Tag: communication
Developing an ICU Diary in the Pediatric ICU
Todd Fraser, MD, speaks with Jenny Tcharmtchi, BSN, RN, CCRN, about the article, "Family Experience in the PICU," published in Critical Connections, the Society of Critical Care Medicine's newsletter. Ms. Tcharmtchi... read more
Web-based ICU Communication Improves Patient Experience and Outcomes
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have developed a web-based program that uses team communication and engagement to improve patient experience and outcomes. The study enrolled 1,075 ICU patients and provided... read more
A part of patient care that I was not taught in medical school
How physicians express condolences. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how physicians express condolences. This weekend, I attended calling hours to visit with the family of a recently deceased patient. As I drove back... read more
The "Quality Minute" – A New, Brief, and Structured Technique for Quality Improvement Education During the Morbidity and Mortality Conference
The Quality Minute is a brief, structured presentation designed to incorporate quality improvement (QI) education into the surgical morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference. The 6-slide, 5-minute structure makes it easy... read more
Data on 211 Million Referrals Shows How Doctors Really Work Together
A peek into the hidden world of medicine reveals some surprising trends. Sometimes it involves the traditional sense of the word - a primary care physician referring a patient to a specialist (like a cardiologist or gastroenterologist)... read more
Boarding ICU patients: Are our rounding practices subpar?
Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) patients "boarding" in ICUs other than the designated home unit have been shown to suffer increased rates of complications. We hypothesized that ICU rounding practices are different... read more
Nurses make me a better doctor
I firmly believe that the relationship between a nurse and physician should be one of collaboration without hierarchy. It takes a very special person to become a nurse. Without them, physicians cannot function. I thank all... read more
We're Bad at Death. Can We Talk?
Despite growing recognition that more care isn't necessarily better care, particularly at the end of life, many Americans still receive an enormous dose of medicine in their final days. On average, patients make 29 visits... read more
New Telestroke Guidelines by American Telemedicine Association
These new telestroke guidelines were developed to assist practitioners in providing assessment, diagnosis, management, and/or remote consultative support to patients exhibiting symptoms and signs consistent with an acute... read more
What Is Permitted in Text Messaging About Protected Health Information?
This Viewpoint discusses the best use of texting clinical information, noting that neither Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act nor the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act offer... read more
Emory Healthcare leverages Philips eICU platform to save $4.6 million
Emory Healthcare used Philips' technology for an eICU program, resulting in massive savings, lowered readmission rates and more. Emory's story began in 2010 and 2011, when team members saw tele-ICUs based on platforms... read more
Many Factors Contribute to Nurses' Alarm Response Time
Multiple factors including nurses' experience and assignments determined how fast they responded when monitoring alarms were triggered in a children's hospital, a video analysis found. Nurses were more likely to... read more
Changing Mindsets to Enhance Treatment Effectiveness
This Viewpoint defines mindsets - frames of mind that orient beliefs or expectations - discusses how they can influence patients' perceptions about treatment and self-efficacy, and proposes ways physicians might shape... read more
Top 5 Skills Every Nurse Should Develop Quickly
What are the top five skills that every nurse should develop? Nope! Not those. I imagine many of you reading automatically think about the clinical skills it takes to become a professional nurse. While clinical skills are... read more
Communicating Context in Quality Improvement Reports
The study by Demb and colleagues reports on the positive results of an intervention strategy to reduce excess radiation exposure across 5 academic medical centers associated with the University of California. Leading up to... read more
Pricey Technology Is Keeping People Alive Who Don’t Want to Live
As an ICU physician, I’ve used technologies like breathing machines and feeding tubes to save lives that would have been lost just a few decades earlier. But I’ve also seen the substantial costs, both human and financial,... read more
Family Responses to Prognostic Information in Chronic Critical Illness
Prognostic disclosure by skilled clinician communicators evokes a repertoire of responses from surrogates for the chronically critically ill. Recognition of these response patterns may help all clinicians better communicate... read more
