had registered critical care nurses. Equipment availability varied, with universal access to ventilators and monitors but limited access to syringe pumps and inconsistent availability of functional CT scanners. Over a 7-day period, 121 admissions were recorded, predominantly medical (29%), surgical (24.8%) and trauma-related (19.8%). Paediatric cases accounted for 40% of admissions. Formal admission and discharge protocols were present in fewer than half of the hospitals.
conclusionThe study provides the first national overview of public critical care provision in Zambia and provides a snapshot of current provision. The findings highlight urgent areas for capacity strengthening. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Findings are similar to other studies within the sub-Saharan region and highlight the need to strengthen workforce training, particularly in critical and paediatric care, improve access to essential equipment and standardise care protocols to enhance patient safety and outcomes. The study demonstrates the importance of strengthening the multidisciplinary critical care workforce.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.