Tag: ICU
Optimizing Patient and Family Education Resources for the ICU
Offering stronger patient and family education tools in the ICU will ease patient and caregiver fears and make them more comfortable with the care setting. An integrated, centralized, and digital platform is best suited for... read more
The Psychological Impact of Intensive Care
A period in intensive care is known to negatively affect patients' long term physical, cognitive and psychiatric health, in what's known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Researchers from the University of Oxford sought... read more
Humanizing the ICU
In the midst of trying to correct organ failures, clinicians may neglect to carefully consider what the patient is experiencing: to be on the brink of death, be unable to speak, be stripped naked, have strangers enter the... read more
Less or More Hemodynamic Monitoring in Critically Ill Patients
The use of echocardiography should be initially encouraged in patients with shock to identify the type of shock and to select the most appropriate therapy. The use of more invasive hemodynamic monitoring techniques should... read more
Nutrition Support for the Critically Ill
This text provides a review of the current knowledge in both the mechanics of nourishing the critically ill and the metabolic and immunological roles nutrients play. In-depth chapters discuss disease-related malnutrition... read more
Systematic Review of the Effects of ICU Noise on Sleep of Healthy Subjects and the Critically Ill
ICU patients exhibit disturbed sleeping patterns, often attributed to environmental noise, although the relative contribution of noise compared to other potentially disrupting factors is often debated. We therefore systematically... read more
Infectious Diseases in the Pediatric ICU
Infants and children are at high risk of acquiring infections and this is most critical on the pediatric intensive care unit, as these infections have serious effects on mortality. Infectious Diseases in the Pediatric Intensive... read more
A Framework for Increasing Trust Between Patients and the Organizations That Care for Them
Trust matters in health care. It makes patients feel less vulnerable, clinicians feel more effective, and reduces the imbalances of information by improving the flow of information. Trust is so fundamental to the patient-physician... read more
Poor Hospital Design Has an Impact on Staff, Patients, and Healthcare
Many hospitals in which I have worked have struggled with finances over the last 5 years. There has often been a ban on capital investment on new physical infrastructure projects even extended to repairs in some circumstances.... read more
Antibiotics for the Critically Ill Patient
We spend a lot of time obsessing over the finer details of critical care: which fluid is best? which vasopressor is best? will another liter of fluid help? These details are important, but for a septic patient something... read more
Sepsis Incidence and Mortality are Underestimated in Australian ICU Administrative Data
When compared with the reference standard — prospective clinical diagnosis — ANZICS CORE database criteria significantly underestimate the incidence of sepsis and overestimate the incidence of septic shock, and also result... read more
Benzodiazepine Use and Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in the ICU
The majority of included studies indicated that benzodiazepine use in the ICU is associated with delirium, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and cognitive dysfunction. Future well-designed studies... read more
Corticosteroid Treatment in Critically Ill Patients with Severe Influenza Pneumonia
Administration of corticosteroids in patients with severe influenza pneumonia is associated with increased ICU mortality, and these agents should not be used as co‑adjuvant therapy. A total of 1846 patients with primary... read more
Assessment of the Safety of Discharging Select Patients Directly Home From the ICU
The discharge of select adult patients directly home from the ICU is common, and it is not associated with increased health care utilization or increased mortality. Among the 6732 patients included in the study, 2826 (42%)... read more
Vasodilatory Shock in the ICU and the Role of Angiotensin II
With the approval and release of angiotensin II, a new vasoactive agent is now available to utilize in these patients. Overall, the treatment for vasodilatory shock should not be a one-size fits all approach and should be... read more
Adherence to Guidelines for the Management of Donors After Brain Death
Guideline adherence to an expert panel predefined care set in brain death (DBD) donor management proved moderate leaving substantial room for improvement. An importance-performance analysis can be used to improve implementation... read more
Artificial Intelligence in the ICU
ICU doctors are often required to analyse large volumes of complex, heterogeneous data to make life-critical decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI), if used effectively, could reduce this burden by transforming data into... read more
A New ICU Equipment Diagram… But is it Art?
It is well established that the Arts have a clear contribution to make in the delivery of an improved healthcare experience for patients, service users and staff. Southmead Hospital (part of North Bristol NHS Trust) has a... read more
What constitutes optimal glucose management in Critical Care?
Glycaemic Control in the EU. Following on from the poster we presented at the Intensive Care Society. We asked Sphere Medical's own Dr Gavin Troughton to present at our launch event. In the below video he goes into more... read more
Haloperidol for the Management of Delirium in Adult ICU Patients
Among critically ill patients, haloperidol administration compared with placebo does not significantly affect short-term mortality, incidence of delirium, ICU length of stay, or delirium or coma-free days. Additionally, there... read more
Insulin-Treated Diabetes Reduces Dysglycemia-Related Mortality in Sepsis
Patients with sepsis and a pre-existing diagnosis of insulin-treated diabetes (ITD) may show a different relationship between hospital mortality and highest glucose levels and glycemic variability in the first 24 hours than... read more
A Mixed Methods Exploration of ICU Nurses’ Perception of Handling Oxygen Therapy to Critically Ill Patients
Nurses handle supplementary oxygen to intensive care unit (ICU) patients as part of their daily practice. To secure patients of optimal and safe care, knowledge of nurses' perception of this practice, including influencing... read more
