Even Proper Technique Exposes Nurses’ Spines To Dangerous Forces

Even Proper Technique Exposes Nurses’ Spines To Dangerous Forces

In this close-up screenshot from a simulation video, you can see the exact moment NPR correspondent Daniel Zwerdling endured dangerous levels of stress on his spine while re-creating the way nurses push their patients in... read more

Effect of Occupancy on Critically Ill Admissions

Effect of Occupancy on Critically Ill Admissions

Effect of Emergency Department and ICU Occupancy on Admission Decisions and Outcomes for Critically Ill Patients. The volume of ICU admissions from the ED has increased around 50% from 2001-2009. Hospitals struggle with this... read more

Can Noninvasive BP Monitoring Replace Arterial Catheter?

Can Noninvasive BP Monitoring Replace Arterial Catheter?

Although its reliability is often questioned, noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP) monitoring with an oscillometric arm cuff is widely used. Indeed, intermittent arm NIBP is the first-line monitoring technique during prehospital... read more

Complications of Regional Citrate Anticoagulation: Accumulation or Overload?

Complications of Regional Citrate Anticoagulation: Accumulation or Overload?

Based on recent recommendations, the use of Regional Citrate Anticoagulation (RCA) is likely to increase dramatically throughout the world. RCA protocols should aim to minimize the amount of net citrate load delivered to... read more

Considerations in the Diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Considerations in the Diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

The clinical practice guideline on diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) by Raghu and colleagues has been helpful in addressing the complexities of radiological and pathological features in diagnosing IPF. The... read more

ICU Admissions Raise Chronic Condition Risk

ICU Admissions Raise Chronic Condition Risk

A new study of ICU patients in the Netherlands shows a heightened risk of developing new chronic conditions in patients after an intensive care stay. The research showed rising likelihood of conditions such as depression,... read more

Mythbuster: Administration of Vasopressors Through Peripheral Intravenous Access

Mythbuster: Administration of Vasopressors Through Peripheral Intravenous Access

Vasopressors are frequently used in critically ill patients with hemodynamic instability both in the emergency department (ED) as well as intensive care units (ICUs). Typically, vasopressors are given through central venous... read more

Caring for Critically Ill Patients in Humanitarian Settings

Caring for Critically Ill Patients in Humanitarian Settings

Critical care medicine is far from the first medical field to come to mind when humanitarian action is mentioned, yet both critical care and humanitarian action share a fundamental purpose to save the lives and ease the suffering... read more

Procalcitonin Reduces Antibiotic Use with No Negative Outcomes

Procalcitonin Reduces Antibiotic Use with No Negative Outcomes

The elderly patient presenting to the ED with nonspecific symptoms remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Often, these patients arrive with general complaints ranging from altered mental status to weakness, subjective... read more

New Guidelines for Hospital-acquired Pneumonia/Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

New Guidelines for Hospital-acquired Pneumonia/Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

American and European guidelines have many areas of common agreement such as limiting antibiotic duration. Both guidelines were in favor of a close clinical assessment. Neither recommended a regular use of biomarkers but... read more

Clinics Aim to Improve Post-ICU Recovery

Clinics Aim to Improve Post-ICU Recovery

Ten days after arriving in the emergency department with pneumonia, 58-year-old Connie Bovier woke up in the intensive care unit (ICU). She survived acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, and a host of other... read more

Selected Imaging Controversies in ED Trauma

Selected Imaging Controversies in ED Trauma

Traumatic injuries are amongst the most common presentations for all emergency departments (ED). In 2010, there were over 1 million patients in Canada who visited the ED for trauma, result in an cost of almost 9 billion dollars.... read more

Long-Term Mortality and Hospital Resource Use in ICU Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease

Long-Term Mortality and Hospital Resource Use in ICU Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease

ICU patients with alcohol-related liver disease have higher 5-year mortality and emergency readmission rates than ICU patients with other severe comorbidities and matched general ICU patients. These data can contribute to... read more

Sepsis Test Could Show Results In Minutes

Sepsis Test Could Show Results In Minutes

A new rapid test for earlier diagnosis of sepsis is being developed by University of Strathclyde researchers. The device, which has been tested in a laboratory, may be capable of producing results in two-and-a-half minutes,... read more