Tag: ICU

Establishing a Relationship of Trust and Care

An admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) is often a traumatic experience for both patients and families. Although members of the critical care team are specially trained to provide care and treatment requiring close,... read more

The Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout among Healthcare Professionals in ICUs

The true prevalence of burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma in ICU healthcare professionals remains open for discussion. A thorough exploration of emotional distress in relation to... read more

Antibiotic Therapy in Comatose Mechanically Ventilated Patients Following Aspiration

Dr. Fraser, MD, speaks with Jean Baptiste Lascarrou, MD, about the article, "Antibiotic Therapy in Comatose Mechanically Ventilated Patients Following Aspiration: Differentiating Pneumonia from Pneumonitis," published in... read more

How to Run Successful Rounds in the ICU

Rounds in the intensive care unit (ICU) allow for scheduled discussions in which healthcare providers review clinical information and develop care plans for critically ill patients. Despite this straightforward concept, there... read more

Virtual Reality to Improve Cognitive Alterations in ICU

More than 30 percent of patients who survive an episode of critical illness presents brain alterations that go beyond those of the disease that has led to the admission to intensive care (ICU). As a result of this cerebral... read more

Delirium a Dreaded Scourge Underdiagnosed in Hospitals

Pain medications, infections, medical illnesses, ventilators, dehydration or withdrawing from alcohol can be risk factors for delirium. Hospitals are one of the biggest culprits. They're noisy, busy and not conducive to getting... read more

When Should Nutritional Support Be Implemented in a Hospitalized Patient?

At the time of admission to the hospital, malnutrition is already present in over 20% of patients. Hospitalized patients are particularly susceptible to developing malnutrition because of increased catabolic states in acute... read more

Tracheotomy in the ICU: Guidelines from a French Expert Panel

Tracheotomy is widely used in intensive care units (ICUs), albeit with great disparities between medical teams in terms of frequency and modality. Indications and techniques are, however, associated with variable levels of... read more

In ICUs, a Furry Friend to Comfort Patients

Amid the monitor alarms and life-and-death conversations on the intensive care unit, Tucker, a very mellow Labrador retriever, rolled onto his back at the nurses' station. Delighted staff surrounded the dog, cooing and scratching... read more

Medication Errors Occur in Nearly Half of ICU Transfers

Almost 50% of patients transferred from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a non-ICU location experience a medication error at the time of transition of care, according to new data. While the majority of these errors did, in... read more

Tomorrow’s ICU

Johns Hopkins clinicians and engineers are creating a model for a safer, less costly and more productive clinical unit that can be adopted anywhere. With clinicians spending less time on documenting and gathering supplies,... read more

ICU-Acquired Weakness and Recovery from Critical Illness

Kress and Hall propose that rehabilitation of critically ill patients should begin in the ICU. The authors name sepsis, systemic inflammation, multiorgan failure, hyperglycemia, glucocorticoid use, and female sex as risk... read more

Five-Year Survival and Causes of Death in Children After Intensive Care

There was an increased risk of death in a cohort of ICU-admitted children even 3 years after discharge. In those who survived 30 days after discharge, medical causes of death were dominant, whereas deaths due to trauma were... read more

Practicing Respect in the ICU

In this episode, we discuss the practice of respect in the ICU. Our guest is Samuel M. Brown, MD, MS, a practicing intensivist and Director of the Center for Humanizing Critical Care at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray,... read more

Septic Cardiomyopathy

Septic cardiomyopathy is an important contributor to organ dysfunction in sepsis. Guided treatment of septic cardiomyopathy may affect patients' prognosis, especially when their cardiac index is substantially decreased. The... read more

Apneic Oxygenation in the ICU

Hypoxemia is the most common complication of endotracheal intubation in the critically ill and the strongest risk factor for periprocedural cardiac arrest and death. The traditional approach to avoiding desaturation during... read more

Data Analysis Shows ICU Scores Accurate in Predicting Risk of Death

Using clinical data from more than 200 hospital intensive care units, Philips Healthcare has shown that three ICU risk scores—designed for different purposes—performed well as a marker of severity of illness at admission... read more

The Effects of a Delirium Notification Program on the Clinical Outcomes of the ICU

Increasing the physician's awareness of the patient's mental state by using a notification program could reduce the anxiety of ICU patients even though it may not reduce delirium. The results suggested that the method of... read more

Associations With Psychological Outcomes Among Family Members of Mechanical Ventilation Survivors

In this multicenter cross-sectional survey, we interviewed family members of mechanically ventilated patients at the time of transfer from the ICU to the hospital ward. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore... read more

Translating Evidence Into Practice in ARDS

Although the treatment of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with low tidal volume (LTV) mechanical ventilation improves mortality, it is not consistently administered in clinical practice. This review examines... read more

Choosing the Right Hemodynamic Platform

Choosing the Right Hemodynamic Platform: ABG, SV to PAC – Barbara McLean, MN, RN, CCNS-BC, NP-BC Barbara McLean, MN, RN, CCNS-BC, NP-BC Critical Care Clinical Specialist Critical Care Division Grady Health System... read more

Subsyndromal Delirium and Institutionalization Among Patients With Critical Illness

Subsyndromal delirium occurred in most critically ill patients, and its duration was an independent predictor of institutionalization. Routine monitoring of all delirium symptoms may enable detection of full and subsyndromal... read more