Pre-Op Screen: What Does A Pulse Oximeter Tell Us?
Routinely utilized in ICUs, operating rooms, and telemetry floors, the pulse oximeter ("pulse ox") is perhaps the single greatest monitoring advancement in the modern medical era. It relies on the fact that oxyhemoglobin... read more
What does the increasing prevalence of critical care research mean for critical care nurses?
The promotion and conduct of research is a core NHS function and The NHS Constitution sets out the principles that guide the NHS in its commitment to research to improve the current and future health and care of the population.... read more
The ABCDEF Bundle: Science and Philosophy of How ICU Liberation Serves Patients and Families
Over the past 20 years, critical care has matured in a myriad of ways resulting in dramatically higher survival rates for our sickest patients. For millions of new survivors comes de novo suffering and disability called "the... read more
Global multicenter observational investigator initiated study
The DIANA study is a large multicenter cohort study, lead by intensive care unit experts out of the University Hospital Ghent. This investigator initiated study will collect a large amount of data from multiple centers and... read more
Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock
The best approach for hemodynamic therapy for sepsis has become more uncertain as evidence has accumulated. This extends even to the degree to which clinicians should use intravenous fluids as a foundation for resuscitation... read more
Effects of Video vs Direct Laryngoscopy on Successful Orotracheal Intubation in ICU Patients
Among patients in the ICU requiring intubation, video laryngoscopy compared with direct laryngoscopy did not improve first-pass orotracheal intubation rates and was associated with higher rates of severe life-threatening... read more
Magnet guidance reduces misplacement of subclavian vein catheter in internal jugular vein
The internal jugular vein (IJV) and subclavian vein (SCV) are the two most commonly used insertion sites for central venous catheterization (CVC). A multicenter clinical trial compared commonly used insertion sites and... read more
WHO Calls for Stronger Avian Influenza Surveillance
With highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza A (H5N8) continuing to spread via birds across Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging the public to keep careful watch on this strain and has also called for... read more
Nutrition in critically ill adults: A systematic quality assessment of clinical practice guidelines
Nutritional support in the acutely ill is a complex topic. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed to assist healthcare professionals working in this field. However, the quality of these clinical guidelines... read more
Better glycemic control with continuous glucose monitoring
This randomized clinical trial compares the effects of continuous glucose monitoring vs conventional treatment for glycemic control in adult patients with type 1 diabetes treated with multiple daily insulin injections.... read more
Findings do not support early tracheal intubation for in-hospital cardiac arrest in adults
Decreased survival to hospital discharge was found with the initiation of tracheal intubation compared with no intubation in adult patients experiencing in-hospital cardiac arrest when the tracheal intubation was initiated... read more
Four ways to reduce dangerous medical errors at your hospital
It's human nature, everyone makes mistakes. But the consequences of those mistakes can range wildly not only according to their severity, but also depending on who commits them. When a marketer makes a typo on a press release,... read more
SOFA score may be best to identify sepsis in the ICU
Among critically ill patients admitted to the ICU with a suspected infection, defining sepsis by an increase of two or more points in the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score yielded greater prognostic accuracy... read more
New Infection Data and Sepsis-Guideline Critique at SCCM
The potential of probiotics to reduce nosocomial infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia in the critically ill and the latest data on readmissions will be among the major research advances presented here at the Society... read more
Prominent clinical guidelines fall short of conflict of interest standards
Two recent clinical practice guidelines, one for cholesterol management and another for treatment of chronic hepatitis C, did not meet the Institute of Medicine's standards for limiting commercial conflicts of interest, according... read more
Bad news for sepsis-3.0: qSOFA fails validation
Sepsis 3.0 replaced the SIRS criteria with a new risk-stratification tool, qSOFA. qSOFA was initially developed within the Sepsis-3 publication itself. Until now, qSOFA has never been validated. The value of qSOFA vs. SIRS... read more
Liberation from Mechanical Ventilation in Critically Ill Adults
Official Executive Summary of an American Thoracic Society/American College of Chest Physicians Clinical Practice Guideline: Liberation from Mechanical Ventilation in Critically Ill Adults. The panel provides recommendations... read more
