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Sample records for surgical intensive care

  1. Moral distress among nurses in medical, surgical and intensive-care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lusignani, Maura; Giannì, Maria Lorella; Re, Luca Giuseppe; Buffon, Maria Luisa

    2017-09-01

    To assess the frequency, intensity and level of moral distress perceived by nurses working in medical, surgical and intensive care units. Moral distress among nurses compromises their ability to provide optimal patient care and may cause them to leave their job. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 283 registered nurses was conducted to evaluate the frequency, intensity and levels of moral distress. A revised version of the Moral Distress Scale (MDS-R) was used. The highest level of moral distress was associated with the provision of treatments and aggressive care that were not expected to benefit the patients and the competency of the health-care providers. Multivariate regression showed that nurses working in medical settings, nurses with lower levels of experience working in medical, surgical or intensive care settings, and nurses who intend to leave their job experienced the highest levels of moral distress. The present study indicates that nurses experience an overall moderate level of moral distress. Gaining further insight into the issue of moral distress among nurses and the clinical situations that most frequently cause this distress will enable development of strategies to reduce moral distress and to improve nurse satisfaction and, consequently, patient care. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Validation of Surgical Intensive Care-Infection Registry: a medical informatics system for intensive care unit research, quality of care improvement, and daily patient care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golob, Joseph F; Fadlalla, Adam M A; Kan, Justin A; Patel, Nilam P; Yowler, Charles J; Claridge, Jeffrey A

    2008-08-01

    We developed a prototype electronic clinical information system called the Surgical Intensive Care-Infection Registry (SIC-IR) to prospectively study infectious complications and monitor quality of care improvement programs in the surgical and trauma intensive care unit. The objective of this study was to validate SIC-IR as a successful health information technology with an accurate clinical data repository. Using the DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success as a framework, we evaluated SIC-IR in a 3-month prospective crossover study of physician use in one of our two surgical and trauma intensive care units (SIC-IR unit versus non SIC-IR unit). Three simultaneous research methodologies were used: a user survey study, a pair of time-motion studies, and an accuracy study of SIC-IR's clinical data repository. The SIC-IR user survey results were positive for system reliability, graphic user interface, efficiency, and overall benefit to patient care. There was a significant decrease in prerounding time of nearly 4 minutes per patient on the SIC-IR unit compared with the non SIC-IR unit. The SIC-IR documentation and data archiving was accurate 74% to 100% of the time depending on the data entry method used. This accuracy was significantly improved compared with normal hand-written documentation on the non SIC-IR unit. SIC-IR proved to be a useful application both at individual user and organizational levels and will serve as an accurate tool to conduct prospective research and monitor quality of care improvement programs.

  3. General surgical admissions in the intensive care unit in Ibadan ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objectives:The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has improved patient outcome in complex surgeries while the costs of maintaining services are high. ICU services in developing countries are often inadequate due to lack of funds. This study reviews the pattern and outcomes of General Surgical patients admitted to the ICU of our ...

  4. Communication and Culture in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit: Boundary Production and the Improvement of Patient Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conn, Lesley Gotlib; Haas, Barbara; Cuthbertson, Brian H; Amaral, Andre C; Coburn, Natalie; Nathens, Avery B

    2016-06-01

    This ethnography explores communication around critically ill surgical patients in three surgical intensive care units (ICUs) in Canada. A boundary framework is used to articulate how surgeons', intensivists', and nurses' communication practices shape and are shaped by their respective disciplinary perspectives and experiences. Through 50 hours of observations and 43 interviews, these health care providers are found to engage in seven communication behaviors that either mitigate or magnify three contested symbolic boundaries: expertise, patient ownership, and decisional authority. Where these boundaries are successfully mitigated, experiences of collaborative, high-quality patient care are produced; by contrast, boundary magnification produces conflict and perceptions of unsafe patient care. Findings reveal that high quality and safe patient care are produced through complex social and cultural interactions among surgeons, intensivists, and nurses that are also expressions of knowledge and power. This enhances our understanding of why current quality improvement efforts targeting communication may be ineffective. © The Author(s) 2015.

  5. The Syrian civil war: The experience of the Surgical Intensive Care Units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozdogan, Hatice Kaya; Karateke, Faruk; Ozdogan, Mehmet; Cetinalp, Sibel; Ozyazici, Sefa; Gezercan, Yurdal; Okten, Ali Ihsan; Celik, Muge; Satar, Salim

    2016-01-01

    Since the civilian war in Syria began, thousands of seriously injured trauma patients from Syria were brought to Turkey for emergency operations and/or postoperative intensive care. The aim of this study was to present the demographics and clinical features of the wounded patients in Syrian civil war admitted to the surgical intensive care units in a tertiary care centre. The records of 80 trauma patients admitted to the Anaesthesia, General Surgery and Neurosurgery ICUs between June 1, 2012 and July 15, 2014 were included in the study. The data were reviewed regarding the demographics, time of presentation, place of reference, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score and Injury Severity Score (ISS), surgical procedures, complications, length of stay and mortality. A total of 80 wounded patients (70 males and 10 females) with a mean age of 28.7 years were admitted to surgical ICUs. The most frequent cause of injury was gunshot injury. The mean time interval between the occurrence of injury and time of admission was 2.87 days. Mean ISS score on admission was 21, and mean APACHE II score was 15.7. APACHE II scores of non-survivors were significantly increased compared with those of survivors (P=0.001). No significant differences was found in the age, ISS, time interval before admission, length of stay in ICU, rate of surgery before or after admission. The most important factor affecting mortality in this particular trauma-ICU patient population from Syrian civil war was the physiological condition of patients on admission. Rapid transport and effective initial and on-road resuscitation are critical in decreasing the mortality rate in civil wars and military conflicts.

  6. Adverse outcomes after percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy versus surgical tracheostomy in intensive care patients: case series and literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jarosz K

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Konrad Jarosz,1 Bartosz Kubisa,2 Agata Andrzejewska,3 Katarzyna Mrówczyńska,3 Zbigniew Hamerlak,4 Alicja Bartkowska-Śniatkowska5 1Department of Clinical Nursing, Pomeranian Medical University, 2Thoracic Surgery and Transplantation Department, Pomeranian Medical University, 3Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Department, Pomeranian Medical University, 4Stomatology Department, Pomeranian Medical University, 5Anaesthesiology and Pediatric Intensive Care Department, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Szczecin, Poland Abstract: Tracheostomy is a routinely done procedure in the setting of intensive care unit (ICU in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. There are two ways of making a tracheostomy: an open surgical tracheostomy and percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy is associated with fewer complications than open tracheostomy. In this study, we would like to compare both techniques of performing a tracheostomy in ICU patients and to present possible complications, methods of diagnosing and treating and minimizing their risk. Keywords: tracheostomy, percutaneous tracheostomy, percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy, bronchoscopy, surgical tracheostomy, tracheoesophageal fistula, tracheostomy complications

  7. Prevalence of graduated compression stocking-associated pressure injuries in surgical intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobson, Deborah B; Chang, Tracy Y; Aboagye, Jonathan K; Lau, Brandyn D; Shihab, Hasan M; Fisher, Betsy; Young, Samantha; Sujeta, Nancy; Shaffer, Dauryne L; Popoola, Victor O; Kraus, Peggy S; Knorr, Gina; Farrow, Norma E; Streiff, Michael B; Haut, Elliott R

    2017-08-01

    This study aimed to determine the prevalence of static graduated compression stocking (sGCS)-associated pressure injury among patients in surgical intensive care units (ICUs). We retrospectively reviewed data from wound care rounds between April 2011 and June 2012 at 3 surgical ICUs at an urban, tertiary care hospital. Patients with sGCS-associated pressure injury were identified and descriptive analysis was performed on their demographic, perioperative, and postoperative characteristics. We examined 1787 individual patients during 2391 patient encounters. A total of 129 (7.2%) of patients developed pressure injuries. Forty patients (2.2%) developed sGCS-associated pressure injury. Static GCS-associated pressure injury accounted for 31% (40/129) of all pressure injuries and 74% (40/54) of all medical device-related pressure injury. Eighteen (45%) and 6 (15%) developed stage 1 and 2 pressure injury, respectively, and 16 (40%) developed deep tissue injuries. The mean age of our patients was 64.7 years, about half (47.5%) were male, and their mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score was 18.8. Many had comorbid conditions, including obesity (44.5%) and diabetes (42.5%), and required mechanical ventilation (45%). Pressure injuries are a notable complication of sGCS in surgical ICU patients. Appropriate measures are required to help avoid this potentially preventable harm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Effects of intensivist coverage in a post-anaesthesia care unit on surgical patients' case mix and characteristics of the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kastrup, Marc; Seeling, Matthes; Barthel, Stefan; Bloch, Andy; le Claire, Marie; Spies, Claudia; Scheller, Matthias; Braun, Jan

    2012-07-18

    There is an increasing demand for intensive care in hospitals, which can lead to capacity limitations in the intensive care unit (ICU). Due to postponement of elective surgery or delayed admission of emergency patients, outcome may be negatively influenced. To optimize the admission process to intensive care, the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) was staffed with intensivist coverage around the clock. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the impact of the PACU on the structure of ICU-patients and the contribution to overall hospital profit in terms of changes in the case mix index for all surgical patients. The administrative data of all surgical patients (n = 51,040) 20 months prior and 20 months after the introduction of a round-the-clock intensivist staffing of the PACU were evaluated and compared. The relative number of patients with longer length of stay (LOS) (more than seven days) in the ICU increased after the introduction of the PACU. The average monthly number of treatment days of patients staying less than 24 hours in the ICU decreased by about 50% (138.95 vs. 68.19 treatment days, P case mix index (CMI) per hospital day for all surgical patients was significantly higher after the introduction of a PACU: 0.286 (± 0.234) vs. 0.309 (± 0.272) P case mix index of the patients per hospital day, increased after the implementation of a PACU and more patients can be treated in the same time, due to a better use of resources.

  9. Compassion fatigue, moral distress, and work engagement in surgical intensive care unit trauma nurses: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Virginia M; Leslie, Gail; Clark, Kathleen; Lyons, Pat; Walke, Erica; Butler, Christina; Griffin, Martha

    2014-01-01

    Preparation for replacing the large proportion of staff nurses reaching retirement age in the next few decades in the United States is essential to continue delivering high-quality nursing care and improving patient outcomes. Retaining experienced critical care nurses is imperative to successfully implementing the orientation of new inexperienced critical care nurses. It is important to understand factors that affect work engagement to develop strategies that enhance nurse retention and improve the quality of patient care. Nurses' experience of moral distress has been measured in medical intensive care units but not in surgical trauma care units, where nurses are exposed to patients and families faced with sudden life-threatening, life-changing patient consequences.This pilot study is a nonexperimental, descriptive, correlational design to examine the effect of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, moral distress, and level of nursing education on critical care nurses' work engagement. This is a partial replication of Lawrence's dissertation. The study also asked nurses to describe sources of moral distress and self-care strategies for coping with stress. This was used to identify qualitative themes about the nurse experiences. Jean Watson's theory of human caring serves as a framework to bring meaning and focus to the nursing-patient caring relationship.A convenience sample of 26 of 34 eligible experienced surgical intensive care unit trauma nurses responded to this survey, indicating a 77% response rate. Twenty-seven percent of the nurses scored high, and 73% scored average on compassion satisfaction. On compassion fatigue, 58% scored average on burnout and 42% scored low. On the secondary traumatic stress subscale, 38% scored average, and 62% scored low. The mean moral distress situations subscale score was 3.4, which is elevated. The mean 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale total score, measuring work engagement, was 3.8, which is considered low

  10. Ventilator-associated pneumonia in surgical emergency intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ertugrul, Bulent M; Yildirim, Ayse; Ay, Pinar; Oncu, Serkan; Cagatay, Atahan; Cakar, Nahit; Ertekin, Cemalettin; Ozsut, Halit; Eraksoy, Haluk; Calangu, Semra

    2006-01-01

    To investigate the incidence, risk factors and the etiology of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in surgical emergency intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We conducted this prospective cohort study in the surgical emergency ICU of Istanbul Medical Faculty between December 1999 and May 2001. We included 100 mechanically ventilated patients in this study. We diagnosed VAP according to the current diagnostic criteria. We identified the etiology of VAP cases by both quantitative cultures of endotracheal aspiration and blood cultures. To analyze the predisposing factors for the development of VAP, we recorded the following variables: age, gender, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II score, Glasgow coma scale (GCS), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, serum albumin level, duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) prior to the development of VAP, and underlying diseases. We determined the VAP incidence rate as 28%. We found the APACHE II score and the duration of MV to be statistically significant variables for the development of VAP. There were no significant differences regarding age, gender, GCS, SOFA score, albumin level, or underlying diseases for the development of VAP. The isolated bacteria among VAP cases were as follows: Staphylococcus aureus (n=12, 43%), Acinetobacter spp. (n=6, 21%), coagulase-negative Staphylococci (n=4, 15%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=3, 10.7%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=3, 10.7%). Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a common infection, and certain interventions might affect the incidence of VAP. The ICU clinicians should be aware of the risk factors for VAP, which could prove useful in identifying patients at high risk for VAP, and modifying patient care to minimize the risk of VAP.

  11. Bedside intravascular ultrasound-guided inferior vena cava filter placement in medical-surgical intensive care critically-ill patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad A. Abusedera

    2015-09-01

    Conclusions: Bedside IVUS-guided filter placement in medical-surgical critically ill patient in intensive care unit is a feasible, safe and reliable technique for IVC interruption. IVUS may be the most appropriate tool to guide filter insertion in obese patient.

  12. In-hospital fellow coverage reduces communication errors in the surgical intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Mallory; Alban, Rodrigo F; Hardy, James P; Oxman, David A; Garcia, Edward R; Hevelone, Nathanael; Frendl, Gyorgy; Rogers, Selwyn O

    2014-06-01

    Staff coverage strategies of intensive care units (ICUs) impact clinical outcomes. High-intensity staff coverage strategies are associated with lower morbidity and mortality. Accessible clinical expertise, team work, and effective communication have all been attributed to the success of this coverage strategy. We evaluate the impact of in-hospital fellow coverage (IHFC) on improving communication of cardiorespiratory events. A prospective observational study performed in an academic tertiary care center with high-intensity staff coverage. The main outcome measure was resident to fellow communication of cardiorespiratory events during IHFC vs home coverage (HC) periods. Three hundred twelve cardiorespiratory events were collected in 114 surgical ICU patients in 134 study days. Complete data were available for 306 events. One hundred three communication errors occurred. IHFC was associated with significantly better communication of events compared to HC (Pcommunicated 89% of events during IHFC vs 51% of events during HC (PCommunication patterns of junior and midlevel residents were similar. Midlevel residents communicated 68% of all on-call events (87% IHFC vs 50% HC, Pcommunicated 66% of events (94% IHFC vs 52% HC, PCommunication errors were lower in all ICUs during IHFC (Pcommunication errors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Effectiveness of direct-current cardioversion for treatment of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias, in particular atrial fibrillation, in surgical intensive care patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayr, Andreas; Ritsch, Nicole; Knotzer, Hans; Dünser, Martin; Schobersberger, Wolfgang; Ulmer, Hanno; Mutz, Norbert; Hasibeder, Walter

    2003-02-01

    To evaluate primary success rate and effectiveness of direct-current cardioversion in postoperative critically ill patients with new-onset supraventricular tachyarrhythmias. Prospective intervention study. Twelve-bed surgical intensive care unit in a university teaching hospital. Thirty-seven consecutive, adult surgical intensive care unit patients with new-onset supraventricular tachyarrhythmias without previous history of tachyarrhythmias. Direct-current cardioversion using a monophasic, damped sinus-wave defibrillator. Energy levels used were 50, 100, 200, and 300 J for regular supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (n = 6) and 100, 200, and 360 J for irregular supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (n = 31). None of the patients was hypoxic, hypokalemic, or hypomagnesemic at onset of supraventricular tachyarrhythmia. Direct-current cardioversion restored sinus rhythm in 13 of 37 patients (35% primary responders). Most patients responded to the first or second direct-current cardioversion shock. Only one of 25 patients requiring more than two direct-current cardioversion shocks converted into sinus rhythm. Primary responders were significantly younger and demonstrated significant differences in arterial Po2 values at onset of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias compared with nonresponders. At 24 and 48 hrs, only six (16%) and five (13.5%) patients remained in sinus rhythm, respectively. In contrast to recent literature, direct-current cardioversion proved to be an ineffective method for treatment of new-onset supraventricular tachyarrhythmias and, in particular, atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response in surgical intensive care unit patients.

  14. Patterns of Daily Costs Differ for Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gershengorn, Hayley B; Garland, Allan; Gong, Michelle N

    2015-12-01

    Published studies suggest hospital costs on Day 1 in the intensive care unit (ICU) far exceed those of subsequent days, when costs are relatively stable. Yet, no study stratified patients by ICU type. To determine whether daily cost patterns differ by ICU type. We performed a retrospective study of adults admitted to five ICUs (two surgical: quaternary surgical ICU [SICU quat] and quaternary cardiac surgical ICU [CSICU quat]; two medical: tertiary medical ICU [MICU tertiary] and quaternary medical ICU [MICU quat]; one general: community medical surgical ICU [MSICU comm]) at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York during 2013. After excluding costs clearly accrued outside the ICU, daily hospital costs were merged with clinical data. Patterns of daily unadjusted costs were evaluated in each ICU using median regression. Generalized estimating equations with first-order autocorrelation were used to identify factors independently associated with daily costs. Unadjusted daily costs were higher on Day 1 than on subsequent days only for surgical ICUs-SICU quat (median [interquartile range], $2,636 [$1,834-$4,282] on Day 1 vs. $1,840 [$1,501-$2,332] on Day 2; P cost from Days 1 to 2. After multivariate adjustment, there remained a significant decrease in cost from ICU Day 1 to 2 in surgical units with statistically similar Day 1 and 2 costs for other ICUs. Higher Day 1 costs are not seen in patients admitted to medical/nonsurgical ICUs.

  15. Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus Aureus and Cross-Contamination in a Surgical Intensive Care Unit: Efficacy of Mupirocin Ointment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D. Talon; C. Rouget; V. Cailleaux; P. Bailly; M. Thouverez; F. Barale; Y. Michel-Briand

    1995-01-01

    textabstractA six month prospective study was carried out in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of a university hospital to assess the incidence and routes of exogenous colonization by Staphylococcus aureus. A total of 157 patients were included in the study. One thousand one hundred and eleven

  16. Rapid control of a methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreak in a medical surgical intensive care unit (ICU).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Anjum; Lampitoc, Marianita; Salaripour, Maryam; McKernan, Patricia; Devlin, Roslyn; Muller, Matthew P

    2009-01-01

    Outbreaks of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the intensive care unit setting can be prolonged and difficult to control. This report describes the rapid control of an outbreak of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a 24-bed open-concept medical surgical intensive care unit with a baseline methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus acquisition rate of 1.5 cases per 1000 patient days. This institution's infection control policy mandates an outbreak investigation if two cases of hospital-acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization or infection are identified in an intensive care unit within a four-week period. In July 2007, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus was identified in the sputum of two patients within a one-week period. Screening of all patients in the intensive care unit identified one additional case and a fourth case was identified from a clinical specimen before control measures were implemented. Initial control measures included healthcare worker education, enhanced surveillance, patient cohorting, and enhanced environmental cleaning. Despite these measures, three more cases occurred. All patients were then placed in contact isolation, healthcare workers were screened, and the nursing staff was cohorted. After two weeks without a case, two additional cases were identified. Decolonization of all positive patients was initiated. No further cases occurred over a five-week period and the outbreak was declared over. The outbreak resulted in nine cases of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization (n = 8) or infection (n = 1) over an 11-week period. Only one of 175 healthcare workers was colonized and it was not the outbreak strain. Early detection and the stepwise addition of infection control measures resulted in the rapid control of an outbreak of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a medical surgical intensive care unit without unit closure. A low threshold of suspicion and

  17. Hemodynamic and oxygenation changes in surgical intensive care unit patients with fever and fever lowering nursing interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çelik, Sevim; Yildirim, Ismail; Arslan, Ibrahim; Yildirim, Sinan; Erdal, Fatih; Yandi, Yunus Emre

    2011-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of fever and nursing interventions to lower fever on hemodynamic values and oxygenation in febrile (temperature greater than 38.3°C) surgical intensive care unit patients. This retrospective study was conducted in 53 febrile patients out of 519 patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit at a university hospital. Data were obtained from the medical records, laboratory files and nursing notes. Statistical analysis of the data was analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and a paired sample t-test. The average hourly urine output (F = 5.46; P = 0.002) and systolic blood pressure (F = 2.87; P = 0.03) were significantly lower after fever onset. Heart rate, respiratory rate, positive end-expiratory pressure settings and FiO(2) settings were unchanged after the development of fever. Diastolic blood pressure and oxygen saturation had non-statistically significant decreases. Nursing interventions for febrile patients consisted of medication administration (69.8%), ice (62.3%) and sponging with tepid water (62.3%). The present results showed that fever was associated with an increase in heart rate, decreased systolic arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure, oxygen saturation and hourly urine output. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  18. Long-term outcome and quality of life of patients treated in surgical intensive care: a comparison between sepsis and trauma

    OpenAIRE

    Korošec Jagodič, Helena; Jagodič, Klemen; Podbregar, Matej

    2006-01-01

    Introduction Our aim was to determine long-term survival and quality of life of patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) because of sepsis or trauma. Methods This was an observational study conducted in an 11-bed, closed surgical ICU at a 860-bed teaching general hospital over a 1-year period (January 2003 to December 2003). Patients were divided into two groups according to admission diagnoses: group 1 included patients with sepsis; and group 2 included patients with trauma ...

  19. [Mortality and length of stay in a surgical intensive care unit.].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abelha, Fernando José; Castro, Maria Ana; Landeiro, Nuno Miguel; Neves, Aida Maria; Santos, Cristina Costa

    2006-02-01

    Outcome in intensive care can be categorized as mortality related or morbidity related. Mortality is an insufficient measure of ICU outcome when measured alone and length of stay may be seen as an indirect measure of morbidity related outcome. The aim of the present study was to estimate the incidence and predictive factors for intrahospitalar outcome measured by mortality and LOS in patients admitted to a surgical ICU. In this prospective study all 185 patients, who underwent scheduled or emergency surgery admitted to a surgical ICU in a large tertiary university medical center performed during April and July 2004, were eligible to the study. The following variables were recorded: age, sex, body weight and height, core temperature (Tc), ASA physical status, emergency or scheduled surgery, magnitude of surgical procedure, anesthesia technique, amount of fluids during anesthesia, use of temperature monitoring and warming techniques, duration of the anesthesia, length of stay in ICU and in the hospital and SAPS II score. The mean length of stay in the ICU was 4.09 +/- 10.23 days. Significant risk factors for staying longer in ICU were SAPS II, ASA physical status, amount of colloids, fresh frozen plasma units and packed erythrocytes units used during surgery. Fourteen (7.60%) patients died in ICU and 29 (15.70%) died during their hospitalization. Statistically significant independent risk factors for mortality were emergency surgery, major surgery, high SAPS II scores, longer stay in ICU and in the hospital. Statistically significant protective factors against the probability of dying in the hospital were low body weight and low BMI. In conclusion, prolonged ICU stay is more frequent in more severely ill patients at admission and it is associated with higher hospital mortality. Hospital mortality is also more frequent in patients submitted to emergent and major surgery.

  20. Patients' experiences of postoperative intermediate care and standard surgical ward care after emergency abdominal surgery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Thordis; Vester-Andersen, Morten; Nielsen, Martin Vedel

    2015-01-01

    AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To elicit knowledge of patient experiences of postoperative intermediate care in an intensive care unit and standard postoperative care in a surgical ward after emergency abdominal surgery. BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery is common, but little is known about how patie......, intermediate care patients felt hindered in doing so by continuous monitoring of vital signs. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Intermediate care may increase patient perceptions of quality and safety of care.......AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To elicit knowledge of patient experiences of postoperative intermediate care in an intensive care unit and standard postoperative care in a surgical ward after emergency abdominal surgery. BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery is common, but little is known about how...... patients experience postoperative care. The patient population is generally older with multiple comorbidities, and the short-term postoperative mortality rate is 15-20%. Thus, vigilant surgeon and nursing attention is essential. The present study is a qualitative sub-study of a randomised trial evaluating...

  1. EFFECTS OF AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE ON THE SLEEP QUALITY AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF PATIENTS IN A SURGICAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Özlü, Zeynep Karaman; Bilican, Pınar

    2017-01-01

    Surgical pain is experienced by inpatients with clinical, disease-related concerns, unknown encounters after surgery, quality of sleep, restrictions in position after surgery is known to be serious. The study was conducted to determine the effect of aromatherapy massage on quality of sleep and physiological parameters in surgical intensive care patients. This is an experimental study. The sample of this study consisted of 60 patients who were divided into two groups as experimental group and control group including 30 patients in each one. The participants were postoperative patients, absent complications, who were unconscious and extubated. A data collection form on personal characteristics of the patients, a registration form on their physical parameters and the Richards-Campbell Sleep Scale (RCSQ) were used to collect the data of the study. The Richards-Campbell Sleep Scale indicated that while the experimental group had a mean score of 53.80 ± 13.20, the control group had a mean score of 29.08 ± 9.71 and there was a statistically significant difference between mean scores of the groups. In a comparison of physiologic parameters, only diastolic blood pressure measuring between parameters in favor of an assembly as a statistically significant difference was detected. Results of the study showed that aromatherapy massage enhanced the sleep quality of patients in a surgical intensive care unit and resulted in some positive changes in their physiological parameters.

