Critical care nurses' perception of time spent at rapid responses.

Rationale: Critical care nurses are an integral part of rapid response (RR) teams. The length of time they spend away from an intensive care unit (ICU) to attend RRs and how ICU nurses perceive the time away from the ICU has not been previously evaluated.

Objectives: To determine: (1) the time an ICU nurse spends at RRs; (2) ICU nurses' view of nursing absence; and (3) RR characteristics associated with longer nursing time.