The whole hospital workforce is nowadays compelled to accept greater responsibility for controlling health-care expenses. Nurses are in the front line to ensure proper use of drugs and consumables, and could have an important role to face the challenge of cost-containment, including in intensive care units (ICUs). Being aware of costs is, however, the first step to incorporate cost-consciousness into daily practice. Owing to a lack of published data on cost-awareness among paramedical staff, we therefore aimed to assess the current knowledge of nurses regarding the costs of common medical prescriptions and devices in the ICU.

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