  2. Primary tetralogy of Fallot repair: predictors of intensive care unit morbidity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egbe, Alexander C; Uppu, Santosh C; Mittnacht, Alexander J C; Joashi, Umesh; Ho, Deborah; Nguyen, Khanh; Srivastava, Shubhika

    2014-09-01

    Primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot has low surgical mortality, but some patients still experience significant postoperative morbidity. Our objectives were to review our institutional experience with primary tetralogy of Fallot repair, and identify predictors of intensive care unit morbidity. We reviewed all patients with tetralogy of Fallot who underwent primary repair in infancy from 2001 to 2012. Preoperative, operative, and postoperative demographic and morphologic data were analyzed. Intensive care unit morbidity was defined as prolonged intensive care unit stay (≥ 7 days) and/or prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation (≥ 48 h). 97 patients who underwent primary surgical repair during the study period were included in the study. The median age was 4.9 months (range 1-9 months) and the median weight was 5.3 kg (range 3.1-9.8 kg). There was no early surgical mortality. The incidence of junctional ectopic tachycardia and persistent complete heart block was 2% and 1%, respectively. The median intensive care unit stay was 6 days (range 2-21 days) and the median duration of mechanical ventilation was 19 h (range 0-136 h). Age and weight were independent predictors of intensive care unit stay, while surgical era predicted the duration of mechanical ventilation. Primary tetralogy of Fallot repair is a safe procedure with low mortality and morbidity in a medium-sized program with outcomes comparable to national standards. Age and weight at the time of surgery were significant predictors of morbidity. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  3. Combined enteral feeding and total parenteral nutritional support improves outcome in surgical intensive care unit patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Min-Hui; Yu, Ying E; Tsai, Yueh-Miao; Lee, Hui-Chen; Huang, Ying-Che; Hsu, Han-Shui

    2012-09-01

    For intensive care unit (ICU) patients with gastrointestinal dysfunction and in need of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) support, the benefit of additional enteral feeding is not clear. This study aimed to investigate whether combined TPN with enteral feeding is associated with better outcomes in surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients. Clinical data of 88 patients in SICU were retrospectively collected. Variables used for analysis included route and percentage of nutritional support, total caloric intake, age, gender, body weight, body mass index, admission diagnosis, surgical procedure, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, blood glucose values and hospital mortality. Wound dehiscence and central catheter infection were observed more frequently in the group of patients receiving TPN calories less than 90% of total calorie intake (p = 0.004 and 0.043, respectively). APACHE II scores were higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors (p = 0.001). More nonsurvivors received TPN calories exceeding 90% of total calorie intake and were in need of dialysis during ICU admission (p = 0.005 and 0.013, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that the percentage of TPN calories over total calories and APACHE II scores were independent predictors of ICU mortality in patients receiving supplementary TPN after surgery. In SICU patients receiving TPN, patients who could be fed enterally more than 10% of total calories had better clinical outcomes than patients receiving less than 10% of total calorie intake from enteral feeding. Enteral feeding should be given whenever possible in severely ill patients. 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V

  4. Out-of-office hours' elective surgical intensive care admissions and their associated complications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, David J R; Ho, Kwok Ming; Ong, Yang Jian; Kolybaba, Marlene L

    2017-11-01

    The 'weekend' effect is a controversial theory that links reduced staffing levels, staffing seniority and supportive services at hospitals during 'out-of-office hours' time periods with worsening patient outcomes. It is uncertain whether admitting elective surgery patients to intensive care units (ICU) during 'out-of-office hours' time periods mitigates this affect through higher staffing ratios and seniority. Over a 3-year period in Western Australia's largest private hospital, this retrospective nested-cohort study compared all elective surgical patients admitted to the ICU based on whether their admission occurred 'in-office hours' (Monday-Friday 08.00-18.00 hours) or 'out-of-office hours' (all other times). The main outcomes were surgical complications using the Dindo-Clavien classification and length-of-stay data. Of the total 4363 ICU admissions, 3584 ICU admissions were planned following elective surgery resulting in 2515 (70.2%) in-office hours and 1069 (29.8%) out-of-office hours elective ICU surgical admissions. Out-of-office hours ICU admissions following elective surgery were associated with an increased risk of infection (P = 0.029), blood transfusion (P = 0.020), total parental nutrition (P office hours ICU admissions were also associated with an increased hospital length-of-stay, with (1.74 days longer, P office hours ICU admissions following elective surgery is common and associated with serious post-operative complications culminating in significantly longer hospital length-of-stays and greater transfers with important patient and health economic implications. © 2017 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

  5. A retrospective study of end-of-life care decisions in the critically Ill in a surgical intensive care unit

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    Yi Lin Lee

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: Progress in medical care and technology has led to patients with more advanced illnesses being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU. The practice of approaching end-of-life (EOL care decisions and limiting care is well documented in Western literature but unknown in Singapore. We performed a retrospective cohort study to describe the practice of EOL care in patients dying in a Singapore surgical ICU (SICU. The surgical critical care population was chosen as it is unique because surgeons are frequently involved in the EOL process. Methods: All consecutive patients aged 21 and above admitted to the SICU from July 2011 to March 2012, and who passed away in the ICU or within 7 days of discharge from the ICU (to account for transferred patients out of the ICU after end-of life care decisions were made and subsequently passed away were included in the study. Results: There were 473 SICU admissions during this period, out of which 53 were included with a mean age of 67.2 ± 11.1 years. EOL discussions were held in 81.1% of patients with a median time from admission to first discussion at 1 day (IQR 0–2.75 and a median number of ICU discussion of 1 (IQR 1–2. As most patients lacked decision-making capacity (inability to retain and process information secondary to the underlying disease pathology or sedative use, a surrogate was involved: group decision in 27.9%, child in 25.6% and an unclear family nominated member in 20.9%. 28.3% of patients were managed as for full active with resuscitation, 39.6% nonescalation of care, and 32.1% for withdrawal. The main reasons for conservative management (nonescalation and withdrawal of care were certain death in 52.3%, medical futility with minimal response to maximal care (27.3%, and the presence of underlying malignancy (18.2%. There was no significant difference between race or religion among patients for active or conservative management. Conclusion: 71.7% of patients who passed away in the ICU or

  6. Computer versus paper system for recognition and management of sepsis in surgical intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Croft, Chasen A; Moore, Frederick A; Efron, Philip A; Marker, Peggy S; Gabrielli, Andrea; Westhoff, Lynn S; Lottenberg, Lawrence; Jordan, Janeen; Klink, Victoria; Sailors, R Matthew; McKinley, Bruce A

    2014-02-01

    A system to provide surveillance, diagnosis, and protocolized management of surgical intensive care unit (SICU) sepsis was undertaken as a performance improvement project. A system for sepsis management was implemented for SICU patients using paper followed by a computerized system. The hypothesis was that the computerized system would be associated with improved process and outcomes. A system was designed to provide early recognition and guide patient-specific management of sepsis including (1) modified early warning signs-sepsis recognition score (MEWS-SRS; summative point score of ranges of vital signs, mental status, white blood cell count; after every 4 hours) by bedside nurse; (2) suspected site assessment (vascular access, lung, abdomen, urinary tract, soft tissue, other) at bedside by physician or extender; (3) sepsis management protocol (replicable, point-of-care decisions) at bedside by nurse, physician, and extender. The system was implemented first using paper and then a computerized system. Sepsis severity was defined using standard criteria. In January to May 2012, a paper system was used to manage 77 consecutive sepsis encounters (3.9 ± 0.5 cases per week) in 65 patients (77% male; age, 53 ± 2 years). In June to December 2012, a computerized system was used to manage 132 consecutive sepsis encounters (4.4 ± 0.4 cases per week) in 119 patients (63% male; age, 58 ± 2 years). MEWS-SRS elicited 683 site assessments, and 201 had sepsis diagnosis and protocol management. The predominant site of infection was abdomen (paper, 58%; computer, 53%). Recognition of early sepsis tended to occur more using the computerized system (paper, 23%; computer, 35%). Hospital mortality rate for surgical ICU sepsis (paper, 20%; computer, 14%) was less with the computerized system. A computerized sepsis management system improves care process and outcome. Early sepsis is recognized and managed with greater frequency compared with severe sepsis or septic shock. The system

  7. Pneumonia in the surgical intensive care unit: is every one preventable?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahl, Wendy L; Zalewski, Christy; Hemmila, Mark R

    2011-10-01

    Pneumonia is a major complication for hospitalized patients and has come under the scrutiny of health care regulating bodies, which propose that hospital-acquired pneumonia should not be reimbursed and potentially be a "never event." We hypothesized that many of our acutely injured patients develop pneumonia at the time of their initial traumatic event despite aggressive measures to prevent pneumonia during hospitalization. This retrospective review included all mechanically ventilated patients admitted to a mixed surgical intensive care units (ICU; trauma, general surgery, and burns) who developed pneumonia from 2006 to 2008. All pneumonia diagnosed by culture were obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens with ≥ 10(4) colony forming united (CFU)/mL considered a positive result. Criteria for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) applied only to those patients ventilated mechanically for >48 hours at the time of a positive BAL culture. Aspiration organisms included Streptococcus species, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, and oral flora. This was an institutional review board-approved study. There were 208 mechanically ventilated who patients underwent BAL, half of which were performed in the first 48 hours after admission for fever, infiltrate on chest radiograph, or increasing white blood cell count (early BAL group). Of these patients, 58% had positive BAL cultures (pneumonia) but did not have VAP. Only 10% of patients studied with early BAL had no growth on culture. Although the predominant organisms in the early BAL group were aspiration-type organisms, 17% had resistant pathogens, and 16% had other Gram-negative rods (GNR). This percentage was compared with the VAP group in whom 33% of patients had resistant organisms (P = .04) and 8% other GNR (P = NS). Twenty-five patients with ≤ 10(4) CFU/mL on early BAL underwent repeat BAL, and 16 (64%) were later diagnosed with VAP. Many intubated patients in the surgical

  8. Surgical nurses' perceptions of ethical dilemmas, moral distress and quality of care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeKeyser Ganz, Freda; Berkovitz, Keren

    2012-07-01

    To describe surgical nurses' perceived levels of ethical dilemmas, moral distress and perceived quality of care and the associations among them. Nurses are committed to providing quality care. They can experience ethical dilemmas and moral distress while providing patient care. Little research has focused on the effect of moral distress or ethical dilemmas on perceived quality of care. Descriptive, cross-sectional study. After administration and institutional Research Ethics Committee approval, a researcher requested 119 surgical nurses working in two Israeli hospitals to fill out three questionnaires (personal background characteristics; Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing and Quality of Nursing Care). Data collection took place from August 2007 to January 2008. Participant mean age was 39·7 years. The sample consisted mostly of women, Jewish and married staff nurses. The majority of nurses reported low to moderate levels of ethical dilemma frequency but intermediate levels of ethical dilemma intensity. Frequency of ethical dilemmas was negatively correlated with level of nursing skill, meeting patient's needs and total quality of care. No important correlations were found between intensity of ethical dilemmas and quality of care. Levels of ethical dilemma frequency were higher than intensity. Nurses tended to be satisfied with their level of quality of care. Increased frequency of ethical dilemmas was associated with some aspects of perceived quality of care. Quality of care is related to ethical dilemmas and moral distress among surgical nurses. Therefore, efforts should be made to decrease the frequency of these feelings to improve the quality of patient care. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  9. Incidence, outcome and risk factors for sepsis - a two year retrospective study at surgical intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asghar, A.; Hashmi, M.; Rashid, S.; Khan, F.H.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Sepsis is amongst the leading causes of admission to the intensive care units and is associated with a high mortality. However, data from developing countries is scarse. Aim of conducting this study was to determine the incidence, outcome and risk factors for sepsis on admission to surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of a teaching hospital in Pakistan. Methods: Two year retrospective observational study included all consecutive adult admissions to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of a University Hospital, from January 2012 to December 2013. Results: Two hundred and twenty-nine patients met the inclusion criteria. Average age of the patients was 46.35±18.23 years (16-85), mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score was 15.92±8.13 and males were 67.6 percentage. Median length of ICU stay was 4 [IQR 5]. 43 percentage patients fulfilled the criteria of sepsis at the time of admission to the SICU and incidence of severe sepsis/septic shock was 35 percentage. Abdominal sepsis was the most frequent source of infection (57.5 percentage). The overall intensive care unit mortality was 32.31 percentage but the mortality of sepsis-group was 51.15 percentage as compared to 17.7 percentage of the non-sepsis group. Stepwise logistic regression model showed that increasing age, female gender, non-operative admission, admission under general surgery and co-morbidities like ischaemic heart disease and chronic kidney disease were significant predictors of sepsis. Conclusion: The incidence of sepsis and severe sepsis/septic shock, on admission to SICU is high and mortality of the sepsis group is nearly three times the mortality of the non-sepsis group. (author)

  10. Predictors associated with unplanned hospital readmission of medical and surgical intensive care unit survivors within 30 days of discharge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohnuma, Tetsu; Shinjo, Daisuke; Brookhart, Alan M; Fushimi, Kiyohide

    2018-01-01

    Reducing the 30-day unplanned hospital readmission rate is a goal for physicians and policymakers in order to improve quality of care. However, data on the readmission rate of critically ill patients in Japan and knowledge of the predictors associated with readmission are lacking. We investigated predictors associated with 30-day rehospitalization for medical and surgical adult patients separately. Patient data from 502 acute care hospitals with intensive care unit (ICU) facilities in Japan were retrospectively extracted from the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) database between April 2012 and February 2014. Factors associated with unplanned hospital readmission within 30 days of hospital discharge among medical and surgical ICU survivors were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Of 486,651 ICU survivors, we identified 5583 unplanned hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge following 147,423 medical hospitalizations (3.8% readmitted) and 11,142 unplanned readmissions after 339,228 surgical hospitalizations (3.3% readmitted). The majority of unplanned hospital readmissions, 60.9% of medical and 63.1% of surgical case readmissions, occurred within 15 days of discharge. For both medical and surgical patients, the Charlson comorbidity index score; category of primary diagnosis during the index admission (respiratory, gastrointestinal, and metabolic and renal); hospital length of stay; discharge to skilled nursing facilities; and having received a packed red blood cell transfusion, low-dose steroids, or renal replacement therapy were significantly associated with higher unplanned hospital readmission rates. From patient data extracted from a large Japanese national database, the 30-day unplanned hospital readmission rate after ICU stay was 3.4%. Further studies are required to improve readmission prediction models and to develop targeted interventions for high-risk patients.

  11. Factors affecting experiences of intensive care patients in Turkey: patient outcomes in critical care setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demir, Yurdanur; Korhan, Esra Akin; Eser, Ismet; Khorshid, Leyla

    2013-07-01

    To determine the factors affecting a patient's intensive care experience. The descriptive study was conducted at an intensive care unit in the Aegean Region of Turkey, and comprised 158 patients who spent at least 48 hours at the unit between June and November 2009. A questionnaire form and the Intensive Care Experience Scale were used as data collection tools. SPSS 11.5 was used for statistical analysis of the data. Of the total, 86 (54.4%) patients related to the surgical unit, while 72 (45.5%) spent time at the intensive care unit. Most of the subjects (n=113; 71.5%) reported that they constantly experienced pain during hospitalisation. Patients receiving mechanical ventilation support and patients reporting no pain had significantly higher scores on the intensive care experience scale. Patients who reported pain remembered their experiences less than those having no pain. Interventions are needed to make the experiences of patients in intensive care more positive.

  12. The role of anaesthetists in paediatric intensive care units

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Adele

    to various surgical and critical care disciplines, the usefulness of a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) rotation was investigated. A brief overview of the experiences of anaesthetic registrars at a. South African teaching hospital rotating through a PICU is pre- sented, as well as the potential advantages for both trainees and.

  13. Predictors of Multidrug Resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii Infections in Surgical Intensive Care Patients: A Retrospective Analysis

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    Aynur Camkıran

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MRAB is an important cause of hospital acquired infection and leads to an increasing morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICU. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of MRAB infection in surgical ICU patients. Material and Method: The charts of the patients who were admitted to the ICU between January 2008 and August 2010 were reviewed to identify patients with MRAB infection. Recorded data were as follows: age, sex, medical history, underlying surgical pathology, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (APACHE II and Glasgow Coma Score on ICU admission,presence of invasive procedures (intubation, arterial, central venous lines, urinary catheters, and renal replacement therapy, days in ICU and white blood cells (WBC and lactate count on infection day, infection site, complications (such as organ/system failure, length of stay (LOS in the ICU and hospital, and final outcome. Results: During the study period 25 patients with MRAB infection were identified. When compared with their matched control group (n=25, patients with MRAB infection had a significantly higher mean APACHE II score (p=0.001 and more frequently had an open wound (p=0.002 or required mechanical ventilation (p=0.005, with respiratory system disease (p=0.03, arterial catheterization (p=0.006, and central venous catheterization (p=0.004. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that APACHE II score (OR,1.155; CI, 1.008-1.324; p= 0.038 and open wound (OR, 27.77; CI, 2.020-333.333; p=0.018 were predictors of MRAB infection in these patients. Compared to their controls, patients with MRAB infection hand a longer LOS in ICU (36.44±30.44 days vs 7.80±8.13 days, p<0.000 and hospital (55.12±40.81 days vs 19.04±13.44 days, p<0.000. In hospital mortality rates for patients with MRAB infection and their controls were 56% and 32%, respectively (p=0.154. Conclusion: Our results indicate

  14. Prospective analysis of skin findings in surgical critically Ill patients intensive care unit

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    Suzan Demir Pektas

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Intensive Care Units (ICUs are places where critically ill patients are managed. Aim: We aimed to investigate skin disorders that developed in critically ill surgical patients during their stay in the ICU. Methods: The prevalence of dermatological disorders and factors affecting their clinical features was prospectively analyzed in surgical ICU patients. We recorded age, sex, type of ICU, comorbidities, skin disorders, time to consultation, duration of ICU stay, and mortality rate. Results: Our study included 605 patients (mean age of 60.1 ± 20.2 years; 56.4% males. Seventy-three (12.1% patients were consulted with the Dermatology Department, among which 28.8% had infectious dermatological lesions, 26% dermatoses, and 45.2% drug reactions. The most common infectious dermatological disorder was wound infection (55.6%, the most common drug reaction was maculopapular drug eruption (75.8%, and the most common dermatosis was frictional blisters (47.4%. Multiple comorbidities, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, Parkinson disease, and stroke increased dermatological disorders (P < 0.05. The consulted patients had a median ICU stay of 7 days (range 2–53 days; consultation was significantly more common when it exceeded 10 days (74% vs. 26%, P < 0.05. The consulted patients died more commonly (P < 0.05. Infectious dermatological disorders and dermatoses were more common in patients older and younger than 50 years, respectively (P < 0.05. Dermatoses were more common among women (P < 0.05. The median time to consultation was 6 (2–30 days; it was longest for dermatological infections and shortest for dermatoses (P < 0.05. Infectious dermatological disorders were significantly more common among the deceased patients (P < 0.05. Conclusion: Multiple factors including multiple comorbidities, duration of ICU stay, time to consultation, and mortality increase dermatological disorders among surgical ICU patients.

  15. [Refusal of care in the intensive care: how makes decision?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borel, M; Veber, B; Villette-Baron, K; Hariri, S; Dureuil, B; Hervé, C

    2009-11-01

    Decision-making bringing to an admission or not in intensive care is complex. The aim of this study is to analyze with an ethical point of view the making decision process leading to the refusal and its consequences. It is proposed a setting in prospect through the principles of beneficence, non-maleficience, respect for autonomy, justice, and the Leonetti law. Prospective study in surgical reanimation at the University Hospital of Rouen over 9 months (November 2007-September 2008). Systematic collection for each non-admitted patient of the general characters, the methods of decision making, immediate becoming and within 48 h Constitution of two groups: patients for whom an admission in intensive care could be an unreasonable situation of obstinacy, and patients for whom an admission in reanimation would not be about unreasonable if it occurred. One hundred and fifty situations were analyzed. The potentially unreasonable character of an admission does not involve necessarily a refusal of care in intensive care. The question of the lack of place and equity in the access to the care is real but relative according to the typology of the patients. The research of the respect of the autonomy of the patient is difficult but could be facilitated. The Leonetti law does not appear to be able to be a framework with the situation of refusal of care in intensive care. It is not a question of going towards a systematic admission in intensive care of any patient proposed, but to make sure that so if there is a refusal, it is carried out according to a step ethically acceptable.

  16. Correlation Between Protein Intake and Nitrogen Balance of Surgical Patients in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Installation, Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Made Wiryana

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: A cell injury from surgical stress in a trauma or a non-trauma case will induce a hyper metabolic response in which the protein degradation increases, the somatic protein synthesis decreases and the amino acid catabolism increases. Thus, the pyper metabolic response contributes to nitrogen loss in urine. This response, without an adequate nutrition, will lead an iatrogenic malnutrition and deterioration. A balance nitrogen formula through urinary urea nitrogen is one of many nutrition evaluation methods. This method aids in evaluating the daily nutrition status and it can be the baseline data for daily intake. Objective: To find a correlation between the protein intake and the nitrogen balance of the surgical patients in anesthesiology and intensive care installation, Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar, Bali. Methods: Fifty-one surgical patients with trauma and non-trauma cases were observed for their protein intake for 2-3 days continuously. Moreover, they were evaluated for their nitrogen balance based on the urinary urea nitrogen per 24 hours for 2-3 days. For statistical analysis, we utilized Shapiro-Francia, Shapiro-Wilk, Spearman Frank correlation, two-sample t test, and multivariate regression analysis in Strata SE 12.1. Results: The correlation between the protein intake and the nitrogen balance on the first day was ra=0.50 (p<0.05, on the second day ra=0.70 (p<0,05, and on the third day ra=0.740 (p<0,05. Conclusions: There is a correlation between the protein intake and the nitrogen balance of surgical patients in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Installation Sanglah General Hospital Denpasar. 

  17. Quality of life after stay in surgical intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abelha, Fernando J; Santos, Cristina C; Maia, Paula C; Castro, Maria A; Barros, Henrique

    2007-07-24

    In addition to mortality, Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) has increasingly been claimed as an important outcome variable. The aim of this study was to assess HRQOL and independence in activities of daily living (ADL) six months after discharge from an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and to study its determinants. All post-operative adult patients admitted to a surgical ICU between October 2004 and July 2005, were eligible for the study. The following variables were recorded on admission: age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (ASA-PS), type and magnitude of surgical procedure, ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS), mortality and Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II). Six months after discharge, a Short Form-36 questionnaire (SF-36) and a questionnaire to assess dependency in ADL were sent to all survivors. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize data. Patient groups were compared using non-parametric tests. A logistic regression analysis was performed to identify covariate effects of each variable on dependency in personal and instrumental ADL, and for the change-in-health question of SF-36. Out of 333 hospital survivors, 226 completed the questionnaires. Fifty-nine percent reported that their general level of health was better on the day they answered the questionnaire than 12 months earlier. Patients with greater co-morbidities (ASA-PS III/IV), had lower SF-36 scores in all domains and were more frequently dependent in instrumental and personal ADL. Logistic regression showed that SAPS II was associated with changes in general level of health (OR 1.06, 95%CI, 1.01-1.11, p = 0,016). Six months after ICU discharge, 60% and 34% of patients, respectively, were dependent in at least one activity in instrumental ADL (ADLI) and personal ADL (ADLP). ASA-PS (OR 3.00, 95%CI 1.31-6.87, p = 0.009) and age (OR 2.36, 95%CI, 1.04-5.34, p = 0.04) were associated with dependency in ADLI. For ADLP, only ASA-PS (OR 4.58, 95%CI, 1

  18. Prospective Trial of House Staff Time to Response and Intervention in a Surgical Intensive Care Unit: Pager vs. Smartphone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatum, James M; White, Terris; Kang, Christopher; Ley, Eric J; Melo, Nicolas; Bloom, Matthew; Alban, Rodrigo F

    The objective of the study was to characterize house staff time to response and intervention when notified of a patient care issue by pager vs. smartphone. We hypothesized that smartphones would reduce house staff time to response and intervention. Prospective study of all electronic communications was conducted between nurses and house staff between September 2015 and October 2015. The 4-week study period was randomly divided into two 2-week study periods where all electronic communications between intensive care unit nurses and intensive care unit house staff were exclusively by smartphone or by pager, respectively. Time of communication initiation, time of house staff response, and time from response to clinical intervention for each communication were recorded. Outcomes are time from nurse contact to house staff response and intervention. Single-center surgical intensive care unit of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, an academic tertiary care and level I trauma center. All electronic communications occurring between nurses and house staff in the study unit during the study period were considered. During the study period, 205 nurse-house staff electronic communications occurred, 100 in the phone group and 105 in the pager group. House staff response to communication time was significantly shorter in the phone group (0.5 [interquartile range = 1.7] vs. 2 [3]min, p house staff intervention after response was also significantly more rapid in the phone group (0.8 [1.7] vs. 1 [2]min, p = 0.003). Dedicated clinical smartphones significantly decrease time to house staff response after electronic nursing communications compared with pagers. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Surgical procedures performed in the neonatal intensive care unit on critically ill neonates: feasibility and safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mallick, M.S.; Jado, A.M.; Al-Bassam, A.R.

    2008-01-01

    Transferring unstable, ill neonates to and from the operating rooms carries significant risks and can lead to morbidity. We report on our experience in performing certain procedures in critically ill neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We examined the feasibility and safety for such an approach. All surgical procedures performed in the NICU between January 1999 and December 2005 were analyzed in terms of demographic data, diagnosis, preoperative stability of the patient, procedures performed, complications and outcome. Operations were performed at beside in the NICU in critically ill, unstable neonates who needed emergency surgery, in neonates of low birth weight (<1000 gm) and in neonates on special equipments like higher frequency ventilators and nitrous oxide. Thirty-seven surgical procedures were performed including 12 laparotomies, bowel resection and stomies, 7 repairs of congenital diaphragmatic hernias, 4 ligations of patent ductus arteriosus and various others. Birth weights ranged between 850 gm and 3500 gm (mean 2000 gm). Gestational age ranged between 25 to 42 weeks (mean, 33 weeks). Age at surgery was between 1 to 30 days (mean, 30 days). Preoperatively, 19 patients (51.3%) were on inotropic support and all were intubated and mechanically ventilated. There was no mortality related to surgical procedures. Postoperatively, one patient developed wound infection and disruption. Performing major surgical procedures in the NICU is both feasible and safe. It is useful in very low birth weight, critically ill neonates who have definite risk attached to transfer to the operating room. No special area is needed in the NICU to perform complication-free surgery, but designing an operating room within the NICU will be ideal. (author)

  20. A survey of contemporary opinions and practices of surgical and intensive care specialists towards peri-operative venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in Asia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, L; Liew, N C; Gee, T

    2012-12-01

    This survey was conducted to determine the opinions and practices of peri-operative venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis among surgical and intensive care specialists in Asia. A set of questionnaire was distributed to surgeons and intensivists from different countries in Asia. The specialties included were general surgery and its sub-specialties, orthopaedic surgery, gynaecological surgery and intensive care unit. This survey involved teaching institutions, general hospitals and private hospitals. To gauge if the respondents were from hospitals that would likely encounter VTE cases, the hospital's bed-strength, intensive care facility and sub-specialty services were recorded. Over a period of six months, questionnaires and feedbacks were collected and analyzed. One hundred and ninety-one responses were received from 8 countries throughout Asia. Fifty-six percent of these were from large hospitals (800 bedded or more) and 62% of these hospitals have large intensive care facility (20 or more beds). Only half of the respondents practice routine thromboprophylaxis in moderate and high risk surgeries. Thirty six percent of them practices selective thromboprophylaxis and only 3% do not believe in any thromboprophylaxis. A third prescribed thromboprophylaxis for 3 to 5 days; another third extended it until patient is mobile. About 48.6% of the respondents do not have VTE guidelines in their institutions. Majority of the respondents agreed that more evidence is needed in the form of multi-centre randomized controlled trials to influence their decision on thromboprophylaxis. Despite the availability of strong epidemiological data, randomized controlled trials and multicentre case-controlled studies, perioperative VTE prophylactic practices are still suboptimal in Asia.

  1. Delirium as a complication of the surgical intensive care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Horacek R

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Rostislav Horacek,1 Barbora Krnacova,2 Jan Prasko,2 Klara Latalova2 1Department of Central Intensive Care Unit for Surgery, 2Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University Hospital Olomouc, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic Background: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of somatic illnesses, electrolyte imbalance, red blood cell count, hypotension, and antipsychotic and opioid treatment on the duration of delirium in Central Intensive Care Unit for Surgery.Patients and methods: Patients who were admitted to the Department of Central Intensive Care Unit for Surgery in the University Hospital Olomouc from February 2004 to November 2008 were evaluated using Riker sedation–agitation scale. Their blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and peripheral blood oxygen saturation were measured continually, and body temperature was monitored once in an hour. The laboratory blood tests including sodium, potassium, chlorides, phosphorus, urea and creatinine, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red and white blood cell count, and C-reactive protein, albumin levels and laboratory markers of renal and liver dysfunction were done every day. All measurements were made at least for ten consecutive days or longer until the delirium resolved.Results: The sample consisted of 140 consecutive delirious patients with a mean age of 68.21±12.07 years. Delirium was diagnosed in 140 of 5,642 patients (2.48% admitted in CICUS in the last 5 years. The median duration of delirium was 48 hours with a range of 12–240 hours. Statistical analysis showed that hyperactive subtype of delirium and treatment with antipsychotics were associated with prolonged delirium duration (hyperactive 76.15±40.53 hours, hypoactive 54.46±28.44 hours, mixed 61.22±37.86 hours; Kruskal–Wallis test: 8.022; P<0.05. The duration of delirium was significantly correlated also with blood potassium levels (Pearson’s r=0.2189, P<0.05, hypotension

  2. The Compliance Rates of Hand Hygiene in Intensive Care Unit and Surgical Services at a State Hospital in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serap Süzük

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The most efficient and most cost effective method for preventing health care associated infections is hand hygiene. Although hand hygiene is the most effective and simple method, compliance rates are very low among health care workers. It was aimed to evaluate the rates of compliance of healthcare workers in a state hospital. Material and Method: In this study, totally 112 healthcare workers (31 doctors and 81 nurses were evaluated with the 5-indication observation method in a period between January and July 2013. Results: A total of 754 (65.9% out of 1.144 cases were resulted in accurate hand washing and hand-rubbing. When the intensive care unit and surgical clinics were evaluated together, it was found that hand hygiene compliance rates were 51.26% in 199 cases and 66.85% in 591 cases for doctors and nurses, respectively. Conclusion: Consequently, we think that pre-informed observations are important training instruments for hand hygiene compliance.

  3. Intensive medical student involvement in short-term surgical trips provides safe and effective patient care: a case review

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    Macleod Jana B

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The hierarchical nature of medical education has been thought necessary for the safe care of patients. In this setting, medical students in particular have limited opportunities for experiential learning. We report on a student-faculty collaboration that has successfully operated an annual, short-term surgical intervention in Haiti for the last three years. Medical students were responsible for logistics and were overseen by faculty members for patient care. Substantial planning with local partners ensured that trip activities supplemented existing surgical services. A case review was performed hypothesizing that such trips could provide effective surgical care while also providing a suitable educational experience. Findings Over three week-long trips, 64 cases were performed without any reported complications, and no immediate perioperative morbidity or mortality. A plurality of cases were complex urological procedures that required surgical skills that were locally unavailable (43%. Surgical productivity was twice that of comparable peer institutions in the region. Student roles in patient care were greatly expanded in comparison to those at U.S. academic medical centers and appropriate supervision was maintained. Discussion This demonstration project suggests that a properly designed surgical trip model can effectively balance the surgical needs of the community with an opportunity to expose young trainees to a clinical and cross-cultural experience rarely provided at this early stage of medical education. Few formalized programs currently exist although the experience above suggests the rewarding potential for broad-based adoption.

