Examining concepts related to critical illness and the management of critically ill patients: a protocol for a scoping review

BackgroundCritically ill patients present with highly complex care needs that necessitate specialised, efficient collaboration across multidisciplinary teams. Effective communication and shared understanding of clinical concepts are imperative to delivering optimised care and enhancing patient outcomes. Concept analysis methodology offers a structured approach to clarifying complex clinical concepts to promote consistency in understanding and application. Gaining insight into concepts already described in this patient population, alongside identifying gaps, could support more collaborative understanding. This scoping review aims to systematically identify, synthesise, and map concepts underpinning the management of critically ill adult patients along the stages of the critical illness care pathway.MethodsWe will search the databases MEDLINE ALL, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, and Web of Science Core Collection from inception to date of search. Grey literature will be identified via ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. Reference lists of included studies will be screened to identify additional relevant literature. We will include studies using concept analysis methodology that explore, or define, concepts related to the management of critically ill adult patients at any stage of the care pathway. Screening and data extraction processes will be piloted and conducted independently and in duplicate. Extracted data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and narrative synthesis. Study characteristics will be summarised in tables. We will describe which concepts have been explored and how they have been defined, detail of the concept analysis method used, and in what populations and phases of the care pathway. Concepts will be mapped visually to illustrate their distribution across the pathway.DiscussionNo reviews to date have summarised or mapped the concepts relating to the management of critically ill adult patients across the care pathway. Results of this review will inform clinical practice and help identify gaps for future research.Scoping review registrationThis protocol is registered on OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Z63CW.