Effects of Patient-Directed Music Intervention on Anxiety and Sedative Exposure in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilatory Support
Among ICU patients receiving acute ventilatory support for respiratory failure, patient-directed music (PDM) resulted in greater reduction in anxiety compared with usual care, but not compared with NCH. Concurrently, PDM... read more
Using music to stabilize NICU babies as well as their parents
When music therapist Christine Vaskas works with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit, the effect of her interventions are almost always immediately apparent. In 2013, a study led by Joanne Loewy, the Armstrong Center's... read more
Physician Well-Being: The Reciprocity of Efficiency, Resilience, Wellness Culture
The quality and safety of patient care, and indeed the very vitality of our health care systems, depend heavily on high-functioning physicians. Yet recent data have revealed an extraordinarily high - and increasing - prevalence... read more
ICU Usage for Pneumonia Doubles Length of Hospital Stay
A recently released report using data from the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) verifies existing data on the prevalence of pneumonia in hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits and provides the first-ever... read more
Lumping or Splitting in Pediatric ARDS
Improvements in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) outcomes in adults have been achieved along-side demonstration of the superiority of low-tidal volume ventilation, the relative advantage of a restrictive fluid strategy... read more
Breaking it Down: Post Intensive Care Syndrome and Recovery – Emotions
The emotional aftermath of critical illness/injury is something that often catches people by surprise but can have a significant impact on daily life. People who have been critically ill/injured often describe difficulty... read more
Preventing Harmful Delays with POCUS During Cardiac Arrest
With the integration of bedside echocardiography into cardiac arrest, we now have a real-time tool to help us glean some of this critical missing information, as well as offer procedural guidance and prognostic data. However,... read more
Do Nurse Staffing Ratios Work? New Research Says No
Advocates of mandated staffing ratios say they improve patient outcomes. A recent study finds otherwise. Nurse-to-patient ratios are a hot button issue. Look no further than Massachusetts for an example. After a battle that... read more
NHS Cancels 14% of Operations at Last Minute
One in seven NHS hospital operations are being cancelled just before they are due to take place, often because of a lack of beds, staff or operating theatres, research reveals. Of 26,171 procedures due to take place during... read more
The Needs of Families of Trauma Intensive Care Patients
This mixed methods study identified that families of trauma patients have different needs to families of general patients and the nurses rated the needs of the families of trauma patients as less important than the families... read more
New York State Sepsis Reporting Mandate Appears to Improve Care and Reduce Deaths
A New York State requirement that all hospitals report compliance with protocols to treat severe sepsis and septic shock appears to improve care and reduce mortality from one of the most common causes of death in those who... read more
Hospitals Prepare To Launch Their Own Drug Company To Fight High Prices And Shortages
Shortages of commonplace generic drugs have plagued hospitals in recent years. And with short supplies and fewer suppliers for key drugs, there have been price increases. Hospital purchasing agents keep searching for new... read more
Subsegmental Pulmonary Embolism: Anticoagulation or Observation?
As the use of chest CT-angiograms in emergency departments and medical wards has risen by more than tenfold, so has the discovery of small pulmonary emboli of unclear clinical significance. These PEs are often isolated to... read more
The white coat means something more to patients
How do we choose what we wear when seeing patients? Is it by what tradition dictates? Do we need to meet our institution's dress code? Or do we just like what makes us comfortable? (Those scrubs sure are comfy — almost... read more
Hospital Variation in Risk-Adjusted Pediatric Sepsis Mortality
Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Stefanie G. Ames, MD, about the article "Hospital Variation in Risk-Adjusted Pediatric Sepsis Mortality," published in the May 2018 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Ames... read more
Device Delivers Drugs to the Brain to Stop Seizures
The failure of systemic drug treatments to address numerous neurological disorders has spurred the development of alternative approaches that attempt localized treatment. These localized treatments focus therapy on the region... read more
Rapid Diagnosis of MRSA
Current standard laboratory methods for detection of oxacillin resistance require for isolation, identification, and susceptibility testing at least 48–72 h, although the multiplex PCR assay used is a rapid, sensitive,... read more
Doctors’ Mental Health at Tipping Point
Patients rely on doctors to look after their mental health but is enough being done to help the doctors when they are the ones with problems? There are concerns that some medical professionals in England are unable to get... read more
Lessons From Everest’s Sherpas Could Aid Intensive Care Treatment
A research expedition to Mount Everest has shed light on the unique physiological basis of adaptations seen in the native Sherpa people, which make them better suited to life at high altitude. This improved understanding,... read more
Sepsis Around the Cradle of Humankind
While representing the cutting edge of civilization everywhere, mothers and their newborn infants are a population particularly vulnerable to sepsis.1 By recognizing the importance of antiseptic prophylaxis (handwashing),... read more
Drug-resistant Superbug Spreading in Hospitals
A superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause "severe" infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world, scientists in Australia warned on Monday. Researchers at the... read more
MRSA Protocols – Methods in Molecular Biology
Presenting the most up-to-date techniques for the detection, genotyping, and investigation of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), this second edition of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Protocols collects... read more