  4. The clinical value of daily routine chest radiographs in a mixed medical-surgical intensive care unit is low.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graat, Marleen E; Choi, Goda; Wolthuis, Esther K; Korevaar, Johanna C; Spronk, Peter E; Stoker, Jaap; Vroom, Margreeth B; Schultz, Marcus J

    2006-02-01

    The clinical value of daily routine chest radiographs (CXRs) in critically ill patients is unknown. We conducted this study to evaluate how frequently unexpected predefined major abnormalities are identified with daily routine CXRs, and how often these findings lead to a change in care for intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This was a prospective observational study conducted in a 28-bed, mixed medical-surgical ICU of a university hospital. Over a 5-month period, 2,457 daily routine CXRs were done in 754 consecutive ICU patients. The majority of these CXRs did not reveal any new predefined major finding. In only 5.8% of daily routine CXRs (14.3% of patients) was one or more new and unexpected abnormality encountered, including large atelectases (24 times in 20 patients), large infiltrates (23 in 22), severe pulmonary congestion (29 in 25), severe pleural effusion (13 in 13), pneumothorax/pneumomediastinum (14 in 13), and malposition of the orotracheal tube (32 in 26). Fewer than half of the CXRs with a new and unexpected finding were ultimately clinically relevant; in only 2.2% of all daily routine CXRs (6.4% of patients) did these radiologic abnormalities result in a change to therapy. Subgroup analysis revealed no differences between medical and surgical patients with regard to the incidence of new and unexpected findings on daily routine CXRs and the effect of new and unexpected CXR findings on daily care. In the ICU, daily routine CXRs seldom reveal unexpected, clinically relevant abnormalities, and they rarely prompt action. We propose that this diagnostic examination be abandoned in ICU patients.

  5. Surgical care for the aged: a retrospective cross-sectional study of a national surgical mortality audit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Jennifer; North, John B; Ware, Robert S

    2015-01-01

    Objectives It is assumed that increased age signifies increased surgical care. Few surgical studies describe the differences in care provided to older patients compared with younger patients. We aimed to examine the relationships between increasing age, preoperative factors and markers of postoperative care in adults who died in-hospital after surgery in Australia. Design This retrospective cross-sectional study extracted data from a national surgical mortality audit—an independent, peer-reviewed process. Setting From January 2009 to December 2012, 111 public and 61 private Australian hospitals notified the audit of in-hospital deaths after general anaesthetic surgery or if the patient was admitted under a surgeon. Participants Notified deaths totalled 19 723. We excluded deaths if patients were brain dead, younger than 17 years or never had an operation (n=11 376). From this baseline population, we divided 11 201 deaths into three patient age groups: youngest (17–64 years), medium (65–79 years) and oldest (≥80 years). Outcome measures Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses determined the relationships between increasing age and the measured preoperative factors and postoperative variables. Results The baseline population's median age was 78 years (IQR 66–85), 43.7% (4892/11 201) were 80 years or older and 83.4% (9319/11 173) had emergency admissions. The oldest group had increased trauma and emergency admissions than the medium and youngest age groups. Seven of the eight measured markers of postoperative care demonstrate strong and significant relationships with increasing age. The oldest group compared with the medium group had decreased rates of: unplanned returns to theatre (11.2% (526/4709) vs 20.2% (726/3586)), unplanned intensive care admissions (16.3% (545/3350) vs 24.0% (601/2504)) and treatment in intensive care units (59.7% (2689/4507) vs 76.7% (2754/3590)). Conclusions The oldest patients received

  6. Surgical Ligation of Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Very-low-birth-weight Premature Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Chen Ko

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This study reported our experience of bedside patent ductus arteriosus (PDA ligation for prematurity in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU. Between April 1992 and March 2006, 41 very-low-birth-weight premature infants underwent PDA ligation in the NICU. There were 18 male and 23 female infants. The mean gestational age and birth weight were 26.9 weeks and 900.9 g, respectively. Preoperatively, 25 infants were ventilator-dependent. After operation, there were five deaths caused by complications of prematurity. Surgical complications occurred in four and all recovered well after treatment. Twenty preoperatively intubated babies survived and were extubated at 21.6 ± 12.7 days postoperatively. In conclusion, bedside PDA ligation in the NICU is safe and effective. It can avoid transportation of critically ill, very small infants. We suggest surgical closure as the primary treatment in very-low-birth-weight infants who are ventilator-dependent to avoid the possible complications of indomethacin and prolonged intubation.

  7. Paediatric cardiac intensive care unit: current setting and organization in 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraisse, Alain; Le Bel, Stéphane; Mas, Bertrand; Macrae, Duncan

    2010-10-01

    Over recent decades, specialized paediatric cardiac intensive care has emerged as a central component in the management of critically ill, neonatal, paediatric and adult patients with congenital and acquired heart disease. The majority of high-volume centres (dealing with over 300 surgical cases per year) have dedicated paediatric cardiac intensive care units, with the smallest programmes more likely to care for paediatric cardiac patients in mixed paediatric or adult intensive care units. Specialized nursing staff are also a crucial presence at the patient's bedside for quality of care. A paediatric cardiac intensive care programme should have patients (preoperative and postoperative) grouped together geographically, and should provide proximity to the operating theatre, catheterization laboratory and radiology department, as well as to the regular ward. Age-appropriate medical equipment must be provided. An optimal strategy for running a paediatric cardiac intensive care programme should include: multidisciplinary collaboration and involvement with paediatric cardiology, anaesthesia, cardiac surgery and many other subspecialties; a risk-stratification strategy for quantifying perioperative risk; a personalized patient approach; and anticipatory care. Finally, progressive withdrawal from heavy paediatric cardiac intensive care management should be institutionalized. Although the countries of the European Union do not share any common legislation on the structure and organization of paediatric intensive care or paediatric cardiac intensive care, any paediatric cardiac surgery programme in France that is agreed by the French Health Ministry must perform at least '150 major procedures per year in children' and must provide a 'specialized paediatric intensive care unit'. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  8. Peer-to-peer nursing rounds and hospital-acquired pressure ulcer prevalence in a surgical intensive care unit: a quality improvement project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelleher, Alyson Dare; Moorer, Amanda; Makic, MaryBeth Flynn

    2012-01-01

    We conducted a quality improvement project in order to evaluate the effect of nurse-to-nurse bedside "rounding" as a strategy to decrease hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPU) in a surgical intensive care unit. We instituted weekly peer-to-peer bedside skin rounds in a 17-bed surgical intensive care unit. Two nurses were identified as skin champions and trained by the hospital's certified WOC nurse to conduct skin rounds. The skin champion nurses conducted weekly peer-to-peer rounds that included discussions about key elements of our patients' skin status including current Braden Scale for Pressure Sore Risk score, and implementation of specific interventions related to subscale risk assessment. If a pressure ulcer was present, the current action plan was reevaluated for effectiveness. Quarterly HAPU prevalence studies were conducted from January 2008 to December 2010. Nineteen patients experienced a HAPU: 17 were located on the coccyx and 2 on the heel. Ten ulcers were classified as stage II, 3 PU were stage IV, 5 were deemed unstageable, and 1 was classified as a deep tissue injury. The frequency of preventive interventions rose during our quality improvement project. Specifically, the use of prevention surfaces increased 92%, repositioning increased 30%, nutrition interventions increased 77%, and moisture management increased 100%. Prior to focused nursing rounds, the highest HAPU prevalence rate was 27%. After implementing focused nursing rounds, HAPU rates trended down and were 0% for 3 consecutive quarters.

  9. Intensive care nurses' experiences and perceptions of delirium and delirium care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamoscik, Katarzyna; Godbold, Rosemary; Freeman, Pauline

    2017-06-01

    To explore nurses' experiences and perceptions of delirium, managing delirious patients, and screening for delirium, five years after introduction of the Confusion Assessment Method for Intensive Care into standard practice. Twelve nurses from a medical-surgical intensive care unit in a large teaching hospital attended two focus group sessions. The collected qualitative data was thematically analysed using Braun and Clarke's framework (2006). The analysis identified seven themes: (1) Delirium as a Secondary Matter (2) Unpleasant Nature of Delirium (3) Scepticism About Delirium Assessment (4) Distrust in Delirium Management (5) Value of Communication (6) Non-pharmacological Therapy (7) Need for Reviewed Delirium Policy. Nurses described perceiving delirium as a low priority matter and linked it to work culture within the intensive care specialty. Simultaneously, they expressed their readiness to challenge this culture and to promote the notion of providing high-quality delirium care. Nurses discussed their frustrations related to lack of confidence in assessing delirium, as well as lack of effective therapies in managing this group of patients. They declared their appreciation for non-pharmacological interventions in treatment of delirium, suggested improvements to current delirium approach and proposed introducing psychological support for nurses dealing with delirious patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Postoperative delirium in intensive care patients: risk factors and outcome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veiga, Dalila; Luis, Clara; Parente, Daniela; Fernandes, Vera; Botelho, Miguela; Santos, Patricia; Abelha, Fernando

    2012-07-01

    Postoperative delirium (POD) in Surgical Intensive Care patients is an important independent outcome determinant. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the incidence and determinants of POD. Prospective cohort study conducted during a period of 10 months in a Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) with five intensive care beds. All consecutive adult patients submitted to major surgery were enrolled. Demographic data, perioperative variables, length of stay (LOS) and the mortality at PACU, hospital and at 6-months follow-up were recorded. Postoperative delirium was evaluated using the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC). Descriptive analyses were conducted and the Mann-Whitney test, Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used for comparisons. Logistic regression analysis evaluated the determinants of POD with calculation of odds ratio (OR) and its confidence interval 95% (95% CI). There were 775 adult PACU admissions and 95 patients had exclusion criteria. Of the remaining 680 patients, 128 (18.8%) developed POD. Independent determinants of POD identified were age, ASA-PS, emergency surgery and total amount of fresh frozen plasma administered during surgery. Patients with delirium had higher mortality rates, were more severely ill and stayed longer at the PACU and in the hospital. POD was an independent risk factor for hospital mortality There was a high incidence of delirium had a high incidence in intensive care surgical patients. POD was associated with worse severity of disease scores, longer LOS in hospital, and in PACU and higher mortality rates. The independent risk factors for POD were age, ASAPS, emergency surgery and the amount of plasma administered during surgery. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  11. Seeking optimal renal replacement therapy delivery in intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kocjan, Marinka; Brunet, Fabrice P

    2010-01-01

    Globally, critical care environments within health care organizations strive to provide optimal quality renal replacement therapy (RRT), an artificial replacement for lost kidney function. Examination of RRT delivery model literature and a case study review of the multidisciplinary-mixed RRT delivery model utilized within a closed medical surgical intensive care unit illustrates the organizational and clinical management of specialized resource and multidisciplinary roles. The successful utilization of a specific RRT delivery model is dependent upon resource availability.

  12. Postoperative Haematocrit and Outcome in Critically Ill Surgical Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Ana Martins; Silva, Diana; Sousa, Gabriela; Silva, Joana; Santos, Alice; Abelha, Fernando José

    2017-08-31

    Haematocrit has been studied as an outcome predictor. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between low haematocrit at surgical intensive care unit admission and high disease scoring system score and early outcomes. This retrospective study included 4398 patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit between January 2006 and July 2013. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation and simplified acute physiology score II values were calculated and all variables entered as parameters were evaluated independently. Patients were classified as haematocrit if they had a haematocrit < 30% at surgical intensive care unit admission. The correlation between admission haematocrit and outcome was evaluated by univariate analysis and linear regression. A total of 1126 (25.6%) patients had haematocrit. These patients had higher rates of major cardiac events (4% vs 1.9%, p < 0.001), acute renal failure (11.5% vs 4.7%, p < 0.001), and mortality during surgical intensive care unit stay (3% vs 0.8%, p < 0.001) and hospital stay (12% vs 5.9%, p < 0.001). A haematocrit level < 30% at surgical intensive care unit admission was frequent and appears to be a predictor for poorer outcome in critical surgical patients. Patients with haematocrit had longer surgical intensive care unit and hospital stay lengths, more postoperative complications, and higher surgical intensive care unit and hospital mortality rates.

  13. A tailored relocation stress intervention programme for family caregivers of patients transferred from a surgical intensive care unit to a general ward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seul; Oh, HyunSoo; Suh, YeonOk; Seo, WhaSook

    2017-03-01

    To develop and examine a relocation stress intervention programme tailored for the family caregivers of patients scheduled for transfer from a surgical intensive care unit to a general ward. Family relocation stress syndrome has been reported to be similar to that exhibited by patients, and investigators have emphasised that nurses should make special efforts to relieve family relocation stress to maximise positive contributions to the well-being of patients by family caregivers. A nonequivalent control group, nonsynchronised pretest-post-test design was adopted. The study subjects were 60 family caregivers of patients with neurosurgical or general surgical conditions in the surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital located in Incheon, South Korea. Relocation stress and family burden were evaluated at three times, that is before intervention, immediately after transfer and four to five days after transfer. This relocation stress intervention programme was developed for the family caregivers based on disease characteristics and relocation-related needs. In the experimental group, relocation stress levels significantly and continuously decreased after intervention, whereas in the control group, a slight nonsignificant trend was observed. Family burden levels in the control group increased significantly after transfer, whereas burden levels in the experimental group increased only marginally and nonsignificantly. No significant between-group differences in relocation stress or family burden levels were observed after intervention. Relocation stress levels of family caregivers were significantly decreased after intervention in the experimental group, which indicates that the devised family relocation stress intervention programme effectively alleviated family relocation stress. The devised intervention programme, which was tailored to disease characteristics and relocation-related needs, may enhance the practicality and efficacy of relocation stress

  14. Surgical Critical Care Initiative

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Surgical Critical Care Initiative (SC2i) is a USU research program established in October 2013 to develop, translate, and validate biology-driven critical care....

  15. Conflict in the intensive care unit: Nursing advocacy and surgical agency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pecanac, Kristen E; Schwarze, Margaret L

    2018-02-01

    Nurses and surgeons may experience intra-team conflict during decision making about the use of postoperative life-sustaining treatment in the intensive care unit due to their perceptions of professional roles and responsibilities. Nurses have a sense of advocacy-a responsibility to support the patient's best interest; surgeons have a sense of agency-a responsibility to keep the patient alive. The objectives were to (1) describe the discourse surrounding the responsibilities of nurses and surgeons, as "advocates" and "agents," and (2) apply these findings to determine how differences in role responsibilities could foster conflict during decision making about postoperative life-sustaining treatment in the intensive care unit. Articles, books, and professional documents were explored to obtain descriptions of nurses' and surgeons' responsibilities to their patients. Using discourse analysis, responsibilities were grouped into themes and then compared for potential for conflict. Ethical considerations: No data were collected from human participants and ethical review was not required. The texts were analyzed by a surgeon and a nurse to minimize profession-centric biases. Four themes in nursing discourse were identified: responsibility to support patient autonomy regarding treatment decisions, responsibility to protect the patient from the physician, responsibility to act as an intermediary between the physician and the patient, and the responsibility to support the well-being of the patient. Three themes in surgery discourse were identified personal responsibility for the patient's outcome, commitment to patient survival, and the responsibility to prevent harm to the patient from surgery. These responsibilities may contribute to conflict because each profession is working toward different goals and each believes they know what is best for the patient. It is not clear from the existing literature that either profession understands each other's responsibilities

  16. [Phenylephrine dosing error in Intensive Care Unit. Case of the trimester].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    A real clinical case reported to SENSAR is presented. A patient admitted to the surgical intensive care unit following a lung resection, suffered arterial hypotension. The nurse was asked to give the patient 1 mL of phenylephrine. A few seconds afterwards, the patient experienced a hypertensive crisis, which resolved spontaneously without damage. Thereafter, the nurse was interviewed and a dosing error was identified: she had mistakenly given the patient 1 mg of phenylephrine (1 mL) instead of 100 mcg (1 mL of the standard dilution, 1mg in 10 mL). The incident analysis revealed latent factors (event triggers) due to the lack of protocols and standard operating procedures, communication errors among team members (physician-nurse), suboptimal training, and underdeveloped safety culture. In order to preempt similar incidents in the future, the following actions were implemented in the surgical intensive care unit: a protocol for bolus and short lived infusions (del Dolor. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  17. Surgical care in the isolated military hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukish, J R; Gill, G G; McCoy, T R

    2001-01-01

    To maintain the health of service members and their families throughout the world, the Department of Defense has established several isolated military hospitals (IHs). The operational environment of IHs is such that illness and traumatic injury requiring surgical intervention is common. This study sought to examine the general and orthopedic surgical experience at an IH to determine whether surgical care could be provided in an effective and safe manner. All patients evaluated by the general and orthopedic surgeon at Guantanamo Bay Naval Hospital from October 1, 1998, to April 1, 1999, were included in this study. The following data were retrospectively reviewed: patient demographic data, diagnosis, initial and follow-up care, medical evacuation data, operative procedures, and complications. There were 336 patients who presented for surgical evaluation, resulting in 660 follow-up appointments during the study period. There were 31 medical evacuations (3 emergent). The surgical services performed 122 major operative procedures. There were 58 inpatient admissions. There was 1 death, and surgical complications occurred in 2 patients, for an overall morbidity and mortality of 1.4% and 0.7%, respectively. Our data show that an IH is capable of providing surgical care, including care for traumatic injuries, in a safe manner. This is the first study that provides objective evidence that general and orthopedic surgery at an IH can be provided within the standard of care.

  18. Burnout syndrome--assessment of a stressful job among intensive care staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cubrilo-Turek, Mirjana; Urek, Roman; Turek, Stjepan

    2006-03-01

    The purpose of the study was to investigate the degree of burnout experienced by intensive care staff particularly, in Medical (MICU) and Surgical Intensive Care Units (SICU) General Hospital "Sveti Duh", Zagreb. A sample group of 41 emergency physicians and nurses from MICU and 30 from SICU was tested. The survey included demographic data and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) scoring test identified by the three main components associated with burnout: emotional exhaustion (MBI-EE), depersonalization (MBI-DEP), and personal accomplishment (MBI-PA) were assessed using 22-item questionnaire. The degrees of burnout were stratified into low, moderate, and high range. Mean total MBI (X +/- SD) were high in both groups: higher for the MICU (65.5 +/- 6.7) than for SICU staff (55.7 +/- 3.8, p burnout represented in a moderate degree. The presence of burnout is a serious phenomenon, because it can lead to psychosomatic complaints, work-associated withdrawal behaviour, and a lower quality of care at intensive care units. Early recognition of burnout phenomenon as a result of prolonged stress and frustration among intensive care staff, contributes to better professional behavior, organizational structure changes in the work environment and better health care quality for critically ill patients.

  19. Radioimmunological determination of gentamycin and tobramycin in surgical intensive medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glaubitt, D.; Drechsler, H.J.; Staedtische Krankenanstalten Krefeld

    1979-01-01

    In 119 patients aged 16-86 who, within the framwork of surgical intensive care because of infections dangerous to life, had been treated with the aminoglucoside antibiotics gentamycin or tobramycin and who partly had renal dysfunction, gentamycin or tobramycin in plasma or in serum were determined radioimmunologically, either daily or at intervals of several days. Efforts were made to keep the concentration of the aminoglycoside antibiotic within the therapeutic range. This control of the therapy was particularly useful in short-term changes of the renal function because it facilitates the quick adaptation of the dosage of gentamycin or tobramycin to the assumed requirements. (orig.) [de

  20. Effect of delirium motoric subtypes on administrative documentation of delirium in the surgical intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Lan N; Pham, Vy P; Shirkey, Beverly A; Swan, Joshua T

    2017-06-01

    This study compares the proportions of surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients with delirium detected using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) who received administrative documentation for delirium using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, stratified by delirium motoric subtypes. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a surgical ICU from 06/2012 to 05/2013. Delirium was assessed twice daily and was defined as having ≥1 positive CAM-ICU rating. Delirious patients were categorized into hyperactive/mixed and hypoactive subtypes using corresponding Richmond Agitation Sedation Scales. Administrative documentation of delirium was defined as having ≥1 of 32 unique ICD-9-CM codes. Proportions were compared using Pearson's Chi-square test. Of included patients, 40 % (423/1055) were diagnosed with delirium, and 17 % (183/1055) had an ICD-9-CM code for delirium. The sensitivity and specificity of ICD-9-CM codes for delirium were 36 and 95 %. ICD-9-CM codes for delirium were available for 42 % (95 % CI 35-48 %; 105/253) of patients with hyperactive/mixed delirium and 27 % (95 % CI 20-34 %; 46/170) of patients with hypoactive delirium (relative risk = 1.5; 95 % CI 1.2-2.0; p = 0.002). ICD-9-CM codes yielded a low sensitivity for identifying patients with CAM-ICU positive delirium and were more likely to identify hyperactive/mixed delirium compared with hypoactive delirium.

  1. Long-term outcome and quality of life of patients treated in surgical intensive care: a comparison between sepsis and trauma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korosec Jagodic, Helena; Jagodic, Klemen; Podbregar, Matej

    2006-01-01

    Our aim was to determine long-term survival and quality of life of patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) because of sepsis or trauma. This was an observational study conducted in an 11-bed, closed surgical ICU at a 860-bed teaching general hospital over a 1-year period (January 2003 to December 2003). Patients were divided into two groups according to admission diagnoses: group 1 included patients with sepsis; and group 2 included patients with trauma (polytrauma, multiple trauma, head injury, or spinal injury). Quality of life was assessed after 2 years following ICU admission using the EuroQol 5D questionnaire. A total of 164 patients (98 trauma patients and 66 patients with sepsis) were included in the study. Trauma patients were younger than patients with sepsis (53 +/- 21 years versus 64 +/- 13 years; P Trauma patients stayed longer on the general ward (35 +/- 44 days versus 17 +/- 24 days; P trauma group (surgical ICU survival: 60% versus 74%; in-hospital survival: 42% versus 62%; post-hospital survival: 78% versus 92%; cumulative 2-year survival: 33% versus 57%; P quality of life in all five dimensions of the EuroQol 5D between groups: 60% of patients had signs of depression, almost 60% had problems in usual activities and 56% had pain. Patients with sepsis treated in a surgical ICU have higher short-term and long-term mortality than do trauma patients. However, quality of life is reduced to the same level in both groups.

  2. Nurse-Patient Communication Interactions in the Intensive Care Unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Happ, Mary Beth; Garrett, Kathryn; Thomas, Dana DiVirgilio; Tate, Judith; George, Elisabeth; Houze, Martin; Radtke, Jill; Sereika, Susan

    2011-01-01

    Background The inability to speak during critical illness is a source of distress for patients, yet nurse-patient communication in the intensive care unit has not been systematically studied or measured. Objectives To describe communication interactions, methods, and assistive techniques between nurses and nonspeaking critically ill patients in the intensive care unit. Methods Descriptive observational study of the nonintervention/usual care cohort from a larger clinical trial of nurse-patient communication in a medical and a cardiothoracic surgical intensive care unit. Videorecorded interactions between 10 randomly selected nurses (5 per unit) and a convenience sample of 30 critically ill adults (15 per unit) who were awake, responsive, and unable to speak because of respiratory tract intubation were rated for frequency, success, quality, communication methods, and assistive communication techniques. Patients self-rated ease of communication. Results Nurses initiated most (86.2%) of the communication exchanges. Mean rate of completed communication exchange was 2.62 exchanges per minute. The most common positive nurse act was making eye contact with the patient. Although communication exchanges were generally (>70%) successful, more than one-third (37.7%) of communications about pain were unsuccessful. Patients rated 40% of the communication sessions with nurses as somewhat difficult to extremely difficult. Assistive communication strategies were uncommon, with little to no use of assistive communication materials (eg, writing supplies, alphabet or word boards). Conclusions Study results highlight specific areas for improvement in communication between nurses and nonspeaking patients in the intensive care unit, particularly in communication about pain and in the use of assistive communication strategies and communication materials. PMID:21362711

  3. Access to Specialized Surgical Care

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The ANNALS of AFRICAN SURGERY. January 2016 Volume 13 Issue 1 1. EDITORIAL. Access to Specialized Surgical Care. Saidi H. University of Nairobi. Correspondence to: Prof Hassan Saidi, P.O Box 30196-00100, Nairobi. Email: hsaid2ke@yahoo.com. Ann Afr Surg. 2016;13(1):1-2. The narrative of surgical disease in ...

  4. Incidence, microbiological profile of nosocomial infections, and their antibiotic resistance patterns in a high volume Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manoj Kumar Sahu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Nosocomial infections (NIs in the postoperative period not only increase morbidity and mortality, but also impose a significant economic burden on the health care infrastructure. This retrospective study was undertaken to (a evaluate the incidence, characteristics, risk factors and outcomes of NIs and (b identify common microorganisms responsible for infection and their antibiotic resistance profile in our Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit (CSICU. Patients and Methods: After ethics committee approval, the CSICU records of all patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery between January 2013 and December 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. The incidence of NI, distribution of NI sites, types of microorganisms and their antibiotic resistance, length of CSICU stay, and patient-outcome were determined. Results: Three hundred and nineteen of 6864 patients (4.6% developed NI after cardiac surgery. Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs accounted for most of the infections (44.2% followed by surgical-site infection (SSI, 11.6%, bloodstream infection (BSI, 7.5%, urinary tract infection (UTI, 6.9% and infections from combined sources (29.8%. Acinetobacter, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus were the most frequent pathogens isolated in patients with LRTI, BSI, UTI, and SSI, respectively. The Gram-negative bacteria isolated from different sources were found to be highly resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Conclusion: The incidence of NI and sepsis-related mortality, in our CSICU, was 4.6% and 1.9%, respectively. Lower respiratory tract was the most common site of infection and Gram-negative bacilli, the most common pathogens after cardiac surgery. Antibiotic resistance was maximum with Acinetobacter spp.

  5. Evaluation of APACHE II system among intensive care patients at a teaching hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Antonio Chiavone

    Full Text Available CONTEXT: The high-complexity features of intensive care unit services and the clinical situation of patients themselves render correct prognosis fundamentally important not only for patients, their families and physicians, but also for hospital administrators, fund-providers and controllers. Prognostic indices have been developed for estimating hospital mortality rates for hospitalized patients, based on demographic, physiological and clinical data. OBJECTIVE: The APACHE II system was applied within an intensive care unit to evaluate its ability to predict patient outcome; to compare illness severity with outcomes for clinical and surgical patients; and to compare the recorded result with the predicted death rate. DESIGN: Diagnostic test. SETTING: Clinical and surgical intensive care unit in a tertiary-care teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: The study involved 521 consecutive patients admitted to the intensive care unit from July 1998 to June 1999. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: APACHE II score, in-hospital mortality, receiver operating characteristic curve, decision matrices and linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The patients' mean age was 50 ± 19 years and the APACHE II score was 16.7 ± 7.3. There were 166 clinical patients (32%, 173 (33% post-elective surgery patients (33%, and 182 post-emergency surgery patients (35%, thus producing statistically similar proportions. The APACHE II scores for clinical patients (18.5 ± 7.8 were similar to those for non-elective surgery patients (18.6 ± 6.5 and both were greater than for elective surgery patients (13.0 ± 6.3 (p < 0.05. The higher this score was, the higher the mortality rate was (p < 0.05. The predicted death rate was 25.6% and the recorded death rate was 35.5%. Through the use of receiver operating curve analysis, good discrimination was found (area under the curve = 0.80. From the 2 x 2 decision matrix, 72.2% of patients were correctly classified (sensitivity = 35.1%; specificity = 92.6%. Linear

  6. Constipation in intensive care unit: incidence and risk factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nassar, Antonio Paulo; da Silva, Fernanda Maria Queiroz; de Cleva, Roberto

    2009-12-01

    Although gastrointestinal motility disorders are common in critically ill patients, constipation and its implications have received very little attention. We aimed to determine the incidence of constipation to find risk factors and its implications in critically ill patients During a 6-month period, we enrolled all patients admitted to an intensive care unit from an universitary hospital who stayed 3 or more days. Patients submitted to bowel surgery were excluded. Constipation occurred in 69.9% of the patients. There was no difference between constipated and not constipated in terms of sex, age, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, type of admission (surgical, clinical, or trauma), opiate use, antibiotic therapy, and mechanical ventilation. Early (constipation, a finding that persisted at multivariable analysis (P Constipation was not associated with greater intensive care unit or mortality, length of stay, or days free from mechanical ventilation. Constipation is very common among critically ill patients. Early enteral nutrition is associated with earlier return of bowel function.

  7. Providing care for critically ill surgical patients: challenges and recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tisherman, Samuel A; Kaplan, Lewis; Gracias, Vicente H; Beilman, Gregory J; Toevs, Christine; Byrnes, Matthew C; Coopersmith, Craig M

    2013-07-01

    Providing optimal care for critically ill and injured surgical patients will become more challenging with staff shortages for surgeons and intensivists. This white paper addresses the historical issues behind the present situation, the need for all intensivists to engage in dedicated critical care per the intensivist model, and the recognition that intensivists from all specialties can provide optimal care for the critically ill surgical patient, particularly with continuing involvement by the surgeon of record. The new acute care surgery training paradigm (including trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency general surgery) has been developed to increase interest in trauma and surgical critical care, but the number of interested trainees remains too few. Recommendations are made for broadening the multidisciplinary training and practice opportunities in surgical critical care for intensivists from all base specialties and for maintaining the intensivist model within acute care surgery practice. Support from academic and administrative leadership, as well as national organizations, will be needed.

  8. Validity and reliability of the Thai version of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pipanmekaporn T

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Tanyong Pipanmekaporn,1 Nahathai Wongpakaran,2 Sirirat Mueankwan,3 Piyawat Dendumrongkul,2 Kaweesak Chittawatanarat,3 Nantiya Khongpheng,3 Nongnut Duangsoy31Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; 2Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; 3Division of Surgical Critical Care and Trauma, Department of Surgery, Chiang Mai University Hospital, Chiang Mai, ThailandPurpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Thai version of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU, when compared to the diagnoses made by delirium experts.Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in both surgical intensive care and subintensive care units in Thailand between February–June 2011. Seventy patients aged 60 years or older who had been admitted to the units were enrolled into the study within the first 48 hours of admission. Each patient was randomly assessed as to whether they had delirium by a nurse using the Thai version of the CAM-ICU algorithm (Thai CAM-ICU or by a delirium expert using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision.Results: The prevalence of delirium was found to be 18.6% (n=13 by the delirium experts. The sensitivity of the Thai CAM-ICU’s algorithms was found to be 92.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] =64.0%-99.8%, while the specificity was 94.7% (95% CI =85.4%-98.9%. The instrument displayed good interrater reliability (Cohen’s κ=0.81; 95% CI =0.64-0.99. The time taken to complete the Thai CAM-ICU was 1 minute (interquatile range, 1-2 minutes.Conclusion: The Thai CAM-ICU demonstrated good validity, reliability, and ease of use when diagnosing delirium in a surgical intensive care unit setting. The use of this diagnostic tool should be encouraged for daily, routine use, so as to promote the early detection

  9. Fewer intensive care unit refusals and a higher capacity utilization by using a cyclic surgical case schedule

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Houdenhoven, Mark; van Oostrum, Jeroen M.; Wullink, Gerhard; Hans, Elias W.; Hurink, Johann L.; Bakker, Jan; Kazemier, Geert

    Purpose: Mounting health care costs force hospital managers to maximize utilization of scarce resources and simultaneously improve access to hospital services. This article assesses the benefits of a cyclic case scheduling approach that exploits a master surgical schedule (MSS). An MSS maximizes

  10. Nursing workload in a trauma intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luana Loppi Goulart

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Severely injured patients with multiple and conflicting injuries present themselves to nursing professionals at critical care units faced with care management challenges. The goal of the present study is to evaluate nursing workload and verify the correlation between workload and the APACHE II severity index. It is a descriptive study, conducted in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit of a teaching hospital. We used the Nursing Activities Score and APACHE II as instruments. The sample comprised 32 patients, of which most were male, young adults, presenting polytrauma, coming from the Reference Emergency Unit, in surgical treatment, and discharged from the ICU. The average obtained on the Nursing Activities Score instrument was 72% during hospitalization periods. The data displayed moderate correlation between workload and patient severity. In other words, the higher the score, the higher the patient’s mortality risk. doi: 10.5216/ree.v16i2.22922.

  11. Antimicrobial activity of ceftaroline and other anti-infective agents against microbial pathogens recovered from the surgical intensive care patient population: a prevalence analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmiston, Charles E; Krepel, Candace J; Leaper, David; Ledeboer, Nathan A; Mackey, Tami-Lea; Graham, Mary Beth; Lee, Cheong; Rossi, Peter J; Brown, Kellie R; Lewis, Brian D; Seabrook, Gary R

    2014-12-01

    Ceftaroline is a new parenteral cephalosporin agent with excellent activity against methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Critically ill surgical patients are susceptible to infection, often by multi-drug-resistant pathogens. The activity of ceftaroline against such pathogens has not been described. Three hundred thirty-five consecutive microbial isolates were collected from surgical wounds or abscesses, respiratory, urine, and blood cultures from patients in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of a major tertiary medical center. Using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standard methodology and published breakpoints, all aerobic, facultative anaerobic isolates were tested against ceftaroline and selected comparative antimicrobial agents. All staphylococcal isolates were susceptible to ceftaroline at a breakpoint of ≤1.0 mcg/mL. In addition, ceftaroline exhibited excellent activity against all streptococcal clinical isolates and non-ESBL-producing strains of Enterobacteriaceae (93.5%) recovered from SICU patients. Ceftaroline was inactive against ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and selective gram-negative anaerobic bacteria. At present, ceftaroline is the only cephalosporin agent that is active against community and healthcare-associated MRSA. Further studies are needed to validate the benefit of this novel broad-spectrum anti-infective agent for the treatment of susceptible serious infections in the SICU patient population.

  12. Implementation of enteral feeding protocol in an intensive care unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Padar, Martin; Uusvel, Gerli; Starkopf, Liis

    2017-01-01

    AIM: To determine the effects of implementing an enteral feeding protocol on the nutritional delivery and outcomes of intensive care patients. METHODS: An uncontrolled, observational before-and-after study was performed in a tertiary mixed medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU). In 2013......, a nurse-driven enteral feeding protocol was developed and implemented in the ICU. Nutrition and outcome-related data from patients who were treated in the study unit from 2011-2012 (the Before group) and 2014-2015 (the After group) were obtained from a local electronic database, the national Population...... the groups. Patients in the After group had a lower 90-d (P = 0.026) and 120-d (P = 0.033) mortality. In the After group, enteral nutrition was prescribed less frequently (P = 0.039) on day 1 but significantly more frequently on all days from day 3. Implementation of the feeding protocol resulted in a higher...

  13. Hypothermia in a surgical intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abelha, Fernando J; Castro, Maria A; Neves, Aida M; Landeiro, Nuno M; Santos, Cristina C

    2005-06-06

    Inadvertent hypothermia is not uncommon in the immediate postoperative period and it is associated with impairment and abnormalities in various organs and systems that can lead to adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence, the predictive factors and outcome of core hypothermia on admission to a surgical ICU. All consecutive 185 adult patients who underwent scheduled or emergency noncardiac surgery admitted to a surgical ICU between April and July 2004 were admitted to the study. Tympanic membrane core temperature (Tc) was measured before surgery, on arrival at ICU and every two hours until 6 hours after admission. The following variables were also recorded: age, sex, body weight and height, ASA physical status, type of surgery, magnitude of surgical procedure, anesthesia technique, amount of intravenous fluids administered during anesthesia, use of temperature monitoring and warming techniques, duration of the anesthesia, ICU length of stay, hospital length of stay and SAPS II score. Patients were classified as either hypothermic (Tc 35 degrees C). Univariate analysis and multiple regression binary logistic with an odds ratio (OR) and its 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI) were used to compare the two groups of patients and assess the relationship between each clinical predictor and hypothermia. Outcome measured as ICU length of stay and mortality was also assessed. Prevalence of hypothermia on ICU admission was 57.8%. In univariate analysis temperature monitoring, use of warming techniques and higher previous body temperature were significant protective factors against core hypothermia. In this analysis independent predictors of hypothermia on admission to ICU were: magnitude of surgery, use of general anesthesia or combined epidural and general anesthesia, total intravenous crystalloids administrated and total packed erythrocytes administrated, anesthesia longer than 3 hours and SAPS II scores. In multiple logistic regression analysis

  14. Hypothermia in a surgical intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Landeiro Nuno M

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Inadvertent hypothermia is not uncommon in the immediate postoperative period and it is associated with impairment and abnormalities in various organs and systems that can lead to adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence, the predictive factors and outcome of core hypothermia on admission to a surgical ICU. Methods All consecutive 185 adult patients who underwent scheduled or emergency noncardiac surgery admitted to a surgical ICU between April and July 2004 were admitted to the study. Tympanic membrane core temperature (Tc was measured before surgery, on arrival at ICU and every two hours until 6 hours after admission. The following variables were also recorded: age, sex, body weight and height, ASA physical status, type of surgery, magnitude of surgical procedure, anesthesia technique, amount of intravenous fluids administered during anesthesia, use of temperature monitoring and warming techniques, duration of the anesthesia, ICU length of stay, hospital length of stay and SAPS II score. Patients were classified as either hypothermic (Tc ≤ 35°C or normothermic (Tc> 35°C. Univariate analysis and multiple regression binary logistic with an odds ratio (OR and its 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI were used to compare the two groups of patients and assess the relationship between each clinical predictor and hypothermia. Outcome measured as ICU length of stay and mortality was also assessed. Results Prevalence of hypothermia on ICU admission was 57.8%. In univariate analysis temperature monitoring, use of warming techniques and higher previous body temperature were significant protective factors against core hypothermia. In this analysis independent predictors of hypothermia on admission to ICU were: magnitude of surgery, use of general anesthesia or combined epidural and general anesthesia, total intravenous crystalloids administrated and total packed erythrocytes administrated, anesthesia longer

  15. A conceptual framework of clinical nursing care in intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Rafael Celestino; Ferreira, Márcia de Assunção; Apostolidis, Thémistoklis; Brandão, Marcos Antônio Gomes

    2015-01-01

    to propose a conceptual framework for clinical nursing care in intensive care. descriptive and qualitative field research, carried out with 21 nurses from an intensive care unit of a federal public hospital. We conducted semi-structured interviews and thematic and lexical content analysis, supported by Alceste software. the characteristics of clinical intensive care emerge from the specialized knowledge of the interaction, the work context, types of patients and nurses characteristic of the intensive care and care frameworks. the conceptual framework of the clinic's intensive care articulates elements characteristic of the dynamics of this scenario: objective elements regarding technology and attention to equipment and subjective elements related to human interaction, specific of nursing care, countering criticism based on dehumanization.

  16. Adverse outcomes after percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy versus surgical tracheostomy in intensive care patients: case series and literature review

    OpenAIRE

    Jarosz, Konrad; Kubisa, Bartosz; Andrzejewska, Agata; Mr?wczy?ska, Katarzyna; Hamerlak, Zbigniew; Bartkowska-?niatkowska, Alicja

    2017-01-01

    Konrad Jarosz,1 Bartosz Kubisa,2 Agata Andrzejewska,3 Katarzyna Mrówczyńska,3 Zbigniew Hamerlak,4 Alicja Bartkowska-Śniatkowska5 1Department of Clinical Nursing, Pomeranian Medical University, 2Thoracic Surgery and Transplantation Department, Pomeranian Medical University, 3Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Department, Pomeranian Medical University, 4Stomatology Department, Pomeranian Medical University, 5Anaesthesiology and Pediatric Intensive Care Department, Poznan Universit...

  17. A comparative study of occupancy and patient care quality in four different types of intensive care units in a children's hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Thomas J

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports a comparative study of occupancy and patient care quality in four types of intensive care units in a children's hospital,: an Infant Care Center (ICC), a Medical/Surgical (Med/Surg) unit, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), each featuring a mix of multi-bed and private room (PR) patient care environments. The project is prompted by interest by the project sponsor in a pre-occupancy analysis, before the units are upgraded to exclusive PR designs. Methods comprised, for each unit: (1) observations of ergonomic design features; (2) task activity analyses of job performance of selected staff; and (3) use of a survey to collect perceptions by unit nursing and house staff (HS) of indicators of occupancy and patient care quality. (1) the five most common task activities are interaction with patients, charting, and interaction with equipment, co-workers and family members; (2) job satisfaction, patient care, work environment, job, patient care team interaction, and general occupancy quality rankings by ICC and/or NICU respondents are significantly higher than those by other staff respondents; and (3) ergonomic design shortcomings noted are excess noise, problems with equipment, and work environment, job-related health, and patient care quality issues.

  18. Metabonomics and Intensive Care

    OpenAIRE

    Antcliffe, D; Gordon, AC

    2016-01-01

    This article is one of ten reviews selected from the Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency medicine 2016. Other selected articles can be found online at http://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/annualupdate2016. Further information about the Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine is available from http://www.springer.com/series/8901.

  19. The patient experience of intensive care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egerod, Ingrid; Bergbom, Ingegerd; Lindahl, Berit

    2015-01-01

    : Nordic intensive care units. PARTICIPANTS: Patients in Nordic intensive care units. METHODS: We performed a literature search of qualitative studies of the patient experience of intensive care based on Nordic publications in 2000-2013. We searched the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Psyc...

  20. Optimisation of surgical care for rectal cancer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Borstlap, W.A.A.

    2017-01-01

    Optimisation of surgical care means weighing the risk of treatment related morbidity against the patients’ potential benefits of a surgical intervention. The first part of this thesis focusses on the anaemic patient undergoing colorectal surgery. Hypothesizing that a more profound haemoglobin

  1. The Danish Intensive Care Database

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Christian Fynbo; Møller, Morten Hylander; Nielsen, Henrik

    2016-01-01

    AIM OF DATABASE: The aim of this database is to improve the quality of care in Danish intensive care units (ICUs) by monitoring key domains of intensive care and to compare these with predefined standards. STUDY POPULATION: The Danish Intensive Care Database (DID) was established in 2007...... and standardized mortality ratios for death within 30 days after admission using case-mix adjustment (initially using age, sex, and comorbidity level, and, since 2013, using SAPS II) for all patients and for patients with septic shock. DESCRIPTIVE DATA: The DID currently includes 335,564 ICU admissions during 2005...

  2. [Intensive care medicine-survival and prospect of life].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valentin, A

    2017-10-01

    Intensive care medicine has achieved a significant increase in survival rates from critical illness. In addition to short-term outcomes like intensive care unit or hospital mortality, long-term prognosis and prospect of life of intensive care patients have recently become increasingly important. Pure survival is no longer a sole goal of intensive care medicine. The prediction of an intensive care patient's individual course should include the period after intensive care. A relevant proportion of all intensive care patients is affected by physical, psychological, cognitive, and social limitations after discharge from the intensive care unit. The prognosis of the status of the patient after discharge from the intensive care unit is an important part of the decision-making process with respect to the implementation or discontinuation of intensive care measures. The heavy burden of intensive care treatment should not solely be argued by pure survival but an anticipated sound prospect of life.

  3. Benefits of High-Intensity Intensive Care Unit Physician Staffing under the Affordable Care Act

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sachin Logani

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama, with its value-based purchasing program, is designed to link payment to quality processes and outcomes. Treatment of critically ill patients represents nearly 1% of the gross domestic product and 25% of a typical hospital budget. Data suggest that high-intensity staffing patterns in the intensive care unit (ICU are associated with cost savings and improved outcomes. We evaluate the literature investigating the cost-effectiveness and clinical outcomes of high-intensity ICU physician staffing as recommended by The Leapfrog Group (a consortium of companies that purchase health care for their employees and identify ways to overcome barriers to nationwide implementation of these standards. Hospitals that have implemented the Leapfrog initiative have demonstrated reductions in mortality and length of stay and increased cost savings. High-intensity staffing models appear to be an immediate cost-effective way for hospitals to meet the challenges of health care reform.

  4. A "Neurological Emergency Trolley" reduces turnaround time for high-risk medications in a general intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajzenberg, Henry; Newman, Paula; Harris, Gail-Anne; Cranston, Marnie; Boyd, J Gordon

    2018-02-01

    To reduce medication turnaround times during neurological emergencies, a multidisciplinary team developed a neurological emergency crash trolley in our intensive care unit. This trolley includes phenytoin, hypertonic saline and mannitol, as well as other equipment. The aim of this study was to assess whether the cart reduced turnaround times for these medications. In this retrospective cohort study, medication delivery times for two year epochs before and after its implementation were compared. Eligible patients were identified from our intensive care unit screening log. Adults who required emergent use of phenytoin, hypertonic saline or mannitol while in the intensive care unit were included. Groups were compared with nonparametric analyses. 33-bed general medical-surgical intensive care unit in an academic teaching hospital. Time to medication administration. In the pre-intervention group, there were 43 patients with 66 events. In the post-intervention group, there were 45 patients with 80 events. The median medication turnaround time was significantly reduced after implementation of the neurological emergency trolley (25 vs. 10minutes, p=0.003). There was no statistically significant difference in intensive care or 30-day survival between the two cohorts. The implementation of a novel neurological emergency crash trolley in our intensive care unit reduced medication turnaround times. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. [Morbidity and mortality after intensive care management of hemorrhagic stroke in Djibouti].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benois, A; Raynaud, L; Coton, T; Petitjeans, F; Hassan, A; Ilah, A; Sergent, H; Grassin, F; Leberre, J

    2009-02-01

    Prospective data on management and outcome of stroke in Africa is scarce. The purpose of this prospective descriptive study is to present epidemiologic, clinical and outcome data for a series of patients with hemorrhagic stroke in Djibouti. All patients admitted to the intensive care unit of the Bouffard Medical-Surgical Center in Djibouti for cerebral hemorrhage documented by CT-scan of the brain were recruited in this study. A total of 18 patients including 16 men were enrolled. The median patient age in this series was 51.5 years [range, 20-72]. The median duration of intensive care was 3 days [range, 1-38]. Mean Glasgow score at time of admission was 9 [range, 3-14]. Five patients were brought in by emergency medical airlift. The main risk factors for stroke were arterial hypertension, smoking, and regular khat use. Mechanical ventilation was performed in 10 patients with a survival rate of 40%. Six patients (33%) died in the intensive care unit. Hospital mortality within one month was 39% and mortality at 6 months was 44.4%. One-year survival for patients with a Glasgow score < or = 7 at the time of admission was 33%. Arterial hypertension, khat use, and smoking appeared to be major risk factors for male Djiboutians. Neurologic intensive care techniques provided hospital mortality rates similar to those reported in hospitals located in Western countries. Functional outcome in local survivors appeared to be good despite the absence of functional intensive care. These data argue against the passive, fatalistic approach to management of hemorrhagic stroke and for primary prevention of cardiovascular risk factors.

  6. Effectiveness of the actions of antimicrobial's control in the intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santos Edilson Floriano dos

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available There are various strategies to improve the effectiveness of antibiotics in hospitals. In general, the implementation of guidelines for appropriate antibiotic therapy and the participation of infectious disease (ID physicians deserve considerable attention. This study was a prospective ecological time-series study that evaluates the effectiveness of the ID physician's opinion to rationalize and control the use of antibiotics in medical-surgical intensive care units (ICU, and the impact of their intervention on treatment expenditures. There was significant change in the pattern of use of antimicrobials, this pattern approximating that of a medical-surgical ICU that participates in the ICARE (Intensive Care Antimicrobial Resistance Epidemiology Project. For example, there was a significant increase in the consumption of antimicrobials of the ampicillin group (Relative Risk [RR]=3.39; 95% CI: 2.34-4.91 and antipseudomonal penicillins (RR=2.89; 95% CI: 1.70-4.92. On the other hand, there was a significant reduction in the consumption of 3rd/4th generation cephalosporins (RR=0.66; 95% CI: 0.57-0.77 and carbapenems (RR=0.43; 95% CI: 0.33-0.56. On average, for every patient-day antibiotic expense was reduced 37.2% during calendar year 2001, when compared with 2000. The ID specialists' opinion and the adoption of guidelines for empirical antibiotic therapy of hospital-acquired pneumonia contributed to a reduction in the use of antimicrobials in medical-surgical ICU. However, further studies that have more control over confounding variables are needed to help determine the relevance of these discoveries.

  7. Effectiveness of the actions of antimicrobial's control in the intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edilson Floriano dos Santos

    Full Text Available There are various strategies to improve the effectiveness of antibiotics in hospitals. In general, the implementation of guidelines for appropriate antibiotic therapy and the participation of infectious disease (ID physicians deserve considerable attention. This study was a prospective ecological time-series study that evaluates the effectiveness of the ID physician's opinion to rationalize and control the use of antibiotics in medical-surgical intensive care units (ICU, and the impact of their intervention on treatment expenditures. There was significant change in the pattern of use of antimicrobials, this pattern approximating that of a medical-surgical ICU that participates in the ICARE (Intensive Care Antimicrobial Resistance Epidemiology Project. For example, there was a significant increase in the consumption of antimicrobials of the ampicillin group (Relative Risk [RR]=3.39; 95% CI: 2.34-4.91 and antipseudomonal penicillins (RR=2.89; 95% CI: 1.70-4.92. On the other hand, there was a significant reduction in the consumption of 3rd/4th generation cephalosporins (RR=0.66; 95% CI: 0.57-0.77 and carbapenems (RR=0.43; 95% CI: 0.33-0.56. On average, for every patient-day antibiotic expense was reduced 37.2% during calendar year 2001, when compared with 2000. The ID specialists' opinion and the adoption of guidelines for empirical antibiotic therapy of hospital-acquired pneumonia contributed to a reduction in the use of antimicrobials in medical-surgical ICU. However, further studies that have more control over confounding variables are needed to help determine the relevance of these discoveries.

  8. Intensive care bereavement practices across New Zealand and Australian intensive care units: a qualitative content analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coombs, Maureen; Mitchell, Marion; James, Stephen; Wetzig, Krista

    2017-10-01

    End-of-life and bereavement care is an important consideration in intensive care. This study describes the type of bereavement care provided in intensive care units across Australia and New Zealand. Inductive qualitative content analysis was conducted on free-text responses to a web-based survey exploring unit-based bereavement practice distributed to nurse managers in 229 intensive care units in New Zealand and Australia. A total of 153 (67%) surveys were returned with 68 respondents making free-text responses. Respondents were mainly Australian (n = 54, 85·3%), from the public sector (n = 51, 75%) and holding Nurse Unit Managers/Charge Nurse roles (n = 39, 52·9%). From the 124 free-text responses, a total of 187 individual codes were identified focussing on bereavement care practices (n = 145, 77·5%), educational provision to support staff (n = 15, 8%) and organisational challenges (n = 27, 14·4%). Bereavement care practices described use of memory boxes, cultural specificity, annual memorial services and use of community support services. Educational provision identified local in-service programmes, and national bereavement courses for specialist bereavement nurse coordinators. Organisational challenges focussed on lack of funding, especially for provision of bereavement follow-up. This is the first Australasian-wide survey, and one of the few international studies, describing bereavement practices within intensive care, an important aspect of nursing practice. However, with funding for new bereavement services and education for staff lacking, there are continued challenges in developing bereavement care. Given knowledge about the impact of these areas of care on bereaved family members, this requires review. Nurses remain committed to supporting bereaved families during and following death in intensive care. With limited resource to support bereavement care, intensive care nurses undertake a range of bereavement care practices at time of death

  9. [Quality management in intensive care medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, J; Braun, J-P

    2013-09-01

    Treatment of critical ill patients in the intensive care unit is tantamount to well-designed risk or quality management. Several tools of quality management and quality assurance have been developed in intensive care medicine. In addition to extern quality assurance by benchmarking with regard to the intensive care medicine, peer review procedures have been established for external quality assurance in recent years. In the process of peer review of an intensive care unit (ICU), external physicians and nurses visit the ICU, evaluate on-site proceedings, and discuss with the managing team of the ICU possibilities for optimization. Furthermore, internal quality management in the ICU is possible based on the 10 quality indicators of the German Interdisciplinary Society for Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI, "Deutschen Interdisziplinären Vereinigung für Intensiv- und Notfallmedizin"). Thereby every ICU has numerous possibilities to improve their quality management system.

  10. The Danish Intensive Care Database

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christiansen CF

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Christian Fynbo Christiansen,1 Morten Hylander Møller,2 Henrik Nielsen,1 Steffen Christensen3 1Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, 2Department of Intensive Care 4131, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, 3Department of Intensive Care, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark Aim of database: The aim of this database is to improve the quality of care in Danish intensive care units (ICUs by monitoring key domains of intensive care and to compare these with predefined standards. Study population: The Danish Intensive Care Database (DID was established in 2007 and includes virtually all ICU admissions in Denmark since 2005. The DID obtains data from the Danish National Registry of Patients, with complete follow-up through the Danish Civil Registration System. Main variables: For each ICU admission, the DID includes data on the date and time of ICU admission, type of admission, organ supportive treatments, date and time of discharge, status at discharge, and mortality up to 90 days after admission. Descriptive variables include age, sex, Charlson comorbidity index score, and, since 2010, the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II. The variables are recorded with 90%–100% completeness in the recent years, except for SAPS II score, which is 73%–76% complete. The DID currently includes five quality indicators. Process indicators include out-of-hour discharge and transfer to other ICUs for capacity reasons. Outcome indicators include ICU readmission within 48 hours and standardized mortality ratios for death within 30 days after admission using case-mix adjustment (initially using age, sex, and comorbidity level, and, since 2013, using SAPS II for all patients and for patients with septic shock. Descriptive data: The DID currently includes 335,564 ICU admissions during 2005–2015 (average 31,958 ICU admissions per year. Conclusion: The DID provides a

  11. Tracheotomy in the intensive care unit: Guidelines from a French expert panel: The French Intensive Care Society and the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trouillet, Jean-Louis; Collange, Olivier; Belafia, Fouad; Blot, François; Capellier, Gilles; Cesareo, Eric; Constantin, Jean-Michel; Demoule, Alexandre; Diehl, Jean-Luc; Guinot, Pierre-Grégoire; Jegoux, Franck; L'Her, Erwan; Luyt, Charles-Edouard; Mahjoub, Yazine; Mayaux, Julien; Quintard, Hervé; Ravat, François; Vergez, Sébastien; Amour, Julien; Guillot, Max

    2018-06-01

    Tracheotomy is widely used in intensive care units, albeit with great disparities between medical teams in terms of frequency and modality. Indications and techniques are, however, associated with variable levels of evidence based on inhomogeneous or even contradictory literature. Our aim was to conduct a systematic analysis of the published data in order to provide guidelines. We present herein recommendations for the use of tracheotomy in adult critically ill patients developed using the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) method. These guidelines were conducted by a group of experts from the French Intensive Care Society (Société de réanimation de langue française) and the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine (Société francaise d'anesthésie réanimation) with the participation of the French Emergency Medicine Association (Société française de médecine d'urgence), the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology. Sixteen experts and two coordinators agreed to consider questions concerning tracheotomy and its practical implementation. Five topics were defined: indications and contraindications for tracheotomy in intensive care, tracheotomy techniques in intensive care, modalities of tracheotomy in intensive care, management of patients undergoing tracheotomy in intensive care, and decannulation in intensive care. The summary made by the experts and the application of GRADE methodology led to the drawing up of 8 formal guidelines, 10 recommendations, and 3 treatment protocols. Among the 8 formal guidelines, 2 have a high level of proof (Grade 1±) and 6 a low level of proof (Grade 2±). For the 10 recommendations, GRADE methodology was not applicable and instead 10 expert opinions were produced. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.

  12. Redesigning Orientation in an Intensive Care Unit Using 2 Theoretical Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kozub, Elizabeth; Hibanada-Laserna, Maribel; Harget, Gwen; Ecoff, Laurie

    2015-01-01

    To accommodate a higher demand for critical care nurses, an orientation program in a surgical intensive care unit was revised and streamlined. Two theoretical models served as a foundation for the revision and resulted in clear clinical benchmarks for orientation progress evaluation. The purpose of the project was to integrate theoretical frameworks into practice to improve the unit orientation program. Performance improvement methods served as a framework for the revision, and outcomes were measured before and after implementation. The revised orientation program increased 1- and 2-year nurse retention and decreased turnover. Critical care knowledge increased after orientation for both the preintervention and postintervention groups. Incorporating a theoretical basis for orientation has been shown to be successful in increasing the number of nurses completing orientation and improving retention, turnover rates, and knowledge gained.

  13. Patient satisfaction and quality of surgical care in US hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Thomas C; Orav, E John; Jha, Ashish K

    2015-01-01

    The relationship between patient satisfaction and surgical quality is unclear for US hospitals. Using national data, we examined if hospitals with high patient satisfaction have lower levels of performance on accepted measures of the quality and efficiency of surgical care. Federal policymakers have made patient satisfaction a core measure for the way hospitals are evaluated and paid through the value-based purchasing program. There is broad concern that performance on patient satisfaction may have little or even a negative correlation with the quality of surgical care, leading to potential trade-offs in efforts to improve patient experience with other surgical quality measures. We used the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey data from 2010 and 2011 to assess performance on patient experience. We used national Medicare data on 6 common surgical procedures to calculate measures of surgical efficiency and quality: risk-adjusted length of stay, process score, risk-adjusted mortality rate, risk-adjusted readmission rate, and a composite z score across all 4 metrics. Multivariate models adjusting for hospital characteristics were used to assess the independent relationships between patient satisfaction and measures of surgical efficiency and quality. Of the 2953 US hospitals that perform one of these 6 procedures, the median patient satisfaction score was 69.5% (interquartile range, 63%-75.5%). Length of stay was shorter in hospitals with the highest levels of patient satisfaction (7.1 days vs 7.7 days, P patient satisfaction had the higher process of care performance (96.5 vs 95.5, P patient satisfaction also had a higher composite score for quality across all measures (P patient satisfaction provided more efficient care and were associated with higher surgical quality. Our findings suggest there need not be a trade-off between good quality of care for surgical patients and ensuring a positive patient experience.

  14. The future of intensive care medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanch, L; Annane, D; Antonelli, M; Chiche, J D; Cuñat, J; Girard, T D; Jiménez, E J; Quintel, M; Ugarte, S; Mancebo, J

    2013-03-01

    Intensive care medical training, whether as a primary specialty or as secondary add-on training, should include key competences to ensure a uniform standard of care, and the number of intensive care physicians needs to increase to keep pace with the growing and anticipated need. The organisation of intensive care in multiple specialty or central units is heterogeneous and evolving, but appropriate early treatment and access to a trained intensivist should be assured at all times, and intensivists should play a pivotal role in ensuring communication and high-quality care across hospital departments. Structures now exist to support clinical research in intensive care medicine, which should become part of routine patient management. However, more translational research is urgently needed to identify areas that show clinical promise and to apply research principles to the real-life clinical setting. Likewise, electronic networks can be used to share expertise and support research. Individuals, physicians and policy makers need to allow for individual choices and priorities in the management of critically ill patients while remaining within the limits of economic reality. Professional scientific societies play a pivotal role in supporting the establishment of a defined minimum level of intensive health care and in ensuring standardised levels of training and patient care by promoting interaction between physicians and policy makers. The perception of intensive care medicine among the general public could be improved by concerted efforts to increase awareness of the services provided and of the successes achieved. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  15. The Living, Dynamic and Complex Environment Care in Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Backes, Marli Terezinha Stein; Erdmann, Alacoque Lorenzini; Büscher, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    to understand the meaning of the Adult Intensive Care Unit environment of care, experienced by professionals working in this unit, managers, patients, families and professional support services, as well as build a theoretical model about the Adult Intensive Care Unit environment of care. Grounded Theory, both for the collection and for data analysis. Based on theoretical sampling, we carried out 39 in-depth interviews semi-structured from three different Adult Intensive Care Units. built up the so-called substantive theory "Sustaining life in the complex environment of care in the Intensive Care Unit". It was bounded by eight categories: "caring and continuously monitoring the patient" and "using appropriate and differentiated technology" (causal conditions); "Providing a suitable environment" and "having relatives with concern" (context); "Mediating facilities and difficulties" (intervenienting conditions); "Organizing the environment and managing the dynamics of the unit" (strategy) and "finding it difficult to accept and deal with death" (consequences). confirmed the thesis that "the care environment in the Intensive Care Unit is a living environment, dynamic and complex that sustains the life of her hospitalized patients".

  16. [Quality assurance concepts in intensive care medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinkmann, A; Braun, J P; Riessen, R; Dubb, R; Kaltwasser, A; Bingold, T M

    2015-11-01

    Intensive care medicine (ICM) is characterized by a high degree of complexity and requires intense communication and collaboration on interdisciplinary and multiprofessional levels. In order to achieve good quality of care in this environment and to prevent errors, a proactive quality and error management as well as a structured quality assurance system are essential. Since the early 1990s, German intensive care societies have developed concepts for quality management and assurance in ICM. In 2006, intensive care networks were founded in different states to support the implementation of evidence-based knowledge into clinical routine and to improve medical outcome, efficacy, and efficiency in ICM. Current instruments and concepts of quality assurance in German ICM include core intensive care data from the data registry DIVI REVERSI, quality indicators, peer review in intensive care, IQM peer review, and various certification processes. The first version of German ICM quality indicators was published in 2010 by an interdisciplinary and interprofessional expert commission. Key figures, indicators, and national benchmarks are intended to describe the quality of structures, processes, and outcomes in intensive care. Many of the quality assurance tools have proved to be useful in clinical practice, but nationwide implementation still can be improved.

  17. Assessing the Impact of Telemedicine on Nursing Care in Intensive Care Units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleinpell, Ruth; Barden, Connie; Rincon, Teresa; McCarthy, Mary; Zapatochny Rufo, Rebecca J

    2016-01-01

    Information on the impact of tele-intensive care on nursing and priority areas of nursing care is limited. To conduct a national benchmarking survey of nurses working in intensive care telemedicine facilities in the United States. In a 2-phased study, an online survey was used to assess nurses' perceptions of intensive care telemedicine, and a modified 2-round Delphi study was used to identify priority areas of nursing. In phase 1, most of the 1213 respondents agreed to strongly agreed that using tele-intensive care enables them to accomplish tasks more quickly (63%), improves collaboration (65.9%), improves job performance (63.6%) and communication (60.4%), is useful in nursing assessments (60%), and improves care by providing more time for patient care (45.6%). Benefits of tele-intensive care included ability to detect trends in vital signs, detect unstable physiological status, provide medical management, and enhance patient safety. Barriers included technical problems (audio and video), interruptions in care, perceptions of telemedicine as an interference, and attitudes of staff. In phase 2, 60 nurses ranked 15 priority areas of care, including critical thinking skills, intensive care experience, skillful communication, mutual respect, and management of emergency patient care. The findings can be used to further inform the development of competencies for tele-intensive care nursing, match the tele-intensive care nursing practice guidelines of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and highlight concepts related to the association's standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments. ©2016 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

  18. An analysis of surgical and anaesthetic factors affecting skin graft viability in patients admitted to a Burns Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isitt, Catherine E; McCloskey, Kayleigh A; Caballo, Alvaro; Sharma, Pranev; Williams, Andrew; Leon-Villapalos, Jorge; Vizcaychipi, Marcela P

    2016-01-01

    Skin graft failure is a recognised complication in the treatment of major burns. Little research to date has analysed the impact of the complex physiological management of burns patients on the success of skin grafting. We analysed surgical and anaesthetic variables to identify factors contributing to graft failure. Inclusion criteria were admission to our Burns Intensive Care Unit (BICU) between January 2009 and October 2013 with a major burn. After exclusion for death before hospital discharge or prior skin graft at a different hospital, 35 patients remained and were divided into those with successful autografts (n=16) and those with a failed autograft (n=19). For the purposes of this study, we defined poor autograft viability as requiring at least one additional skin graft to the same site. Logistic regression of variables was performed using SPSS (Version 22.0 IBMTM). Age, Sex, %Total Burn Surface Area or Belgian Outcome Burns Injury score did not significantly differ between groups. No differences were found in any surgical factor at logistic regression (graft site, harvest site, infection etc.). When all operations were analysed, the use of colloids was found to be significantly associated with graft failure (p=0.035, CI 95%) and this remained significant when only split thickness skin grafts (STSGs) and debridement operations were included (p=0.034, CI 95%). No differences were found in crystalloid use, intraoperative temperature, pre-operative haemoglobin and blood products or vasopressor use. This analysis highlights an independent association between colloids and graft failure which has not been previously documented.

  19. Developing a minimum dataset for nursing team leader handover in the intensive care unit: A focus group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spooner, Amy J; Aitken, Leanne M; Corley, Amanda; Chaboyer, Wendy

    2018-01-01

    Despite increasing demand for structured processes to guide clinical handover, nursing handover tools are limited in the intensive care unit. The study aim was to identify key items to include in a minimum dataset for intensive care nursing team leader shift-to-shift handover. This focus group study was conducted in a 21-bed medical/surgical intensive care unit in Australia. Senior registered nurses involved in team leader handovers were recruited. Focus groups were conducted using a nominal group technique to generate and prioritise minimum dataset items. Nurses were presented with content from previous team leader handovers and asked to select which content items to include in a minimum dataset. Participant responses were summarised as frequencies and percentages. Seventeen senior nurses participated in three focus groups. Participants agreed that ISBAR (Identify-Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendations) was a useful tool to guide clinical handover. Items recommended to be included in the minimum dataset (≥65% agreement) included Identify (name, age, days in intensive care), Situation (diagnosis, surgical procedure), Background (significant event(s), management of significant event(s)) and Recommendations (patient plan for next shift, tasks to follow up for next shift). Overall, 30 of the 67 (45%) items in the Assessment category were considered important to include in the minimum dataset and focused on relevant observations and treatment within each body system. Other non-ISBAR items considered important to include related to the ICU (admissions to ICU, staffing/skill mix, theatre cases) and patients (infectious status, site of infection, end of life plan). Items were further categorised into those to include in all handovers and those to discuss only when relevant to the patient. The findings suggest a minimum dataset for intensive care nursing team leader shift-to-shift handover should contain items within ISBAR along with unit and patient specific

  20. The Living, Dynamic and Complex Environment Care in Intensive Care Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marli Terezinha Stein Backes

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to understand the meaning of the Adult Intensive Care Unit environment of care, experienced by professionals working in this unit, managers, patients, families and professional support services, as well as build a theoretical model about the Adult Intensive Care Unit environment of care.METHOD: Grounded Theory, both for the collection and for data analysis. Based on theoretical sampling, we carried out 39 in-depth interviews semi-structured from three different Adult Intensive Care Units.RESULTS: built up the so-called substantive theory "Sustaining life in the complex environment of care in the Intensive Care Unit". It was bounded by eight categories: "caring and continuously monitoring the patient" and "using appropriate and differentiated technology" (causal conditions; "Providing a suitable environment" and "having relatives with concern" (context; "Mediating facilities and difficulties" (intervenienting conditions; "Organizing the environment and managing the dynamics of the unit" (strategy and "finding it difficult to accept and deal with death" (consequences.CONCLUSION: confirmed the thesis that "the care environment in the Intensive Care Unit is a living environment, dynamic and complex that sustains the life of her hospitalized patients".

  1. Critical care admission of South African (SA surgical patients: Results of the SA Surgical Outcomes Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Lee Skinner

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background. Appropriate critical care admissions are an important component of surgical care. However, there are few data describing postoperative critical care admission in resource-limited low- and middle-income countries. Objective. To describe the demographics, organ failures, organ support and outcomes of non-cardiac surgical patients admitted to critical care units in South Africa (SA. Methods. The SA Surgical Outcomes Study (SASOS was a 7-day national, multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study of all patients ≥16 years of age undergoing inpatient non-cardiac surgery between 19 and 26 May 2014 at 50 government-funded hospitals. All patients admitted to critical care units during this study were included for analysis. Results. Of the 3 927 SASOS patients, 255 (6.5% were admitted to critical care units; of these admissions, 144 (56.5% were planned, and 111 (43.5% unplanned. The incidence of confirmed or strongly suspected infection at the time of admission was 35.4%, with a significantly higher incidence in unplanned admissions (49.1 v. 24.8%, p<0.001. Unplanned admission cases were more frequently hypovolaemic, had septic shock, and required significantly more inotropic, ventilatory and renal support in the first 48 hours after admission. Overall mortality was 22.4%, with unplanned admissions having a significantly longer critical care length of stay and overall mortality (33.3 v. 13.9%, p<0.001. Conclusion. The outcome of patients admitted to public sector critical care units in SA is strongly associated with unplanned admissions. Adequate ‘high care-dependency units’ for postoperative care of elective surgical patients could potentially decrease the burden on critical care resources in SA by 23%. This study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02141867.

  2. The Eldicus prospective, observational study of triage decision making in European intensive care units. Part II: Intensive care benefit for the elderly

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sprung, Charles L; Artigas, Antonio; Kesecioglu, Jozef

    2012-01-01

    on mortality and intensive care unit benefit, specifically for elderly patients. DESIGN:: Prospective, observational study of triage decisions from September 2003 until March 2005. SETTING:: Eleven intensive care units in seven European countries. PATIENTS:: All patients >18 yrs with an explicit request......RATIONALE:: Life and death triage decisions are made daily by intensive care unit physicians. Admission to an intensive care unit is denied when intensive care unit resources are constrained, especially for the elderly. OBJECTIVE:: To determine the effect of intensive care unit triage decisions...... care unit rejections than younger patients and have a higher mortality when admitted, the mortality benefit appears greater for the elderly. Physicians should consider changing their intensive care unit triage practices for the elderly....

  3. Providing surgical care in Somalia: A model of task shifting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Kathryn M; Ford, Nathan P; Trelles, Miguel

    2011-07-15

    Somalia is one of the most political unstable countries in the world. Ongoing insecurity has forced an inconsistent medical response by the international community, with little data collection. This paper describes the "remote" model of surgical care by Medecins Sans Frontieres, in Guri-El, Somalia. The challenges of providing the necessary prerequisites for safe surgery are discussed as well as the successes and limitations of task shifting in this resource-limited context. In January 2006, MSF opened a project in Guri-El located between Mogadishu and Galcayo. The objectives were to reduce mortality due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth and from violent and non-violent trauma. At the start of the program, expatriate surgeons and anesthesiologists established safe surgical practices and performed surgical procedures. After January 2008, expatriates were evacuated due to insecurity and surgical care has been provided by local Somalian doctors and nurses with periodic supervisory visits from expatriate staff. Between October 2006 and December 2009, 2086 operations were performed on 1602 patients. The majority (1049, 65%) were male and the median age was 22 (interquartile range, 17-30). 1460 (70%) of interventions were emergent. Trauma accounted for 76% (1585) of all surgical pathology; gunshot wounds accounted for 89% (584) of violent injuries. Operative mortality (0.5% of all surgical interventions) was not higher when Somalian staff provided care compared to when expatriate surgeons and anesthesiologists. The delivery of surgical care in any conflict-settings is difficult, but in situations where international support is limited, the challenges are more extreme. In this model, task shifting, or the provision of services by less trained cadres, was utilized and peri-operative mortality remained low demonstrating that safe surgical practices can be accomplished even without the presence of fully trained surgeon and anesthesiologists. If security improves

  4. Identifying Variability in Mental Models Within and Between Disciplines Caring for the Cardiac Surgical Patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Evans K H; Harder, Kathleen A; Apostolidou, Ioanna; Wahr, Joyce A; Shook, Douglas C; Farivar, R Saeid; Perry, Tjorvi E; Konia, Mojca R

    2017-07-01

    The cardiac operating room is a complex environment requiring efficient and effective communication between multiple disciplines. The objectives of this study were to identify and rank critical time points during the perioperative care of cardiac surgical patients, and to assess variability in responses, as a correlate of a shared mental model, regarding the importance of these time points between and within disciplines. Using Delphi technique methodology, panelists from 3 institutions were tasked with developing a list of critical time points, which were subsequently assigned to pause point (PP) categories. Panelists then rated these PPs on a 100-point visual analog scale. Descriptive statistics were expressed as percentages, medians, and interquartile ranges (IQRs). We defined low response variability between panelists as an IQR ≤ 20, moderate response variability as an IQR > 20 and ≤ 40, and high response variability as an IQR > 40. Panelists identified a total of 12 PPs. The PPs identified by the highest number of panelists were (1) before surgical incision, (2) before aortic cannulation, (3) before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) initiation, (4) before CPB separation, and (5) at time of transfer of care from operating room (OR) to intensive care unit (ICU) staff. There was low variability among panelists' ratings of the PP "before surgical incision," moderate response variability for the PPs "before separation from CPB," "before transfer from OR table to bed," and "at time of transfer of care from OR to ICU staff," and high response variability for the remaining 8 PPs. In addition, the perceived importance of each of these PPs varies between disciplines and between institutions. Cardiac surgical providers recognize distinct critical time points during cardiac surgery. However, there is a high degree of variability within and between disciplines as to the importance of these times, suggesting an absence of a shared mental model among disciplines caring for

  5. The turn team: a novel strategy for reducing pressure ulcers in the surgical intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Still, Mary D; Cross, Linda C; Dunlap, Martha; Rencher, Rugenia; Larkins, Elizabeth R; Carpenter, David L; Buchman, Timothy G; Coopersmith, Craig M

    2013-03-01

    Pressure ulcers cause significant morbidity and mortality in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU). The purpose of this study was to determine if a dedicated team tasked with turning and repositioning all hemodynamically stable SICU patients could decrease the formation of pressure ulcers. A total of 507 patients in a 20-bed SICU in a university hospital were assessed for pressure ulcers using a point prevalence strategy, between December 2008 and September 2010, before and after implementation of a team tasked with turning and repositioning all hemodynamically stable patients every 2 hours around the clock. At baseline, when frequent turning was encouraged but not required, a total of 42 pressure ulcers were identified in 278 patients. After implementation of the turn team, a total of 12 pressure ulcers were identified in 229 patients (p < 0.0001). The preintervention group included 34 stage I and II ulcers and 8 higher stage ulcers. After implementation of the turn team, there were 7 stage I and II ulcers and 5 higher stage ulcers. The average Braden score was 16.5 in the preintervention group and 13.4 in the postintervention group (p = 0.04), suggesting that pressure ulcers were occurring in higher risk patients after implementation of the turn team. A team dedicated to turning SICU patients every 2 hours dramatically decreased the incidence of pressure ulcers. The majority of stage I and stage II ulcers appear to be preventable with an aggressive intervention aimed at pressure ulcer prevention. Copyright © 2013 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Measuring the Burden of Surgical Disease Averted by Emergency and Essential Surgical Care in a District Hospital in Papua New Guinea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, Matthew A R; Guest, Glenn D; Mamadi, Perista; Seta, Westin; Yaubihi, Noel; Karawiga, Grace; Naidi, Billy; Watters, David A K

    2017-03-01

    Timely access to emergency and essential surgical care (EESC) and anaesthesia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) prevents premature death, minimises lifelong disability and reduces their economic impact on families and communities. Papua New Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the Pacific region, and provides much of its surgical care at a district hospital level. We aimed to evaluate the surgical capacity of a district hospital in PNG and estimate the effectiveness of surgical interventions provided. We performed a prospective study to calculate the number of DALYs averted for 465 patients treated with surgical care over a 3-month period (Sep-Nov 2013) in Alotau Hospital, Milne Bay Province, PNG (pop 210,000). Data were also collected on infrastructure, workforce, interventions provided and equipment available using the World Health Organization's Integrated Management of Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Toolkit, a survey to assess EESC and surgical capacity. We also performed a retrospective one-year audit of surgical, obstetric and anaesthetic care to provide context with regards to annual disease burden treated and surgical activity. EESC was provided by 11 Surgeons/Anaesthetists/Obstetricians (SAO) providers, equating to 5.7 per 100,000 population (including 4 nurse anaesthetists). They performed 783/100,000 procedures annually. Over the 3-month prospective study period, 4954 DALYs were averted by 465 surgical interventions, 52 % of which were elective. This equates to 18,330 DALYs averted annually or, approximately 18 % of the published but estimated disease burden in the Province in the 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study. The overall peri-operative mortality rate was 1.29 %, with 0.41 % for elective procedures and 2.25 % for emergencies. Much of the burden of surgical disease in Papua New Guinea presenting to Alotau General Hospital serving Milne Bay Province can be effectively treated by a small team providing emergency and

  7. POSSUM--a model for surgical outcome audit in quality care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, K J; Yii, M K

    2003-10-01

    Comparative surgical audit to monitor quality of care should be performed with a risk-adjusted scoring system rather than using crude morbidity and mortality rates. A validated and widely applied risk adjusted scoring system, P-POSSUM (Portsmouth-Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality) methodology, was applied to a prospective series of predominantly general surgical patients at the Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching over a six months period. The patients were grouped into four risk groups. The observed mortality rates were not significantly different from predicted rates, showing that the quality of surgical care was at par with typical western series. The simplicity and advantages of this scoring system over other auditing tools are discussed. The P-POSSUM methodology could form the basis of local comparative surgical audit for assessment and maintenance of quality care.

  8. Intensive care patient diaries in Scandinavia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egerod, Ingrid; Storli, Sissel Lisa; Åkerman, Eva

    2011-01-01

    Critical illness and intensive care therapy are often followed by psychological problems such as nightmares, hallucinations, delusions, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Intensive care patient diaries have been kept by nurses and the patients' family since the early 1990s...... in the Scandinavian countries to help critically ill patients come to terms with their illness after hospital discharge. The aim of the study was to describe and compare the emergence and evolution of intensive care patient diaries in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The study had a comparative international design using...... secondary analysis of qualitative data generated by key-informant telephone interviews with intensive care nurses (n=114). The study showed that diaries were introduced concurrently in the three Scandinavian countries as a grass-roots initiative by mutual cross-national inspiration. The concept has evolved...

  9. Availability of cardiac surgical care in surgical correction of acquired heart defects in patients of older age group

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kubatbek S. Urmanbetov

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: A study of accessibility of surgical care to elderly patients (aged 60 and above with valvular heart disease has been conducted at the BSCCS "Bakulev Scientific Center of Cardiovascular Surgery» of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. Methods: A retrospective analysis of structure of hospitalizations of 1726 patients, that were hospitalized between 2009 and 2010 at the BSCCS for surgical correction of valvular heart disease was performed. Results: Our study demonstrated that age, on one hand, is not the most significant barrier in the geographical accessibility of cardiac surgical care. On the other hand, it can influence the availability in general, taking into account other factors (urban / rural areas, the presence of cardiac surgical clinics, and clinical status. Provision of cardiac surgical care for patients with heart defects at the BSCCS per 1 million population varies considerably in the context of federal districts and is 0.4 for the Siberian Federal District 30 for the Central Federal District (the highest is 42 for the Moscow Region. Conclusion: Thus, our study demonstrated accessibility of surgical care for elderly patients is the highest for the urban areas with specialized cardiac surgery centers, where patients referred from rural regions

  10. Intensive care nurses' perceptions of simulation-based team training for building patient safety in intensive care: a descriptive qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballangrud, Randi; Hall-Lord, Marie Louise; Persenius, Mona; Hedelin, Birgitta

    2014-08-01

    To describe intensive care nurses' perceptions of simulation-based team training for building patient safety in intensive care. Failures in team processes are found to be contributory factors to incidents in an intensive care environment. Simulation-based training is recommended as a method to make health-care personnel aware of the importance of team working and to improve their competencies. The study uses a qualitative descriptive design. Individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 intensive care nurses from May to December 2009, all of which had attended a simulation-based team training programme. The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis. One main category emerged to illuminate the intensive care nurse perception: "training increases awareness of clinical practice and acknowledges the importance of structured work in teams". Three generic categories were found: "realistic training contributes to safe care", "reflection and openness motivates learning" and "finding a common understanding of team performance". Simulation-based team training makes intensive care nurses more prepared to care for severely ill patients. Team training creates a common understanding of how to work in teams with regard to patient safety. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Frequency of candidemias in a tertiary care intensive care unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yaqub, K.M.; Usman, J.; Zaidi, S.B.H.; Khalil, A.; Noor, N.; Gill, M.M.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To determine the frequency of fungal infections in intensive care unit (ICU) of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, a tertiary care health facility. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Intensive Care Department of Military Hospital Rawalpindi from 01 Jan 2012 to 30 Jun 2012. Methodology: A total of 89 patients were screened with stay of more than 5 days in intensive care unit. Thirty cases were enrolled in the study for investigation of fungal infections that had fever even after 05 days of being on broad spectrum antibiotics. Culture was done on blood, urine and catheter tip samples as per clinical condition of a patient. Results: Candida infection was found in 23.4% of study cases. The mean age of study patients was 41.2 +- 20.0 years while 63.4% were female patients as compared to 36.7% males. Conclusion: Fungal infections especially candidemias are quite frequent in the intensive care units. (author)

  12. Increasing use of less-invasive hemodynamic monitoring in 3 specialty surgical intensive care units: a 5-year experience at a tertiary medical center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirton, Orlando C; Calabrese, Rebecca C; Staff, Ilene

    2015-01-01

    Less-invasive hemodynamic monitoring (eg, esophageal doppler monitoring [EDM] and arterial pressure contour analysis, FloTrac) is increasingly used as an alternative to pulmonary artery catheters (PACs) in critically ill intensive care unit (ICU). The decrease in use of PACs is not associated with increased mortality. Five-year retrospective review of 1894 hemodynamically monitored patients admitted to 3 surgical ICUs in a university-affiliate, tertiary care urban hospital. Data included the number of admissions, diagnosis-related group discharge case mix, length of stay, insertion of monitoring devices (PAC, EDM, and FloTrac probes), administered intravenous vasoactive agents (β-predominant agonists--dobutamine, epinephrine, and dopamine; vasopressors--norepinephrine and phenylephrine), and mortality. Data from hospital administrative databases were compiled to create patient characteristic and monitoring variables across a 5-year time period, 2005 to 2009 inclusive. Chi-square for independent proportions, 1-way analysis of variance, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used; tests for trend were conducted. An α level of .05 was considered significant. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v14 was used for all statistical testing. There was a significant change in the type of hemodynamic monitors inserted in 2 of the 3 surgical ICUs (in the general surgery and neurointensive care but not in the cardiac ICU) from PACs to less-invasive devices (FloTrac or EDM) during the 5-year study period (P < .001). There was no change in mortality rate over the time period (P = .492). There was an overall increase in the proportion of monitored patients who received intravenous vasoactive agents (P < .001) with a progressive shift from β-agonists to vasopressors (P < .002). Multivariate analyses indicated that age, case mix, and use of vasoactive agents were all independent predictors of inhospital mortality (P = .001) but that type of monitoring was not (P = .638). In a 5

  13. Exploring performance obstacles of intensive care nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurses, Ayse P; Carayon, Pascale

    2009-05-01

    High nursing workload, poor patient safety, and poor nursing quality of working life (QWL) are major issues in intensive care units (ICUs). Characteristics of the ICU and performance obstacles may contribute to these issues. The goal of this study was to comprehensively identify the performance obstacles perceived by ICU nurses. We used a qualitative research design and conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 ICU nurses of a medical-surgical ICU. Based on this qualitative study and a previously reported quantitative study, we identified seven main types of performance obstacles experienced by ICU nurses. Obstacles related to the physical environment (e.g., noise, amount of space), family relations (e.g., distractions caused by family, lack of time to spend with family), and equipment (e.g., unavailability, misplacement) were the most frequently experienced performance obstacles. The qualitative interview data provided rich information regarding the factors contributing to the performance obstacles. Overall, ICU nurses experience a variety of performance obstacles in their work on a daily basis. Future research is needed to understand the impact of performance obstacles on nursing workload, nursing QWL, and quality and safety of care.

  14. Surgical Care Required for Populations Affected by Climate-related Natural Disasters: A Global Estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Eugenia E; Stewart, Barclay; Zha, Yuanting A; Groen, Thomas A; Burkle, Frederick M; Kushner, Adam L

    2016-08-10

    Climate extremes will increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide.  Climate-related natural disasters were anticipated to affect 375 million people in 2015, more than 50% greater than the yearly average in the previous decade. To inform surgical assistance preparedness, we estimated the number of surgical procedures needed.   The numbers of people affected by climate-related disasters from 2004 to 2014 were obtained from the Centre for Research of the Epidemiology of Disasters database. Using 5,000 procedures per 100,000 persons as the minimum, baseline estimates were calculated. A linear regression of the number of surgical procedures performed annually and the estimated number of surgical procedures required for climate-related natural disasters was performed. Approximately 140 million people were affected by climate-related natural disasters annually requiring 7.0 million surgical procedures. The greatest need for surgical care was in the People's Republic of China, India, and the Philippines. Linear regression demonstrated a poor relationship between national surgical capacity and estimated need for surgical care resulting from natural disaster, but countries with the least surgical capacity will have the greatest need for surgical care for persons affected by climate-related natural disasters. As climate extremes increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters, millions will need surgical care beyond baseline needs. Countries with insufficient surgical capacity will have the most need for surgical care for persons affected by climate-related natural disasters. Estimates of surgical are particularly important for countries least equipped to meet surgical care demands given critical human and physical resource deficiencies.

  15. Occupational Variation in End-of-Life Care Intensity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyder, Joseph A; Haring, R Sterling; Sturgeon, Daniel; Gazarian, Priscilla K; Jiang, Wei; Cooper, Zara; Lipsitz, Stuart R; Prigerson, Holly G; Weissman, Joel S

    2018-03-01

    End-of-life (EOL) care intensity is known to vary by secular and geographic patterns. US physicians receive less aggressive EOL care than the general population, presumably the result of preferences shaped by work-place experience with EOL care. We investigated occupation as a source of variation in EOL care intensity. Across 4 states, we identified 660 599, nonhealth maintenance organization Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥66 years who died between 2004 and 2011. Linking death certificates, we identified beneficiaries with prespecified occupations: nurses, farmers, clergy, mortuary workers, homemakers, first-responders, veterinary workers, teachers, accountants, and the general population. End-of-life care intensity over the last 6 months of life was assessed using 5 validated measures: (1) Medicare expenditures, rates of (2) hospice, (3) surgery, (4) intensive care, and (5) in-hospital death. Occupation was a source of large variation in EOL care intensity across all measures, before and after adjustment for sex, education, age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, race/ethnicity, and hospital referral region. For example, absolute and relative adjusted differences in expenditures were US$9991 and 42% of population mean expenditure ( P EOL care intensity measures, teachers (5 of 5), homemakers (4 of 5), farmers (4 of 5), and clergy (3 of 5) demonstrated significantly less aggressive care. Mortuary workers had lower EOL care intensity (4 of 5) but small numbers limited statistical significance. Occupations with likely exposure to child development, death/bereavement, and naturalistic influences demonstrated lower EOL care intensity. These findings may inform patients and clinicians navigating choices around individual EOL care preferences.

  16. Ultrasonography of gallbladder in surgical patients with a prolonged stay (> 14 days) in the intensive care unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sustic, A.; Miletic, D.; Cicvaric, T.

    2005-01-01

    Background. The aim of this study was to establish the incidence of abnormal ultrasonographic (US) findings of gallbladder (GB) in surgical patients with the prolonged stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and to correlate these findings with the severity of illness. Methods. In the prospective study fifty-seven (57) adult surgical patients (male 66%; age 49±18 yr.) with the prolonged stay in ICU (>14 days) were analyzed. In all patients the US examination was performed on the 15th day of their stay in ICU. The presence of the following US findings was analyzed: GB wall thickening (?4 mm), biliary sludge, GB hydrops, striated GB wall and pericholecystitic fluid. The severity of illness was also evaluated on the 15th day of the stay in ICU using Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II). Results. At least one abnormal US finding was found in 36 (63%), patients with GB wall thickening in 32 (56%), biliary sludge in 23 (40%), pericholecystitic fluid in 9 (16%), hydrops of GB in 7 (12%), and striated GB wall in 4 (7%) cases, respectively. Two to five US findings were found in 20 (35%) patients, three to five in 12 (21%), four to five in 10 (18%), while all five US findings were present in 4 (7%) cases. The patients with one and more US findings had significantly higher SAPS II than the patients who presented regular US findings of the GB (36±9 vs. 28±7; p < 0.01). The patients with two and more US findings had higher SAPS II than those with one or none US criteria (40±8 vs. 29±6; p < 0.001), while the patients with three and more had higher SAPS II than those with two, one or none (41±8 vs. 31±9; p < 0.001). The patients with four or five US findings had higher SAPS II than those with three or less (42±11 vs. 31±6; p < 0.001) while the patients with all five had higher SAPS II than all others (45±10 vs. 32±9; p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation between the number of US findings and SAPS II was present (r 0.57; p < 0.001). Conclusions. More than

  17. Missed surgical intensive care unit billing: potential financial impact of 24/7 faculty presence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendershot, Kimberly M; Bollins, John P; Armen, Scott B; Thomas, Yalaunda M; Steinberg, Steven M; Cook, Charles H

    2009-07-01

    To efficiently capture evaluation and management (E&M) and procedural billing in our surgical intensive care unit (SICU), we have developed an electronic billing system that links to the electronic medical record (EMR). In this system, only notes electronically signed and coded by an attending generate billing charges. We hypothesized that capture of missed billing during nighttime and weekends might be sufficient to subsidize 24/7 in-house attending coverage. A retrospective chart EMR review was performed of the EMRs for all SICU patients during a 2-month period. Note type, date, time, attending signature, and coding were analyzed. Notes without attending signature, diagnosis, or current procedural terminology (CPT) code were considered incomplete and identified as "missed billing." Four hundred and forty-three patients had 465 admissions generating 2,896 notes. Overall, 76% of notes were signed and coded by an attending and billed. Incomplete (not billed) notes represented an overall missed billing opportunity of $159,138 for the 2-month time period (approximately $954,000 annually). Unbilled E&M encounters during weekdays totaled $54,758, whereas unbilled E&M and procedures from weeknights and weekends totaled $88,408 ($44,566 and $43,842, respectively). Missed billing after-hours thus represents approximately $530K annually, extrapolating to approximately $220K in collections from our payer mix. Surprisingly, missed E&M and procedural billing during weekdays totaled $70,730 (approximately $425K billing, approximately $170K collections annually), and typically represented patients seen, but transferred from the SICU before attending documentation was completed. Capture of nighttime and weekend ICU collections alone may be insufficient to add faculty or incentivize in-house coverage, but could certainly complement other in-house derived revenues to such ends. In addition, missed daytime billing in busy modern ICUs can be substantial, and use of an EMR to identify

  18. Implementation of central line-associated bloodstream infection prevention bundles in a surgical intensive care unit using peer tutoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sang-Won; Ko, Suhui; An, Hye-Sun; Bang, Ji Hwan; Chung, Woo-Young

    2017-01-01

    Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) can be prevented through well-coordinated, multifaceted programs. However, implementation of CLABSI prevention programs requires individualized strategies for different institutional situations, and the best strategy in resource-limited settings is uncertain. Peer tutoring may be an efficient and effective method that is applicable in such settings. A prospective intervention was performed to reduce CLABSIs in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) at a tertiary hospital. The core interventions consisted of implementation of insertion and maintenance bundles for CLABSI prevention. The overall interventions were guided and coordinated by active educational programs using peer tutoring. The CLABSI rates were compared for 9 months pre-intervention, 6 months during the intervention and 9 months post-intervention. The CLABSI rate was further observed for three years after the intervention. The rate of CLABSIs per 1000 catheter-days decreased from 6.9 infections in the pre-intervention period to 2.4 and 1.8 in the intervention (6 m; P  = 0.102) and post-intervention (9 m; P  = 0.036) periods, respectively. A regression model showed a significantly decreasing trend in the infection rate from the pre-intervention period ( P  tutoring in a resource-limited setting was useful and effectively reduced CLABSIs. However, maintaining the reduced CLABSI rate will require further strategies.

  19. Non-invasive ventilation after cardiac surgery outside the Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olper, L; Cabrini, L; Landoni, G; Rossodivita, A; Nobile, L; Monti, G; Alfieri, O; Zangrillo, A

    2011-01-01

    Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) can prevent or treat postoperative acute respiratory failure. NIV after discharge from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has never been described in the setting of cardiac surgery. This study enrolled 85 patients who received NIV in the main ward as treatment for respiratory failure. The patients had the following conditions: atelectasis (45 patients), pleural effusion (20 patients), pulmonary congestion (13 patients), diaphragm hemiparesis (6 patients), pneumonia (4 patients) or a combination of these conditions. Eighty-three patients were discharged from the hospital in good condition and without need for further NIV treatment, while two died in-hospital. Four of the 85 patients had an immediate NIV failure, while eight patients had delayed NIV failure. Only one patient had a NIV-related complication represented by hypotension after NIV institution. In this patient, NIV was interrupted with no consequences. Major mistakes were mask malpositioning with excessive air leaks (7 patients), incorrect preparation of the circuit (one patient), and oxygen tube disconnection (one patient). Minor mistakes (sub-optimal positioning of the face mask without excessive air leaks) were noted by the respiratory therapists for all patients and were managed by slightly modifying the mask position. In our experience, postoperative NIV is feasible, safe and effective in treating postoperative acute respiratory failure when applied in the cardiac surgical ward, preserving intensive care unit beds for surgical activity. A respiratory therapy service managed the treatment in conjunction with ward nurses, while an anesthesiologist and a cardiologist served as consultants.

  20. Surgical care of the pediatric Crohn's disease patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Dylan

    2017-12-01

    Despite the significant advances in the medical management of inflammatory bowel disease over the last decade, surgery continues to play a major role in the management of pediatric Crohn's disease (CD). While adult and pediatric Crohn's disease may share many clinical characteristics, pediatric Crohn's patients often have a more aggressive phenotype, and the operative care given by the pediatric surgeon to the newly diagnosed Crohn's patient is very different in nature to the surgical needs of adult patients after decades of disease progression. Children also have the unique surgical indication of growth failure to consider in the overall clinical decision making. While surgery is never curative in CD, it has the ability to transform the disease process in children, and appropriately timed operations may have tremendous impact on a child's physical and mental maturation. This monograph aims to address the surgical care of Crohn's disease in general, with a specific emphasis on the surgical treatment of small intestinal and ileocecal involvement. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Regional variations in health care intensity and physician perceptions of quality of care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirovich, Brenda E; Gottlieb, Daniel J; Welch, H Gilbert; Fisher, Elliott S

    2006-05-02

    Research has documented dramatic differences in health care utilization and spending across U.S. regions with similar levels of patient illness. Although patient outcomes and quality of care have been found to be no better in regions of high health care intensity, it is unknown whether physicians in these regions feel more capable of providing good patient care than those in low-intensity regions. To determine whether physicians in high-intensity regions feel better able to care for patients than physicians in low-intensity regions. Physician telephone survey. 51 metropolitan and 9 nonmetropolitan areas of the United States and a supplemental national sample. 10,577 physicians who provided care to adults in 1998 or 1999 were surveyed for the Community Tracking Study (response rate, 61%). The End-of-Life Expenditure Index, a measure of spending that reflects differences in the overall quantity of medical services provided rather than differences in illness or price, was used to determine health care intensity in the physicians' community. Outcomes included physicians' perceived availability of clinical services, ability to provide high-quality care to patients, and career satisfaction. Although the highest-intensity regions have substantially more hospital beds and specialists per capita, physicians in these regions reported more difficulty obtaining needed services for their patients. The proportion of physicians who felt able to obtain elective hospital admissions ranged from 50% in high-intensity regions to 64% in the lowest-intensity region (P market factors (for example, managed care penetration); the difference in perceived ability to provide high-quality care was no longer statistically significant (P = 0.099). The cross-sectional design prevented demonstration of a causal relationship between intensity and physician perceptions of quality. Despite more resources, physicians in regions of high health care intensity did not report greater ease in obtaining

  2. uniportal vats for surgical repair

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2017-03-23

    Mar 23, 2017 ... aDepartamet of Pediatric Surgery, Hospital Teresa Herrera, Complejo Hospitalario. Universitario de A ... Advances in anesthesia, neonatal intensive, surgical, and cardiac care have ... First, these patients are at risk of airway ...

  3. Patients' experiences of intensive care diaries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egerod, Ingrid; Bagger, Christine

    2010-01-01

    The aim of the study was to explore patients' experiences and perceptions of receiving intensive care diaries. A focus group and intensive care diaries for four former ICU patients were analysed to understand what works and what needs further development for patients who receive a diary. The stud......-ICU patients to gradually construct or reconstruct their own illness narrative, which is pieced together by their fragmented memory, the diary, the pictures, the hospital chart and the accounts from family and friends.......The aim of the study was to explore patients' experiences and perceptions of receiving intensive care diaries. A focus group and intensive care diaries for four former ICU patients were analysed to understand what works and what needs further development for patients who receive a diary. The study...... that the diary alone provided incomplete information and reading the diary did not necessarily bring back memories, but helped complete their story. The patients needed to know what they had gone through in ICU and wished to share their story with their family. We conclude that diaries might help post...

  4. Managing social awkwardness when caring for morbidly obese patients in intensive care: A focused ethnography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hales, Caz; de Vries, Kay; Coombs, Maureen

    2016-06-01

    Critically ill morbidly obese patients pose considerable healthcare delivery and resource utilisation challenges in the intensive care setting. These are resultant from specific physiological responses to critical illness in this population and the nature of the interventional therapies used in the intensive care environment. An additional challenge arises for this population when considering the social stigma that is attached to being obese. Intensive care staff therefore not only attend to the physical and care needs of the critically ill morbidly obese patient but also navigate, both personally and professionally, the social terrain of stigma when providing care. To explore the culture and influences on doctors and nurses within the intensive care setting when caring for critically ill morbidly obese patients. A focused ethnographic approach was adopted to elicit the 'situated' experiences of caring for critically ill morbidly obese patients from the perspectives of intensive care staff. Participant observation of care practices and interviews with intensive care staff were undertaken over a four month period. Analysis was conducted using constant comparison technique to compare incidents applicable to each theme. An 18 bedded tertiary intensive care unit in New Zealand. Sixty-seven intensive care nurses and 13 intensive care doctors involved with the care and management of seven critically ill patients with a body mass index ≥40kg/m(2). Interactions between intensive care staff and morbidly obese patients were challenging due to the social stigma surrounding obesity. Social awkwardness and managing socially awkward moments were evident when caring for morbidly obese patients. Intensive care staff used strategies of face-work and mutual pretence to alleviate feelings of discomfort when engaged in aspects of care and caring. This was a strategy used to prevent embarrassment and distress for both the patients and staff. This study has brought new understandings

  5. Successful implementation of a packed red blood cell and fresh frozen plasma transfusion protocol in the surgical intensive care unit.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin E Szpila

    Full Text Available Blood product transfusions are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine if implementation of a restrictive protocol for packed red blood cell (PRBC and fresh frozen plasma (FFP transfusion safely reduces blood product utilization and costs in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU.We performed a retrospective, historical control analysis comparing before (PRE and after (POST implementation of a restrictive PRBC/FFP transfusion protocol for SICU patients. Univariate analysis was utilized to compare patient demographics and blood product transfusion totals between the PRE and POST cohorts. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to determine if implementation of the restrictive transfusion protocol is an independent predictor of adverse outcomes after controlling for age, illness severity, and total blood products received.829 total patients were included in the analysis (PRE, n=372; POST, n=457. Despite higher mean age (56 vs. 52 years, p=0.01 and APACHE II scores (12.5 vs. 11.2, p=0.006, mean units transfused per patient were lower for both packed red blood cells (0.7 vs. 1.2, p=0.03 and fresh frozen plasma (0.3 vs. 1.2, p=0.007 in the POST compared to the PRE cohort, respectively. There was no difference in inpatient mortality between the PRE and POST cohorts (7.5% vs. 9.2%, p=0.39. There was a decreased risk of urinary tract infections (OR 0.47, 95%CI 0.28-0.80 in the POST cohort after controlling for age, illness severity and amount of blood products transfused.Implementation of a restrictive transfusion protocol can effectively reduce blood product utilization in critically ill surgical patients with no increase in morbidity or mortality.

  6. Administration of recombinant activated factor VII in the intensive care unit after complex cardiovascular surgery: clinical and economic outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uber, Walter E; Toole, John M; Stroud, Martha R; Haney, Jason S; Lazarchick, John; Crawford, Fred A; Ikonomidis, John S

    2011-06-01

    Refractory bleeding after complex cardiovascular surgery often leads to increased length of stay, cost, morbidity, and mortality. Recombinant activated factor VII administered in the intensive care unit can reduce bleeding, transfusion, and surgical re-exploration. We retrospectively compared factor VII administration in the intensive care unit with reoperation for refractory bleeding after complex cardiovascular surgery. From 1501 patients who underwent cardiovascular procedures between December 2003 and September 2007, 415 high-risk patients were identified. From this cohort, 24 patients were divided into 2 groups based on whether they either received factor VII in the intensive care unit (n = 12) or underwent reoperation (n = 12) for refractory bleeding. Preoperative and postoperative data were collected to compare efficacy, safety, and economic outcomes. In-hospital survival for both groups was 100%. Factor VII was comparable with reoperation in achieving hemostasis, with both groups demonstrating decreases in chest tube output and need for blood products. Freedom from reoperation was achieved in 75% of patients receiving factor VII, whereas reoperation was effective in achieving hemostasis alone in 83.3% of patients. Prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, and median operating room time were significantly less (P factor VII. Both groups had no statistically significant differences in other efficacy, safety, or economic outcomes. Factor VII administration in the intensive care unit appears comparable with reoperation for refractory bleeding after complex cardiovascular surgical procedures and might represent an alternative to reoperation in selected patients. Future prospective, randomized controlled trials might further define its role. Copyright © 2011 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Intensity of interprofessional collaboration among intensive care nurses at a tertiary hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serrano-Gemes, G; Rich-Ruiz, M

    To measure the intensity of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in nurses of an intensive care unit (ICU) at a tertiary hospital, to check differences between the dimensions of the Intensity of Interprofessional Collaboration Questionnaire, and to identify the influence of personal variables. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 63 intensive care nurses selected by simple random sampling. Explanatory variables: age, sex, years of experience in nursing, years of experience in critical care, workday type and work shift type; variable of outcome: IPC. The IPC was measured by: Intensity of Interprofessional Collaboration Questionnaire. Descriptive and bivariate statistical analysis (IPC and its dimensions with explanatory variables). 73.8% were women, with a mean age of 46.54 (±6.076) years. The average years experience in nursing and critical care was 23.03 (±6.24) and 14.25 (±8.532), respectively. 77% had a full time and 95.1% had a rotating shift. 62.3% obtained average IPC values. Statistically significant differences were found (P<.05) between IPC (overall score) and overall assessment with years of experience in critical care. This study shows average levels of IPC; the nurses with less experience in critical care obtained higher IPC and overall assessment scores. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Enfermería Intensiva y Unidades Coronarias (SEEIUC). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  8. Intensive Care Management of Patients with Cirrhosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, Jody C

    2018-06-01

    Cirrhosis is a major worldwide health problem which results in a high level of morbidity and mortality. Patients with cirrhosis who require intensive care support have high mortality rates of near 50%. The goal of this review is to address the management of common complications of cirrhosis in the ICU. Recent epidemiological studies have shown an increase in hospitalizations due to advanced liver disease with an associated increase in intensive care utilization. Given an increasing burden on the healthcare system, it is imperative that we strive to improve our management cirrhotic patients in the intensive care unit. Large studies evaluating the management of patients in the intensive care setting are lacking. To date, most recommendations are based on extrapolation of data from studies in cirrhosis outside of the ICU or by applying general critical care principles which may or may not be appropriate for the critically ill cirrhotic patient. Future research is required to answer important management questions.

  9. Palliative care and pediatric surgical oncology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inserra, Alessandro; Narciso, Alessandra; Paolantonio, Guglielmo; Messina, Raffaella; Crocoli, Alessandro

    2016-10-01

    Survival rate for childhood cancer has increased in recent years, reaching as high as 70% in developed countries compared with 54% for all cancers diagnosed in the 1980s. In the remaining 30%, progression or metastatic disease leads to death and in this framework palliative care has an outstanding role though not well settled in all its facets. In this landscape, surgery has a supportive actor role integrated with other welfare aspects from which are not severable. The definition of surgical palliation has moved from the ancient definition of noncurative surgery to a group of practices performed not to cure but to alleviate an organ dysfunction offering the best quality of life possible in all the aspects of life (pain, dysfunctions, caregivers, psychosocial, etc.). To emphasize this aspect a more modern definition has been introduced: palliative therapy in whose context is comprised not only the care assistance but also the plans of care since the onset of illness, teaching the matter to surgeons in training and share paths. Literature is very poor regarding surgical aspects specifically dedicated and all researches (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) with various meshing terms result in a more oncologic and psychosocial effort. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. The experience of intensive care nurses caring for patients with delirium: A phenomenological study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LeBlanc, Allana; Bourbonnais, Frances Fothergill; Harrison, Denise; Tousignant, Kelly

    2018-02-01

    The purpose of this research was to seek to understand the lived experience of intensive care nurses caring for patients with delirium. The objectives of this inquiry were: 1) To examine intensive care nurses' experiences of caring for adult patients with delirium; 2) To identify factors that facilitate or hinder intensive care nurses caring for these patients. This study utilised an interpretive phenomenological approach as described by van Manen. Individual conversational interviews were conducted with eight intensive care nurses working in a tertiary level, university-affiliated hospital in Canada. The essence of the experience of nurses caring for patients with delirium in intensive care was revealed to be finding a way to help them come through it. Six main themes emerged: It's Exhausting; Making a Picture of the Patient's Mental Status; Keeping Patients Safe: It's aReally Big Job; Everyone Is Unique; Riding It Out With Families and Taking Every Experience With You. The findings contribute to an understanding of how intensive care nurses help patients and their families through this complex and distressing experience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Improving family satisfaction and participation in decision making in an intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huffines, Meredith; Johnson, Karen L; Smitz Naranjo, Linda L; Lissauer, Matthew E; Fishel, Marmie Ann-Michelle; D'Angelo Howes, Susan M; Pannullo, Diane; Ralls, Mindy; Smith, Ruth

    2013-10-01

    Background Survey data revealed that families of patients in a surgical intensive care unit were not satisfied with their participation in decision making or with how well the multidisciplinary team worked together. Objectives To develop and implement an evidence-based communication algorithm and evaluate its effect in improving satisfaction among patients' families. Methods A multidisciplinary team developed an algorithm that included bundles of communication interventions at 24, 72, and 96 hours after admission to the unit. The algorithm included clinical triggers, which if present escalated the algorithm. A pre-post design using process improvement methods was used to compare families' satisfaction scores before and after implementation of the algorithm. Results Satisfaction scores for participation in decision making (45% vs 68%; z = -2.62, P = .009) and how well the health care team worked together (64% vs 83%; z = -2.10, P = .04) improved significantly after implementation. Conclusions Use of an evidence-based structured communication algorithm may be a way to improve satisfaction of families of intensive care patients with their participation in decision making and their perception of how well the unit's team works together.

  12. External Validation of Risk Prediction Scores for Invasive Candidiasis in a Medical/Surgical Intensive Care Unit: An Observational Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Armin; Baronia, Arvind Kumar; Azim, Afzal; Marak, Rungmei S. K.; Yadav, Reema; Sharma, Preeti; Gurjar, Mohan; Poddar, Banani; Singh, Ratender Kumar

    2017-01-01

    Background: The aim of this study was to conduct external validation of risk prediction scores for invasive candidiasis. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in a 12-bedded adult medical/surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to evaluate Candida score >3, colonization index (CI) >0.5, corrected CI >0.4 (CCI), and Ostrosky's clinical prediction rule (CPR). Patients' characteristics and risk factors for invasive candidiasis were noted. Patients were divided into two groups; invasive candidiasis and no-invasive candidiasis. Results: Of 198 patients, 17 developed invasive candidiasis. Discriminatory power (area under receiver operator curve [AUROC]) for Candida score, CI, CCI, and CPR were 0.66, 0.67, 0.63, and 0.62, respectively. A large number of patients in the no-invasive candidiasis group (114 out of 181) were exposed to antifungal agents during their stay in ICU. Subgroup analysis was carried out after excluding such patients from no-invasive candidiasis group. AUROC of Candida score, CI, CCI, and CPR were 0.7, 0.7, 0.65, and 0.72, respectively, and positive predictive values (PPVs) were in the range of 25%–47%, along with negative predictive values (NPVs) in the range of 84%–96% in the subgroup analysis. Conclusion: Currently available risk prediction scores have good NPV but poor PPV. They are useful for selecting patients who are not likely to benefit from antifungal therapy. PMID:28904481

  13. [Ethic rounds in intensive care. Possible instrument for a clinical-ethical assessment in intensive care units].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheffold, N; Paoli, A; Gross, J; Riemann, U; Hennersdorf, M

    2012-10-01

    Ethical problems, such as medical end-of-life decisions or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment are viewed as an essential task in intensive care units. This article presents the ethics rounds as an instrument for evaluation of ethical problems in intensive care medicine units. The benchmarks of ethical reflection during the ethics rounds are considerations of ethical theory of principle-oriented medical ethics. Besides organizational aspects and the institutional framework, the role of the ethicist is described. The essential evaluation steps, as a basis of the ethics rounds are presented. In contrast to the clinical ethics consultation, the ethicist in the ethics rounds model is integrated as a member of the ward round team. Therefore ethical problems may be identified and analyzed very early before the conflict escalates. This preventive strategy makes the ethics rounds a helpful instrument in intensive care units.

  14. Patient stress in intensive care: comparison between a coronary care unit and a general postoperative unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dias, Douglas de Sá; Resende, Mariane Vanessa; Diniz, Gisele do Carmo Leite Machado

    2015-01-01

    Objective To evaluate and compare stressors identified by patients of a coronary intensive care unit with those perceived by patients of a general postoperative intensive care unit. Methods This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted in the coronary intensive care and general postoperative intensive care units of a private hospital. In total, 60 patients participated in the study, 30 in each intensive care unit. The stressor scale was used in the intensive care units to identify the stressors. The mean score of each item of the scale was calculated followed by the total stress score. The differences between groups were considered significant when p < 0.05. Results The mean ages of patients were 55.63 ± 13.58 years in the coronary intensive care unit and 53.60 ± 17.47 years in the general postoperative intensive care unit. For patients in the coronary intensive care unit, the main stressors were “being in pain”, “being unable to fulfill family roles” and “being bored”. For patients in the general postoperative intensive care unit, the main stressors were “being in pain”, “being unable to fulfill family roles” and “not being able to communicate”. The mean total stress scores were 104.20 ± 30.95 in the coronary intensive care unit and 116.66 ± 23.72 (p = 0.085) in the general postoperative intensive care unit. When each stressor was compared separately, significant differences were noted only between three items. “Having nurses constantly doing things around your bed” was more stressful to the patients in the general postoperative intensive care unit than to those in the coronary intensive care unit (p = 0.013). Conversely, “hearing unfamiliar sounds and noises” and “hearing people talk about you” were the most stressful items for the patients in the coronary intensive care unit (p = 0.046 and 0.005, respectively). Conclusion The perception of major stressors and the total stress score were similar between patients

  15. The Intensive Care Unit Perspective of Becoming a Level I Trauma Center: Challenges of Strategy, Leadership, and Operations Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savel, Richard H; Cohen, Wess; Borgia, Dena; Simon, Ronald J

    2018-01-01

    The primary purpose of this narrative is to elucidate the numerous significant changes that occur at the intensive care unit (ICU) level as a medical center pursues becoming a Level I trauma center. Specifically, we will focus on the following important areas: (1) leadership and strategy issues behind the decision to move forward with becoming a trauma center; (2) preparation needed to take a highly functioning surgical ICU and align it for the inevitable changes that happen as trauma go-live occurs; (3) intensivist staffing changes; (4) roles for and training of advanced practice practitioners; (5) graduate medical education issues; (6) optimizing interactions with closely related services; (7) nursing, staffing, and training issues; (8) bed allocation issues; and (9) reconciling the advantages of a "unified adult critical care service" with the realities of the central relationship between trauma and surgical critical care.

  16. Challenges faced by hospitals in providing surgical care and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Esem

    essential surgical staff, inadequate funding, poor state of ... individuals interested in surgical care in the developing world has been ... 5.69 per 100,000 in the United States . ... categorical variables e.g gender, the percentage of the ... lack of materials and supplies to be used, inability to pay ... Confirming a big gap in.

  17. African Journal of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The purpose of the African Journal of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care is to provide a medium for the dissemination of original works in Africa and other parts of the world about anaesthesia and intensive care including the application of basic sciences ...

  18. Access to Orthopaedic Surgical Care in Northern Tanzania: A Modelling Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Premkumar, Ajay; Ying, Xiaohan; Mack Hardaker, W; Massawe, Honest H; Mshahaba, David J; Mandari, Faiton; Pallangyo, Anthony; Temu, Rogers; Masenga, Gileard; Spiegel, David A; Sheth, Neil P

    2018-04-25

    The global burden of musculoskeletal disease and resulting disability is enormous and is expected to increase over the next few decades. In the world's poorest regions, the paucity of information defining and quantifying the current state of access to orthopaedic surgical care is a major problem in developing effective solutions. This study estimates the number of individuals in Northern Tanzania without adequate access to orthopaedic surgical services. A chance tree was created to model the probability of access to orthopaedic surgical services in the Northern Tanzanian regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Singida, and Manyara, with respect to four dimensions: timeliness, surgical capacity, safety, and affordability. Timeliness was estimated by the proportion of people living within a 4-h driving distance from a hospital with an orthopaedic surgeon, capacity by comparing number of surgeries performed to the number of surgeries indicated, safety by applying WHO Emergency and Essential Surgical Care infrastructure and equipment checklists, and affordability by approximating the proportion of the population protected from catastrophic out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure. We accounted for uncertainty in our model with one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Data sources included the Tanzanian National Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Finance, World Bank, World Health Organization, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Google Corporation, NASA population estimator, and 2015 hospital records from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Machame Hospital, Nkoroanga Hospital, Mt. Meru Hospital, and Arusha Lutheran Medical Center. Under the most conservative assumptions, more than 90% of the Northern Tanzanian population does not have access to orthopaedic surgical services. There is a near absence of access to orthopaedic surgical care in Northern Tanzania. These findings utilize more precise country and region-specific data and are consistent with prior published

  19. [Nurses' perception, experience and knowledge of palliative care in intensive care units].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piedrafita-Susín, A B; Yoldi-Arzoz, E; Sánchez-Fernández, M; Zuazua-Ros, E; Vázquez-Calatayud, M

    2015-01-01

    Adequate provision of palliative care by nursing in intensive care units is essential to facilitate a "good death" to critically ill patients. To determine the perceptions, experiences and knowledge of intensive care nurses in caring for terminal patients. A literature review was conducted on the bases of Pubmed, Cinahl and PsicINFO data using as search terms: cuidados paliativos, UCI, percepciones, experiencias, conocimientos y enfermería and their alternatives in English (palliative care, ICU, perceptions, experiences, knowledge and nursing), and combined with AND and OR Boolean. Also, 3 journals in intensive care were reviewed. Twenty seven articles for review were selected, most of them qualitative studies (n=16). After analysis of the literature it has been identified that even though nurses perceive the need to respect the dignity of the patient, to provide care aimed to comfort and to encourage the inclusion of the family in patient care, there is a lack of knowledge of the end of life care in intensive care units' nurses. This review reveals that to achieve quality care at the end of life, is necessary to encourage the training of nurses in palliative care and foster their emotional support, to conduct an effective multidisciplinary work and the inclusion of nurses in decision making. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEEIUC. All rights reserved.

  20. The Concept of Ethics in the Intensive Care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kutay Alpir

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The concept of ethics in the intensive care unit has developed in the last 50 years along with the advancements and regulations in this area of medicine. Especially by the use of life-supportive equipment in the intensive care units and the resulting elongation in the terminal stage of life has led to newly described clinical conditions. These conditions include vegetative state, brain death, dissociated heart death. The current trend aiming to provide the best health care facilities with optimal costs resulted with regulations. The conflicts in the patient-physician relations resulting from these regulations has resolved to some extent by the studies of intensive care unit ethics. The major ethical topics in the intensive care are the usage of autonomy right, the selection of patients to be admitted to the intensive care unit and the limitation of the treatment. The patient selection is optimized by triage and allocation, the limitation of the treatment is done by the means of withdrawal and withhold, and the usage of autonomy right is tried to be solved by proxy, living will and ethics committee regulations. The ethical regulations have found partial solutions to the conflicts. For the ultimate solution much work about the subject has to be done. (Journal of the Turkish Society of Intensive Care 2010; 8: 77-84

  1. Delirium screening in intensive care: A life saving opportunity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamond, E; Murray, S; Gibson, C E

    2018-02-01

    Delirium is described as 'acute brain failure' and constitutes a medical emergency which presents a hazard for people cared for in intensive care units. The Scottish intensive care society audit group recommend that all people cared for in intensive care units be screened for signs of delirium so that treatment and management of complications can be implemented at an early stage. There is inconsistent evidence about when and how the assessment of delirium is carried out by nursing staff in the intensive care setting. This narrative review explores the pathophysiology and current practices of delirium screening in intensive care. Consideration is given to the role of the nurse in detecting and managing delirium and some barriers to routine daily delirium screening are critically debated. It is argued that routine delirium screening is an essential element of safe, effective and person centred nursing care which has potential to reduce morbidity and mortality. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Improved nurse job satisfaction and job retention with the transition from a "mandatory consultation" model to a "semiclosed" surgical intensive care unit: a 1-year prospective evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haut, Elliott R; Sicoutris, Corinna P; Meredith, Denise M; Sonnad, Seema S; Reilly, Patrick M; Schwab, C William; Hanson, C William; Gracias, Vicente H

    2006-02-01

    The change from a "mandatory consultation" to a "semiclosed" surgical intensive care unit (SICU) model will impact nurses considerably. We hypothesize that nurse job satisfaction, job turnover rates, and hospital costs for temporary agency nurses will improve and these improvements will be more dramatic in SICU sections with greater involvement of a dedicated surgical critical care service (SCCS). Prospective longitudinal survey. Tertiary-care university hospital. SICU staff nurses. Change from mandatory consultation to semiclosed SICU. We surveyed SICU nurses during the year-long transition to a semiclosed SICU service (five time points, 3-month intervals). The first four surveys included ten questions on nurse job satisfaction. The final survey included two additional questions. All questions were on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Nurse job turnover rates and money spent on agency nurses were compared over time; 503 of a possible 914 surveys were completed (55% overall return rate). Nurse job satisfaction scores significantly improved over time for all questions (p job turnover rate dropped from 25% to 16% (p = .15). The scores for both year-end statements ("I am more satisfied with my job now than 1 year ago" and "The SCCS management of all orders has improved my job satisfaction") were significantly higher in sections with greater SCCS involvement (p = .0070 and p job satisfaction improved significantly with the transition to a semiclosed SICU. This higher satisfaction was associated with a significant decrease in spending on temporary agency nurses and a trend toward increased staff nurse job retention. SICU sections with greater SCCS involvement had more dramatic improvements. This semiclosed SICU model may help retain SICU nurses in a competitive job market in which experienced nurses are in short supply.

  3. Pulmonary interstitial emphysema presenting in a woman on the intensive care unit: case report and review of literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovaisa Tomas

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Pulmonary interstitial emphysema is a life-threatening form of ventilator-induced lung injury. We present one of the few reported adult cases of pulmonary interstitial emphysema in a woman with respiratory failure admitted to our intensive care unit. Case presentation An 87-year-old Caucasian woman with a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia was admitted to our intensive care unit requiring invasive ventilation. The combination of a poor oxygenation index and bilateral alveolar/interstitial infiltrates on a chest radiograph fulfilled the criteria for adult respiratory distress syndrome; the cause was thought to be a combination of the direct pneumonic pulmonary injury and extrapulmonary severe sepsis. By day seven, the fraction of inspired oxygen, peak airway and positive end expiratory pressures weaned sufficiently to allow an uncomplicated percutaneous tracheostomy. On day 10, problems with ventilation necessitated recruitment maneuvers with a Mapleson C circuit, after which dramatic surgical emphysema was noted. An upper airway bronchoscopy showed no obvious tracheal wall injury, and computed tomography of her chest showed extensive surgical emphysema, perivascular emphysema and peribronchial emphysema, which were consistent with a diagnosis of pulmonary interstitial emphysema. Over the following days, despite protective ventilatory strategies and intercostal tube thoracostomy, lung compliance along with oxygenation deteriorated and our patient died on day 14. Conclusion The development of pulmonary interstitial emphysema is a rare but real risk when caring for patients with worsening lung compliance on the intensive care unit. Improved awareness of the condition, early protective ventilation strategies and timely treatment of any of the lethal complications will hopefully result in improved survival from the condition in adults.

  4. Critical care admission of South African (SA) surgical patients ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Critical care admission of South African (SA) surgical patients: Results of the SA Surgical Outcomes Study. D.L. Skinner, K de Vasconcellos, R Wise, T.M. Esterhuizen, C Fourie, A Goolam Mahomed, P.D. Gopalan, I Joubert, H Kluyts, L.R. Mathivha, B Mrara, J.P. Pretorius, G Richards, O Smith, M.G.L. Spruyt, R.M. Pearse, ...

  5. The Surgical Nosology In Primary-care Settings (SNIPS): a simple bridging classification for the interface between primary and specialist care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruen, Russell L; Knox, Stephanie; Britt, Helena; Bailie, Ross S

    2004-01-01

    Background The interface between primary care and specialist medical services is an important domain for health services research and policy. Of particular concern is optimising specialist services and the organisation of the specialist workforce to meet the needs and demands for specialist care, particularly those generated by referral from primary care. However, differences in the disease classification and reporting of the work of primary and specialist surgical sectors hamper such research. This paper describes the development of a bridging classification for use in the study of potential surgical problems in primary care settings, and for classifying referrals to surgical specialties. Methods A three stage process was undertaken, which involved: (1) defining the categories of surgical disorders from a specialist perspective that were relevant to the specialist-primary care interface; (2) classifying the 'terms' in the International Classification of Primary Care Version 2-Plus (ICPC-2 Plus) to the surgical categories; and (3) using referral data from 303,000 patient encounters in the BEACH study of general practice activity in Australia to define a core set of surgical conditions. Inclusion of terms was based on the probability of specialist referral of patients with such problems, and specialists' perception that they constitute part of normal surgical practice. Results A four-level hierarchy was developed, containing 8, 27 and 79 categories in the first, second and third levels, respectively. These categories classified 2050 ICPC-2 Plus terms that constituted the fourth level, and which covered the spectrum of problems that were managed in primary care and referred to surgical specialists. Conclusion Our method of classifying terms from a primary care classification system to categories delineated by specialists should be applicable to research addressing the interface between primary and specialist care. By describing the process and putting the bridging

  6. How is intensive care reimbursed?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bittner, Martin-Immanuel; Donnelly, Maria; van Zanten, Arthur Rh

    2013-01-01

    Reimbursement schemes in intensive care are more complex than in other areas of healthcare, due to special procedures and high care needs. Knowledge regarding the principles of functioning in other countries can lead to increased understanding and awareness of potential for improvement. This can...... be achieved through mutual exchange of solutions found in other countries. In this review, experts from eight European countries explain their respective intensive care unit reimbursement schemes. Important conclusions include the apparent differences in the countries' reimbursement schemes---despite all...... of them originating from a DRG system, the high degree of complexity found, and the difficulties faced in several countries when collecting the data for this collaborative work. This review has been designed to help the intensivist clinician and researcher to understanding neighbouring countries...

  7. [Geriatric intensive care patients : Perspectives and limits of geriatric intensive care medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller-Werdan, U; Heppner, H-J; Michels, G

    2018-04-18

    Critically ill geriatric patients are vitally endangered due to the aging processes of organs, the frequently existing multimorbidity with subsequent polypharmacy and the typical geriatric syndrome of functional impairments. Aging processes in organs lower the clinical threshold for organ dysfunction and organ failure. Physiological organ aging processes with practical consequences for intensive care medicine are atypical manifestion of sepsis in immunosenescence, altered pharmacokinetics, reduced tolerance to hypovolemia due to proportionally reduced water compartment of the body in old age, the frequently only apparently normal function of the kidneys and the continuous reduction in pulmonary function in old age. The main reasons for changes in therapeutic targets are the will of the patient and risk-benefit considerations. The guidelines of the ethics section of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) provide assistance and suggestions for a structured decision-making process.

  8. Online guideline assist in intensive care medicine--is the login-authentication a sufficient trigger for reminders?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Röhrig, Rainer; Meister, Markus; Michel-Backofen, Achim; Sedlmayr, Martin; Uphus, Dirk; Katzer, Christian; Rose, Thomas

    2006-01-01

    Rising cost pressure due to the implementation of the DRG-System and quality assurance lead to an increased use of therapy standards and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in intensive care medicine. The intention of the German Scientific Society supported project "OLGA" (Online Guideline Assist) is to develop a prototype of a knowledge based system supporting physicians of an intensive care unit in recognizing the indication for and selecting a specific guideline or SOP. While the response of the prototype on user entries can be displayed as a signal on the used workstation itself, the location and time for a reminder of scheduled or missed procedures or reactions to imported information is a difficult issue. One possible approach to this task is the display of non acknowledged reminders or recommendations while logging on to a system. The objective of this study is to analyse user behaviour of the physicians working on the surgical intensive care unit to decide whether the login authentication is a sufficient trigger for clinical reminding. The surgical intensive care unit examined in this study comprises 14 beds. Medical care is provided by physicians working in shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with two anaesthetists at a time and an additional senior consultant during daytime. The entire documentation (examinations, medication, orders, care) is performed using the patient data management system ICUData. The authentication process of the physicians was logged and analysed. Throughout the observation period from December 13th 2005 to January 11th 2006 3563 physician logins were counted in total. The mean span between logins was in 11.3 minutes (SD 14.4), the median 7 minutes. The 75% centile was 14 minutes, the 95% centile 38 min. Intervals greater than 60 minutes occurred in 75%, and greater than 90 minutes in 25% of the days. It seems reasonable that reminders sent during authentication are able to enforce workflow compliance. It is possible to send

  9. Personalizing death in the intensive care unit: the 3 Wishes Project: a mixed-methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Deborah; Swinton, Marilyn; Toledo, Feli; Clarke, France; Rose, Trudy; Hand-Breckenridge, Tracey; Boyle, Anne; Woods, Anne; Zytaruk, Nicole; Heels-Ansdell, Diane; Sheppard, Robert

    2015-08-18

    Dying in the complex, efficiency-driven environment of the intensive care unit can be dehumanizing for the patient and have profound, long-lasting consequences for all persons attendant to that death. To bring peace to the final days of a patient's life and to ease the grieving process. Mixed-methods study. 21-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit. Dying patients and their families and clinicians. To honor each patient, a set of wishes was generated by patients, family members, or clinicians. The wishes were implemented before or after death by patients, families, clinicians (6 of whom were project team members), or the project team. Quantitative data included demographic characteristics, processes of care, and scores on the Quality of End-of-Life Care-10 instrument. Semistructured interviews of family members and clinicians were transcribed verbatim, and qualitative description was used to analyze them. Participants included 40 decedents, at least 1 family member per patient, and 3 clinicians per patient. The 159 wishes were implemented and classified into 5 categories: humanizing the environment, tributes, family reconnections, observances, and "paying it forward." Scores on the Quality of End-of-Life Care-10 instrument were high. The central theme from 160 interviews of 170 persons was how the 3 Wishes Project personalized the dying process. For patients, eliciting and customizing the wishes honored them by celebrating their lives and dignifying their deaths. For families, it created positive memories and individualized end-of-life care for their loved ones. For clinicians, it promoted interprofessional care and humanism in practice. Impaired consciousness limited understanding of patients' viewpoints. The 3 Wishes Project facilitated personalization of the dying process through explicit integration of palliative and spiritual care into critical care practice. Hamilton Academy of Health Science Research Organization, Canadian Intensive Care Foundation.

  10. [Environmental noise levels in 2 intensive care units in a tertiary care centre].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ornelas-Aguirre, José Manuel; Zárate-Coronado, Olivia; Gaxiola-González, Fabiola; Neyoy-Sombra, Venigna

    2017-04-03

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has established a maximum noise level of 40 decibels (dB) for an intensive care unit. The aim of this study was to compare the noise levels in 2 different intensive care units at a tertiary care centre. Using a cross-sectional design study, an analysis was made of the maximum noise level was within the intensive coronary care unit and intensive care unit using a digital meter. A measurement was made in 4 different points of each room, with 5minute intervals, for a period of 60minutes 7:30, 14:30, and 20:30. The means of the observations were compared with descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U. An analysis with Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to the mean noise level. The noise observed in the intensive care unit had a mean of 64.77±3.33dB (P=.08), which was similar to that in the intensive coronary care unit, with a mean of 60.20±1.58dB (P=.129). Around 25% or more of the measurements exceeded the level recommended by the WHO by up to 20 points. Noise levels measured in intensive care wards exceed the maximum recommended level for a hospital. It is necessary to design and implement actions for greater participation of health personnel in the reduction of environmental noise. Copyright © 2017 Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

  11. Family members' informal roles in end-of-life decision making in adult intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, Jill R; Schmitt, Madeline; Baggs, Judith Gedney; Norton, Sally A; Dombeck, Mary T; Sellers, Craig R

    2012-01-01

    To support the process of effective family decision making, it is important to recognize and understand informal roles that various family members may play in the end-of-life decision-making process. To describe some informal roles consistently enacted by family members involved in the process of end-of-life decision making in intensive care units. Ethnographic study. Data were collected via participant observation with field notes and semistructured interviews on 4 intensive care units in an academic health center in the mid-Atlantic United States from 2001 to 2004. The units studied were a medical, a surgical, a burn and trauma, and a cardiovascular intensive care unit. Health care clinicians, patients, and family members. Informal roles for family members consistently observed were primary caregiver, primary decision maker, family spokesperson, out-of-towner, patient's wishes expert, protector, vulnerable member, and health care expert. The identified informal roles were part of families' decision-making processes, and each role was part of a potentially complicated family dynamic for end-of-life decision making within the family system and between the family and health care domains. These informal roles reflect the diverse responses to demands for family decision making in what is usually a novel and stressful situation. Identification and description of these informal roles of family members can help clinicians recognize and understand the functions of these roles in families' decision making at the end of life and guide development of strategies to support and facilitate increased effectiveness of family discussions and decision-making processes.

  12. The Intensive Care Unit Perspective of Becoming a Level I Trauma Center: Challenges of Strategy, Leadership, and Operations Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard H Savel

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The primary purpose of this narrative is to elucidate the numerous significant changes that occur at the intensive care unit (ICU level as a medical center pursues becoming a Level I trauma center. Specifically, we will focus on the following important areas: (1 leadership and strategy issues behind the decision to move forward with becoming a trauma center; (2 preparation needed to take a highly functioning surgical ICU and align it for the inevitable changes that happen as trauma go-live occurs; (3 intensivist staffing changes; (4 roles for and training of advanced practice practitioners; (5 graduate medical education issues; (6 optimizing interactions with closely related services; (7 nursing, staffing, and training issues; (8 bed allocation issues; and (9 reconciling the advantages of a “unified adult critical care service” with the realities of the central relationship between trauma and surgical critical care.

  13. Analgesia, sedation, and memory of intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capuzzo, M; Pinamonti, A; Cingolani, E; Grassi, L; Bianconi, M; Contu, P; Gritti, G; Alvisi, R

    2001-09-01

    The purpose of this article was to investigate the relationship between analgesia, sedation, and memory of intensive care. One hundred fifty-two adult, cooperative intensive care unit (ICU) patients were interviewed 6 months after hospital discharge about their memory of intensive care. The patient was considered to be cooperative when he/she was aware of self and environment at the interview. The patients were grouped as follows: A (45 patients) substantially no sedation, B (85) morphine, and C (22) morphine and other sedatives. The patients having no memory of intensive care were 38%, 34%, and 23% respectively, in the three groups. They were less ill, according to SAPS II (P memories was not different among the three groups. Females reported at least one emotional memory more frequently than males (odds ratio 4.17; 95% CI 10.97-1.59). The patients receiving sedatives in the ICU are not comparable with those receiving only opiates or nothing, due to the different clinical condition. The lack of memory of intensive care is present in one third of patients and is influenced more by length of stay in ICU than by the sedation received. Sedation does not influence the incidence of factual, sensation, and emotional memories of ICU admitted patients. Females have higher incidences of emotional memories than males. Copyright 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company

  14. Stroke Mortality in Intensive Care Unit from Tertiary Care Neurological Center

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lekhjung Thapa

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Stroke is the second most common cause of death and major cause of disability worldwide. About a quarter of stroke patients are dead within a month, about a third by 6 months, and a half by 1 year. Although the most substantial advance in stroke has been the routine management of patients in stroke care units, intensive care unit has remained the choice for stroke patients’ care in developing countries. This study explores the mortality of stroke patients in intensive care unit setting in tertiary care neurological centre in a developing country. Methods: We collected data of stroke patients admitted in our ICU from August 2009 to Aug 2010 and analyzed. Results: Total 44 (10.25% patients were admitted for acute stroke. Age ranged from 17-93 years. Low GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale, uncontrolled hypertension and aspiration pneumonia were common indications for admission in ICU. Total 23 (52.3% patients had hemorrhagic stroke and 21(47.7% patients had ischemic stroke. 13 (29.54% patients of stroke died within 7 days, 9 (69.23% patients of hemorrhagic stroke died within 6 days, and 4 patients (30.76% of ischemic stroke died within 7 days. 6 (13.63% patients left hospital against medical advice. All of these patients had ischemic stroke. Conclusions: Stroke mortality in intensive care unit remains high despite of care in tertiary neurological center in resource poor settings. Stroke care unit, which would also help dissemination of knowledge of stroke management, is an option for improved outcome in developing countries Keywords: intensive care unit; mortality; stroke; stroke care unit.

  15. Communication and Decision-Making About End-of-Life Care in the Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Laura Anne; Manias, Elizabeth; Nicholson, Patricia

    2017-07-01

    Clinicians in the intensive care unit commonly face decisions involving withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining therapy, which present many clinical and ethical challenges. Communication and shared decision-making are key aspects relating to the transition from active treatment to end-of-life care. To explore the experiences and perspectives of nurses and physicians when initiating end-of-life care in the intensive care unit. The study was conducted in a 24-bed intensive care unit in Melbourne, Australia. An interpretative, qualitative inquiry was used, with focus groups as the data collection method. Intensive care nurses and physicians were recruited to participate in a discipline-specific focus group. Focus group discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and subjected to thematic data analysis. Five focus groups were conducted; 17 nurses and 11 physicians participated. The key aspects discussed included communication and shared decision-making. Themes related to communication included the timing of end-of-life care discussions and conducting difficult conversations. Implementation and multidisciplinary acceptance of end-of-life care plans and collaborative decisions involving patients and families were themes related to shared decision-making. Effective communication and decision-making practices regarding initiating end-of-life care in the intensive care unit are important. Multidisciplinary implementation and acceptance of end-of-life care plans in the intensive care unit need improvement. Clear organizational processes that support the introduction of nurse and physician end-of-life care leaders are essential to optimize outcomes for patients, family members, and clinicians. ©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

  16. Bringing quality improvement into the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMillan, Tracy R; Hyzy, Robert C

    2007-02-01

    During the last several years, many governmental and nongovernmental organizations have championed the application of the principles of quality improvement to the practice of medicine, particularly in the area of critical care. To review the breadth of approaches to quality improvement in the intensive care unit, including measures such as mortality and length of stay, and the use of protocols, bundles, and the role of large, multiple-hospital collaboratives. Several agencies have participated in the application of the quality movement to medicine, culminating in the development of standards such as the intensive care unit core measures of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Although "zero defects" may not be possible in all measurable variables of quality in the intensive care unit, several measures, such as catheter-related bloodstream infections, can be significantly reduced through the implementation of improved processes of care, such as care bundles. Large, multiple-center, quality improvement collaboratives, such as the Michigan Keystone Intensive Care Unit Project, may be particularly effective in improving the quality of care by creating a "bandwagon effect" within a geographic region. The quality revolution is having a significant effect in the critical care unit and is likely to be facilitated by the transition to the electronic medical record.

  17. The provision of surgical tracheostomies by maxillofacial surgeons in the UK: time for a dedicated tracheostomy team?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chohan, P; Elledge, R; Virdi, M K; Walton, G M

    2018-02-01

    Surgical tracheostomy is a commonly provided service by surgical teams for patients in intensive care where percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy is contraindicated. A number of factors may interfere with its provision on shared emergency operating lists, potentially prolonging the stay in intensive care. We undertook a two-part project to examine the factors that might delay provision of surgical tracheostomy in the intensive care unit. The first part was a prospective audit of practice within the University Hospital Coventry. This was followed by a telephone survey of oral and maxillofacial surgery units throughout the UK. In the intensive care unit at University Hospital Coventry, of 39 referrals, 21 (53.8%) were delayed beyond 24 hours. There was a mean (standard deviation) time to delay of 2.2 days (0.9 days) and the most common cause of delay was surgeon decision, accounting for 13 (61.9%) delays. From a telephone survey of 140 units nationwide, 40 (28.4%) were regularly involved in the provision of surgical tracheostomies for intensive care and 17 (42.5%) experienced delays beyond 24 hours, owing to a combination of theatre availability (76.5%) and surgeon availability (47.1%). There is case for having a dedicated tracheostomy team and provisional theatre slot to optimise patient outcomes and reduce delays. We aim to implement such a move within our unit and audit the outcomes prospectively following this change.

  18. Alarm management in a single-patient room intensive care units

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Pul, C.; Joshi, R.; Dijkman, W.; van de Mortel, H.; Mohns, T.; Andriessen, P.; Chen, Wei; Carlos Augusto, Juan; Seoane, Fernando; Lehocki, Fedor; Wolf, Klaus-Henderik; Arends, Johan; Ungureanu, Constantin; Wichert, Reiner

    2015-01-01

    An international trend in intensive care is the shift from open, bay area intensive care units towards single-patient room care, since this is considered optimal for patient healing and family privacy. However, in the intensive care setting, an increasing number of devices and parameters are being

  19. Blood glucose control in the intensive care unit: benefits and risks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunst, Jan; Van den Berghe, Greet

    2010-01-01

    Abnormal blood glucose levels are common during critical illness and are associated with outcomes that correspond to a J-shaped curve, the lowest risk associated with normoglycemia. Three proof-of-concept randomized-controlled-trials performed in the surgical, medical, and pediatric intensive care units of the Leuven University Hospital in Belgium demonstrated that maintaining strict age-adjusted normal fasting levels of glycemia (80-110 mg/dl in adults, 70-100 mg/dl in children, 50-80 mg/dl in infants) with intensive insulin therapy reduced morbidity and mortality as compared with tolerating stress hyperglycemia as a potentially beneficial response. Recently, concern has risen about the safety of this intervention, as a multicenter adult study reported an, as yet unexplained, increased mortality with targeting normoglycemia as compared with an intermediate blood glucose level of around 140 mg/dl. This apparent contradiction may be explained by several methodological differences among studies, comprising, among others, different glucose target ranges in the control groups, different feeding policies, and variable accuracy of tools used for glucose measurement and insulin infusion. Hence, efficacy and safety of intensive insulin therapy may be affected by patient-related and ICU setting-related variables. Therefore, no single optimal blood glucose target range for ICU patients can be advocated. It appears safe not to embark on targeting "age-normal" levels in intensive care units (ICUs) that are not equipped to accurately and frequently measure blood glucose, and have not acquired extensive experience with intravenous insulin administration using a customized guideline. A simple fallback position could be to control blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible without evoking unacceptable blood glucose fluctuations, hypoglycemia, and hypokalemia.

  20. Assessing changes in a patient's condition - Perspectives of intensive care nurses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kvande, Monica; Delmar, Charlotte; Lykkeslet, Else

    2017-01-01

    Aim To explore the phenomenon of assessing changes in patients' conditions in intensive care units from the perspectives of experienced intensive care nurses. Background Providing safe care for patients in intensive care units requires an awareness and perception of the signs that indicate changes...... in a patient's condition. Nurses in intensive care units play an essential role in preventing the deterioration of a patient's condition and in improving patient outcomes. Design and methods This hermeneutic phenomenological study conducted close observations and in-depth interviews with 11 intensive care...... nurses. The nurses' experience ranged from 7 to 28 years in the intensive care unit. Data were collected at two intensive care units in two Norwegian university hospitals. The analysis was performed using the reflective methods of van Manen. Findings An overarching theme of ‘sensitive situational...

  1. Physiotherapy patients in intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Miszewska

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Regulation of the Minister of Health dated 20/12/2012 on medical standards of conduct in the field of Anaesthesiology and intensive therapy, for carrying out the activities of healing in section § 2.2 intense therapy defines as: "any proceedings to maintain vital functions, and treatment of patients in life-threatening States, caused by potentially reversible renal failure one or more basic body systems, in particular the respiration, cardiovascular, central nervous system". However, in point § 12.1. We read that "Treatment of patients under intensive care in the hospital is an interdisciplinary". Annex 1 to this regulation refers to the work of physiotherapist in the ICU (INTENSIVE CARE UNITS and reads as follows: "the equivalent of at least 0.5 FTE-physical therapist-up to a range of benefits to be performed (the third reference level". [6

  2. [Quality assurance in intensive care: the situation in Switzerland].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frutiger, A

    1999-10-30

    The movement for quality in medicine is starting to take on the dimensions of a crusade. Quite logically it has also reached the intensive care community. Due to their complex multidisciplinary functioning and because of the high costs involved, ICUs are model services reflecting the overall situation in our hospitals. The situation of Swiss intensive care is particularly interesting, because for over 25 years standards for design and staffing of Swiss ICUs have been in effect and were enforced via onsite visits by the Swiss Society of Intensive Care without government involvement. Swiss intensive care thus defined its structures long before the word "accreditation" had even been used in this context. While intensive care in Switzerland is practised in clearly defined, well equipped and adequately staffed units, much less is known about process quality and outcomes of these services. Statistics on admissions, length of stay and length of mechanical ventilation, as well as severity data based on a simple classification system, are collected nationwide and allow some limited insight into the overall process of care. Results of intensive care are not systematically assessed. In response to the constant threat of cost containment, Swiss ICUs should increasingly focus on process quality and results, while maintaining their existing good structures.

  3. [Intensive care treatment of traumatic brain injury in multiple trauma patients : Decision making for complex pathophysiology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trimmel, H; Herzer, G; Schöchl, H; Voelckel, W G

    2017-09-01

    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and hemorrhagic shock due to uncontrolled bleeding are the major causes of death after severe trauma. Mortality rates are threefold higher in patients suffering from multiple injuries and additionally TBI. Factors known to impair outcome after TBI, namely hypotension, hypoxia, hypercapnia, acidosis, coagulopathy and hypothermia are aggravated by the extent and severity of extracerebral injuries. The mainstays of TBI intensive care may be, at least temporarily, contradictory to the trauma care concept for multiple trauma patients. In particular, achieving normotension in uncontrolled bleeding situations, maintenance of normocapnia in traumatic lung injury and thromboembolic prophylaxis are prone to discussion. Due to an ongoing uncertainty about the definition of normotensive blood pressure values, a cerebral perfusion pressure-guided cardiovascular management is of key importance. In contrast, there is no doubt that early goal directed coagulation management improves outcome in patients with TBI and multiple trauma. The timing of subsequent surgical interventions must be based on the development of TBI pathology; therefore, intensive care of multiple trauma patients with TBI requires an ongoing and close cooperation between intensivists and trauma surgeons in order to individualize patient care.

  4. Simulation for ward processes of surgical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pucher, Philip H; Darzi, Ara; Aggarwal, Rajesh

    2013-07-01

    The role of simulation in surgical education, initially confined to technical skills and procedural tasks, increasingly includes training nontechnical skills including communication, crisis management, and teamwork. Research suggests that many preventable adverse events can be attributed to nontechnical error occurring within a ward context. Ward rounds represent the primary point of interaction between patient and physician but take place without formalized training or assessment. The simulated ward should provide an environment in which processes of perioperative care can be performed safely and realistically, allowing multidisciplinary assessment and training of full ward rounds. We review existing literature and describe our experience in setting up our ward simulator. We examine the facilities, equipment, cost, and personnel required for establishing a surgical ward simulator and consider the scenario development, assessment, and feedback tools necessary to integrate it into a surgical curriculum. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Nursing management and organizational ethics in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wlody, Ginger Schafer

    2007-02-01

    This article describes organizational ethics issues involved in nursing management of an intensive care unit. The intensive care team and medical center management have the dual responsibility to create an ethical environment in which to provide optimum patient care. Addressing organizational ethics is key to creating that ethical environment in the intensive care unit. During the past 15-20 yrs, increasing costs in health care, competitive markets, the effect of high technology, and global business changes have set the stage for business and healthcare organizational conflicts that affect the ethical environment. Studies show that critical care nurses experience moral distress and are affected by the ethical climate of both the intensive care unit and the larger organization. Thus, nursing moral distress may result in problems related to recruitment and retention of staff. Other issues with organizational ethics ramifications that may occur in the intensive care unit include patient safety issues (including those related to disruptive behavior), intensive care unit leadership style, research ethics, allocation of resources, triage, and other economic issues. Current organizational ethics conflicts are discussed, a professional practice model is described, and multidisciplinary recommendations are put forth.

  6. Guideline for stress ulcer prophylaxis in the intensive care unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Kristian Rørbaek; Lorentzen, Kristian; Clausen, Niels

    2014-01-01

    Stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) is commonly used in the intensive care unit (ICU), and is recommended in the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines 2012. The present guideline from the Danish Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Danish Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine sums...

  7. Care practices of older people with dementia in the surgical ward: A questionnaire survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Hynninen

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe the care practices of nursing staff caring older people with dementia in a surgical ward. Methods: The data were collected from nursing staff (n = 191 working in surgical wards in one district area in Finland during October to November 2015. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed statistically. The instrument consists of a total number of 141 items and four dimensions. The dimensions were as follows: background information (12 of items, specific characteristics of older people with dementia in a surgical ward (24 of items, specific characteristics of their care in a surgical ward (66 of items and use of physical restraints and alternative models for use of restraints for people with dementia (39 of items. Results: The questions which measure the nursing staff’s own assessment of care practices when caring for people with dementia in surgical wards were selected: counseling people with dementia, reaction when a surgical patient with dementia displays challenging behavior and use of alternative approach instead of physical restraints. Most commonly the nursing staff pay attention to patient’s state of alertness before counseling older people with dementia. Instead of using restraints, nursing staff gave painkillers for the patient and tried to draw patients’ attention elsewhere. The nursing staff with longer work experience estimate that they can handle the patients’ challenging behavior. They react by doing nothing more often than others. They pretend not to hear, see or notice anything. Conclusion: The findings of this study can be applied in nursing practice and in future studies focusing on the care practices among older people with dementia in acute care environment. The results can be used while developing patient treatments process in surgical ward to meet future needs.

  8. [Necrotizing fasciitis: results of a survey on management practices in French-speaking intensive care units].

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Prost, N; Bosc, R; Brun-Buisson, C; Chosidow, O; Decousser, J-W; Dhonneur, G; Lepeule, R; Rahmouni, A; Sbidian, E; Amathieu, R

    2014-12-01

    Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) are rare and severe soft tissue infections associated with a high mortality rate. In order to assess the management of NF in French-speaking intensive care units (ICUs), we conducted a survey endorsed by the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care (SFAR). Online self-administered survey. A link to an online survey was sent by email to 4620 anesthesiologists and/or intensivists and was available online from January to February 2014. One hundred and seventy-five physicians (3.8%) who worked in 135 ICUs filled out the online survey. Among respondents, 42% reported having managed up to two patients with NF during the previous year; 59% and 72% of respondents reported not having a surgical and a medical specialist consultant, respectively. A delayed access to the operating room (OR) of more than 6hours was reported in 31% of cases and access to the OR was reported not to be routinely considered as a priority in 13% of cases. Only 17% of respondents reported that time to transfer to the OR was never a cause for delayed surgery. The main causes for delayed surgery were: delayed diagnosis (45%), delayed validation of surgical intervention (37%), and difficulty of access to the OR (8%). Finally, 83% of respondents estimated that creating dedicated multidisciplinary teams for managing NFs could lead to improving outcomes. This survey illustrates the heterogeneous management of NF in French-speaking ICUs and points out several logistical aspects that should be improved to reduce the time to the first surgical debridement. Copyright © 2014 Société française d’anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  9. Hyperdynamic left ventricular ejection fraction in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paonessa, Joseph R; Brennan, Thomas; Pimentel, Marco; Steinhaus, Daniel; Feng, Mengling; Celi, Leo Anthony

    2015-08-07

    Limited information exists on the etiology, prevalence, and significance of hyperdynamic left ventricular ejection fraction (HDLVEF) in the intensive care unit (ICU). Our aim in the present study was to compare characteristics and outcomes of patients with HDLVEF with those of patients with normal left ventricular ejection fraction in the ICU using a large, public, deidentified critical care database. We conducted a longitudinal, single-center, retrospective cohort study of adult patients who underwent echocardiography during a medical or surgical ICU admission at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center using the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II database. The final cohort had 2867 patients, of whom 324 had HDLVEF, defined as an ejection fraction >70%. Patients with an ejection fraction <55% were excluded. Compared with critically ill patients with normal left ventricular ejection fraction, the finding of HDLVEF in critically ill patients was associated with female sex, increased age, and the diagnoses of hypertension and cancer. Patients with HDLVEF had increased 28-day mortality compared with those with normal ejection fraction in multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, Elixhauser score for comorbidities, vasopressor use, and mechanical ventilation use (odds ratio 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.039-1.842, p =0.02). The presence of HDLVEF portended increased 28-day mortality, and may be helpful as a gravity marker for prognosis in patients admitted to the ICU. Further research is warranted to gain a better understanding of how these patients respond to common interventions in the ICU and to determine if pharmacologic modulation of HDLVEF improves outcomes.

  10. Prevention of nosocomial infections in intensive care unit and nursing practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sevilay Yüceer

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Nosocomial infections which are considered as the primary indicator of the quality of care in hospitals, cause to prolong hospitalization at intensive care unit and hospital, increase morbidity, mortality, and the cost of treatment. Although only 5-10% of the patients are treated in the intensive care units, 20-25% of all nosocomial infections are seen in these units. Preventing nosocomial infections in intensive care units is a process started at the patient acceptance to unit that requires an interdisciplinary team approach of intensive care staffs’ and Infection Control Committee members.Intensive care nurses who are in constant contact with patients have important responsibilities in preventing nosocomial infections. Intensive care nurses should be aware that the nosocomial infections can be prevented. They should have current knowledge about universal precautions related to prevention and control of infections, which are accepted by the entire world and they reinforce this knowledge by practice and should provide the most effective care to patients.In this article, nursing practices for prevention of nosocomial infections in intensive care units are discussed based on universal precautions.

  11. Fatigue in Intensive Care Nurses and Related Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çelik, Sevim; Taşdemir, Nurten; Kurt, Aylin; İlgezdi, Ebru; Kubalas, Özge

    2017-10-01

    Fatigue negatively affects the performance of intensive care nurses. Factors contributing to the fatigue experienced by nurses include lifestyle, psychological status, work organization and sleep problems. To determine the level of fatigue among nurses working in intensive care units and the related factors. This descriptive study was conducted with 102 nurses working in intensive care units in the West Black Sea Region of Turkey. Data were collected between February and May 2014 using a personal information form, the Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue (VAS-F), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. The intensive care nurses in the study were found to be experiencing fatigue. Significant correlations were observed between scores on the VAS-F Fatigue and anxiety (p=0.01), depression (p=0.002), and sleep quality (pnurses' levels of fatigue. These results can be of benefit in taking measures which may be used to reduce fatigue in nurses, especially the fatigue related to work organization and social life.

  12. Advance Care Planning in palliative care: a qualitative investigation into the perspective of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Sarah; Dale, Jeremy

    2015-04-01

    The majority of children and young people who die in the United Kingdom have pre-existing life-limiting illness. Currently, most such deaths occur in hospital, most frequently within the intensive care environment. To explore the experiences of senior medical and nursing staff regarding the challenges associated with Advance Care Planning in relation to children and young people with life-limiting illnesses in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit environment and opportunities for improvement. Qualitative one-to-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Paediatric Intensive Care Unit consultants and senior nurses, to gain rich, contextual data. Thematic content analysis was carried out. UK tertiary referral centre Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Eight Paediatric Intensive Care Unit consultants and six senior nurses participated. Four main themes emerged: recognition of an illness as 'life-limiting'; Advance Care Planning as a multi-disciplinary, structured process; the value of Advance Care Planning and adverse consequences of inadequate Advance Care Planning. Potential benefits of Advance Care Planning include providing the opportunity to make decisions regarding end-of-life care in a timely fashion and in partnership with patients, where possible, and their families. Barriers to the process include the recognition of the life-limiting nature of an illness and gaining consensus of medical opinion. Organisational improvements towards earlier recognition of life-limiting illness and subsequent Advance Care Planning were recommended, including education and training, as well as the need for wider societal debate. Advance Care Planning for children and young people with life-limiting conditions has the potential to improve care for patients and their families, providing the opportunity to make decisions based on clear information at an appropriate time, and avoid potentially harmful intensive clinical interventions at the end of life. © The Author(s) 2015.

  13. Emerging trends in the outsourcing of medical and surgical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyd, Jennifer B; McGrath, Mary H; Maa, John

    2011-01-01

    As total health care expenditures are expected to constitute an increasing portion of the US gross domestic product during the coming years, the US health care system is anticipating a historic spike in the need for care. Outsourcing medical and surgical care to other nations has expanded rapidly, and several ethical, legal, and financial considerations require careful evaluation. Ultimately, the balance between cost savings, quality, and patient satisfaction will be the key determinant in the future of medical outsourcing.

  14. 'Targeting' sedation: the lived experience of the intensive care nurse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Everingham, Kirsty; Fawcett, Tonks; Walsh, Tim

    2014-03-01

    To discuss the findings from a phenomenological study that provides insights into the intensive care nurses' 'world' following changes in the sedation management of patients in an intensive care unit. Intensive care sedation practices have undergone significant changes. Patients, where possible, are now managed on lighter levels of sedation, often achieved through the performance of sedation holds (SHs). The performance of SHs is normally carried out by the bedside nurse but compliance is reported to be poor. There has been little exploration of the nurses' experiences of these changes and the implications of SHs and subsequent wakefulness on their delivery of care. Following ethical approval, 16 intensive care nurses, experienced and inexperienced, from within a general intensive care unit. A Heideggerian phenomenological approach was used. Data collection consisted of interviews guided by an aide memoir and a framework adapted from Van Manen informed the analysis. The findings reveal new insights into the world of the intensive care nurse in the light of the changes to sedation management. They demonstrate that there have been unforeseen outcomes from well-intentioned initiatives to improve the quality of patients' care. There were implications from the changes introduced for the nurses care delivery. The main themes that emerged were 'working priorities' and 'unintended consequences', in turn revealing embedded tensions between evidence-based targets and holistic care. Intensive care nurses find that the current approach to the changes in sedation management can threaten their professional obligation and personal desire to provide holistic care. The 'targeted' approach by healthcare organisations is perceived to militate against the patient-centred care they want to deliver. Sedation management is complex and needs further consideration particularly the potential constraints 'target-led' care has on nursing practice. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  15. Life-sustaining treatment decisions in Portuguese intensive care units: a national survey of intensive care physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, Teresa; Fonseca, Teresa; Pereira, Sofia; Lencastre, Luís

    2003-12-01

    The objective of the present study was to evaluate the opinion of Portuguese intensive care physicians regarding 'do-not-resuscitate' (DNR) orders and decisions to withhold/withdraw treatment. A questionnaire was sent to all physicians working on a full-time basis in all intensive care units (ICUs) registered with the Portuguese Intensive Care Society. A total of 266 questionnaires were sent and 175 (66%) were returned. Physicians from 79% of the ICUs participated. All participants stated that DNR orders are applied in their units, and 98.3% stated that decisions to withhold treatment and 95.4% stated that decisions to withdraw treatment are also applied. About three quarters indicated that only the medical group makes these decisions. Fewer than 15% of the responders stated that they involve nurses, 9% involve patients and fewer than 11% involve patients' relatives in end-of-life decisions. Physicians with more than 10 years of clinical experience more frequently indicated that they involve nurses in these decisions (P atheist doctors more frequently involve patients' relatives in decisions to withhold/withdraw treatment (P religious beliefs of the respondents influences the way in which these decisions are made.

  16. Evaluating Disparities in Inpatient Surgical Cancer Care Among American Indian/Alaska Native Patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simianu, Vlad V.; Morris, Arden M.; Varghese, Thomas K.; Porter, Michael P.; Henderson, Jeffrey A.; Buchwald, Dedra S.; Flum, David R.; Javid, Sara H.

    2016-01-01

    Background American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) patients with cancer have the lowest survival rates of all racial and ethnic groups, possibly because they are less likely to receive “best practice” surgical care than patients of other races. Methods Prospective cohort study comparing adherence to generic and cancer-specific guidelines on processes of surgical care between AI/AN and non-Hispanic white (NHW) patients in Washington State (2010–2014). Results 156 AI/AN and 6,030 NHW patients underwent operations for 10 different cancers, and had similar mean adherence to generic surgical guidelines (91.5% vs 91.9%, p=0.57). AI/AN patients with breast cancer less frequently received preoperative diagnostic core-needle biopsy (81% versus 94%, p=0.004). AI/AN patients also less frequently received care adherent to prostate cancer-specific guidelines (74% versus 92%,p=0.001). Conclusions While AI/ANs undergoing cancer operations in Washington receive similar overall best practice surgical cancer care to NHW patients, there remain important, modifiable disparities that may contribute to their lower survival. PMID:26846176

  17. Important questions asked by family members of intensive care unit patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peigne, Vincent; Chaize, Marine; Falissard, Bruno; Kentish-Barnes, Nancy; Rusinova, Katerina; Megarbane, Bruno; Bele, Nicolas; Cariou, Alain; Fieux, Fabienne; Garrouste-Orgeas, Maite; Georges, Hugues; Jourdain, Merce; Kouatchet, Achille; Lautrette, Alexandre; Legriel, Stephane; Regnier, Bernard; Renault, Anne; Thirion, Marina; Timsit, Jean-Francois; Toledano, Dany; Chevret, Sylvie; Pochard, Frédéric; Schlemmer, Benoît; Azoulay, Elie

    2011-06-01

    Relatives often lack important information about intensive care unit patients. High-quality information is crucial to help relatives overcome the often considerable situational stress and to acquire the ability to participate in the decision-making process, most notably regarding the appropriate level of care. We aimed to develop a list of questions important for relatives of patients in the intensive care unit. This was a multicenter study. Questions asked by relatives of intensive care unit patients were collected from five different sources (literature, panel of 28 intensive care unit nurses and physicians, 1-wk survey of nurses and 1-wk survey of physicians in 14 intensive care units, and in-depth interviews with 14 families). After a qualitative analysis (framework approach and thematic analysis), questions were rated by 22 relatives and 14 intensive care unit physicians, and the ratings were analyzed using principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. The five sources produced 2,135 questions. Removal of duplicates and redundancies left 443 questions, which were distributed among nine predefined domains using a framework approach ("diagnosis," "treatment," "prognosis," "comfort," "interaction," "communication," "family," "end of life," and "postintensive care unit management"). Thematic analysis in each domain led to the identification of 46 themes, which were reworded as 46 different questions. Ratings by relatives and physicians showed that 21 of these questions were particularly important for relatives of intensive care unit patients. This study increases knowledge about the informational needs of relatives of intensive care unit patients. This list of questions may prove valuable for both relatives and intensive care unit physicians as a tool for improving communication in the intensive care unit.

  18. Guidelines for Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy (PDT) from the Danish Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DSIT) and the Danish Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DASAIM)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Kristian Rørbæk; Guldager, Henrik; Rewers, Mikael

    2011-01-01

    Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy is a common procedure in intensive care. This guideline from the Danish Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DSIT) and the Danish Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DASAIM) describes indications and contraindications, timing, complications...

  19. Rethinking the intensive care environment: considering nature in nursing practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minton, Claire; Batten, Lesley

    2016-01-01

    With consideration of an environmental concept, this paper explores evidence related to the negative impacts of the intensive care unit environment on patient outcomes and explores the potential counteracting benefits of 'nature-based' nursing interventions as a way to improve care outcomes. The impact of the environment in which a patient is nursed has long been recognised as one determinant in patient outcomes. Whilst the contemporary intensive care unit environment contains many features that support the provision of the intensive therapies the patient requires, it can also be detrimental, especially for long-stay patients. This narrative review considers theoretical and evidence-based literature that supports the adoption of nature-based nursing interventions in intensive care units. Research and theoretical literature from a diverse range of disciplines including nursing, medicine, psychology, architecture and environmental science were considered in relation to patient outcomes and intensive care nursing practice. There are many nature-based interventions that intensive care unit nurses can implement into their nursing practice to counteract environmental stressors. These interventions can also improve the environment for patients' families and nurses. Intensive care unit nurses must actively consider and manage the environment in which nursing occurs to facilitate the best patient outcomes. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Global surgery: current evidence for improving surgical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuller, Jennifer C; Shaye, David A

    2017-08-01

    The field of global surgery is undergoing rapid transformation, owing to several recent prominent reports positioning it as a cost-effective means of relieving global disease burden. The purpose of this article is to review the recent advances in the field of global surgery. Efforts to grow the global surgical workforce and procedural capacity have focused on innovative methods to increase surgeon training, enhance international collaboration, leverage technology, optimize existing health systems, and safely implement task-sharing. Computer modeling offers a novel means of informing policy to optimize timely access to care, equitably promote health and financial protection, and efficiently grow infrastructure. Tools and checklists have recently been developed to enhance data collection and ensure methodologically rigorous publications to inform planning, benchmark surgical systems, promote accurate modeling, track key health indicators, and promote safety. Creation of institutional partnerships and trainee exchanges can enrich training, stimulate commitment to humanitarian work, and promote the equal exchange of ideas and expertise. The recent body of work creates a strong foundation upon which work toward the goal of universal access to safe, affordable surgical care can be built; however, further collection and analysis of country-specific data is necessary for accurate modeling and outcomes research into the efficacy of policies such as task-sharing is greatly needed.

  1. Artificial intelligence applications in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, C W; Marshall, B E

    2001-02-01

    To review the history and current applications of artificial intelligence in the intensive care unit. The MEDLINE database, bibliographies of selected articles, and current texts on the subject. The studies that were selected for review used artificial intelligence tools for a variety of intensive care applications, including direct patient care and retrospective database analysis. All literature relevant to the topic was reviewed. Although some of the earliest artificial intelligence (AI) applications were medically oriented, AI has not been widely accepted in medicine. Despite this, patient demographic, clinical, and billing data are increasingly available in an electronic format and therefore susceptible to analysis by intelligent software. Individual AI tools are specifically suited to different tasks, such as waveform analysis or device control. The intensive care environment is particularly suited to the implementation of AI tools because of the wealth of available data and the inherent opportunities for increased efficiency in inpatient care. A variety of new AI tools have become available in recent years that can function as intelligent assistants to clinicians, constantly monitoring electronic data streams for important trends, or adjusting the settings of bedside devices. The integration of these tools into the intensive care unit can be expected to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.

  2. Family participation during intensive care unit rounds: attitudes and experiences of parents and healthcare providers in a tertiary pediatric intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stickney, Carolyn A; Ziniel, Sonja I; Brett, Molly S; Truog, Robert D

    2014-02-01

    To compare the experiences and attitudes of healthcare providers and parents regarding parental participation in morning rounds, in particular to evaluate for differences in perception of parental comprehension of rounds content and parental comfort with attendance, and to identify subgroups of parents who are more likely to report comfort with attending rounds. Cross-sectional survey of 100 parents and 131 healthcare providers in a tertiary care pediatric medical/surgical intensive care unit. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey responses; univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to compare parent and healthcare provider responses. Of parents, 92% reported a desire to attend rounds, and 54% of healthcare providers reported a preference for parental presence. There were significant discrepancies in perception of understanding between the 2 groups, with healthcare providers much less likely to perceive that parents understood both the format (30% vs 73%, P parents. Analysis of parent surveys did not reveal characteristics correlated with increased comfort or desire to attend rounds. A majority of parents wish to participate in morning rounds, whereas healthcare provider opinions are mixed. Important discrepancies exist between parent and healthcare provider perceptions of parental comfort and comprehension on rounds, which may be important in facilitating parental presence. Copyright © 2014 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Anesthesia and Intensive care implications for pituitary surgery: Recent trends and advancements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukhminder Jit Singh Bajwa

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The advancements in neuro-endocrine surgical interventions have been well supported by similar advancements in anesthesiology and intensive care. Surgery of the pituitary tumor poses unique challenges to the anesthesiologists and the intensivists as it involves the principles and practices of both endocrine and neurosurgical management. A multidisciplinary approach involving the endocrine surgeon, neurosurgeon, anesthesiologist, endocrinologist and intensivist is mandatory for a successful surgical outcome. The focus of pre-anesthetic checkup is mainly directed at the endocrinological manifestations of pituitary hypo or hyper-secretion as it secretes a variety of essential hormones, and also any pathological state that can cause imbalance of pituitary secretions. The pathophysiological aspects associated with pituitary tumors mandate a thorough airway, cardiovascular, neurologic and endocrinological assessment. A meticulous preoperative preparation and definite plans for the intra-operative period are the important clinical components of the anesthetic strategy. Various anesthetic modalities and drugs can be useful to provide a smooth intra-operative period by countering any complication and thus providing an uneventful recovery period.

  4. Team working in intensive care: current evidence and future endeavors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, Joanne; West, Michael A; Cuthbertson, Brian H

    2010-12-01

    It has recently been argued that the future of intensive care medicine will rely on high quality management and teamwork. Therefore, this review takes an organizational psychology perspective to examine the most recent research on the relationship between teamwork, care processes, and patient outcomes in intensive care. Interdisciplinary communication within a team is crucial for the development of negotiated shared treatment goals and short-team patient outcomes. Interventions for maximizing team communication have received substantial interest in recent literature. Intensive care coordination is not a linear process, and intensive care teams often fail to discuss how to implement goals, trigger and align activities, or reflect on their performance. Despite a move toward interdisciplinary team working, clinical decision-making is still problematic and continues to be perceived as a top-down and authoritative process. The topic of team leadership in intensive care is underexplored and requires further research. Based on findings from the most recent research evidence in medicine and management, four principles are identified for improving the effectiveness of team working in intensive care: engender professional efficacy, create stable teams and leaders, develop trust and participative safety, and enable frequent team reflexivity.

  5. Advancing Neurologic Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with a Neonatal Neurologist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulkey, Sarah B.; Swearingen, Christopher J.

    2014-01-01

    Neonatal neurology is a growing sub-specialty area. Given the considerable amount of neurologic problems present in the neonatal intensive care unit, a neurologist with expertise in neonates is becoming more important. We sought to evaluate the change in neurologic care in the neonatal intensive care unit at our tertiary care hospital by having a dedicated neonatal neurologist. The period post-neonatal neurologist showed a greater number of neurology consultations (Pneurology encounters per patient (Pneurology became part of the multi-disciplinary team providing focused neurologic care to newborns. PMID:23271754

  6. [Comparative study of burnout in Intensive Care and Emergency Care nursing staff].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ríos Risquez, M I; Godoy Fernández, C; Peñalver Hernández, F; Alonso Tovar, A R; López Alcaraz, F; López Romera, A; Garnés González, S; Salmerón Saura, E; López Real, M D; Ruiz Sánchez, R; Simón Domingo, P; Manzanera Nicolás, J L; Menchón Almagro, M A; Liébanas Bellón, R

    2008-01-01

    To assess and compare the burnout level between Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Unit, and study its association with the sociodemographic and work characteristics of the professionals surveyed. Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Emplacement. Intensive Care Unit of the university hospital Morales Meseguer, Murcia-Spain. STUDIED SAMPLE: 97 nursing professionals: 55 professionals belong to the Emergency Department, and 42 professionals belong to the Intensive Care Department. Two evaluation tools were used: a sociodemographic and work survey, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, 1986. Quantitative variables expressed as mean +/- SD compared with the Student's T test and qualitative variables compared with the chi2 test. SPSS 12.0(c). The comparative analysis of the burnout dimensions shows that emotional exhaustion level is significantly higher in the intensive care service than in the emergency one (25.45 +/- 11.15 vs 22.09 +/- 10.99) p burnout dimensions do not show significant differences between both departments. The masculine gender obtains a higher score in the depersonalization dimension of burnout (10.12 +/- 5.38) than female one (6.7 +/- 5.21) p burnout levels are moderate to high among the nursing professionals studied. A total of 5.15% of the sample studied achieves a high score in the three dimensions of the burnout syndrome. The intensive care professionals are the most vulnerable to suffering high levels of emotional exhaustion, and the masculine gender is more susceptible to depersonalization attitudes.

  7. Transition from neonatal intensive care unit to special care nurseries: Experiences of parents and nurses

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dr. A.L. van Staa; O.K. Helder; J.C.M. Verweij

    2011-01-01

    To explore parents' and nurses' experiences with the transition of infants from the neonatal intensive care unit to a special care nursery. Qualitative explorative study in two phases. Level IIID neonatal intensive care unit in a university hospital and special care nurseries (level II) in five

  8. Is Postoperative Intensive Care Unit Care Necessary following Cranial Vault Remodeling for Sagittal Synostosis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfswinkel, Erik M; Howell, Lori K; Fahradyan, Artur; Azadgoli, Beina; McComb, J Gordon; Urata, Mark M

    2017-12-01

    Of U.S. craniofacial and neurosurgeons, 94 percent routinely admit patients to the intensive care unit following cranial vault remodeling for correction of sagittal synostosis. This study aims to examine the outcomes and cost of direct ward admission following primary cranial vault remodeling for sagittal synostosis. An institutional review board-approved retrospective review was undertaken of the records of all patients who underwent primary cranial vault remodeling for isolated sagittal craniosynostosis from 2009 to 2015 at a single pediatric hospital. Patient demographics, perioperative course, and outcomes were recorded. One hundred ten patients met inclusion criteria with absence of other major medical problems. Average age at operation was 6.7 months, with a mean follow-up of 19.8 months. Ninety-eight patients (89 percent) were admitted to a general ward for postoperative care, whereas the remaining 12 (11 percent) were admitted to the intensive care unit for preoperative or perioperative concerns. Among ward-admitted patients, there were four (3.6 percent) minor complications; however, there were no major adverse events, with none necessitating intensive care unit transfers from the ward and no mortalities. Average hospital stay was 3.7 days. The institution's financial difference in cost of intensive care unit stay versus ward bed was $5520 on average per bed per day. Omitting just one intensive care unit postoperative day stay for this patient cohort would reduce projected health care costs by a total of $540,960 for the study period. Despite the common practice of postoperative admission to the intensive care unit following cranial vault remodeling for sagittal craniosynostosis, the authors suggest that postoperative care be considered on an individual basis, with only a small percentage requiring a higher level of care. Therapeutic, III.

  9. [Surgical intensive care medicine. Current therapy concepts for septic diseases].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niederbichler, A D; Ipaktchi, K; Jokuszies, A; Hirsch, T; Altintas, M A; Handschin, A E; Busch, K H; Gellert, M; Steinau, H-U; Vogt, P M; Steinsträsser, L

    2009-10-01

    The clinical appearance of septic disorders is characterized by an enormous dynamic. The sepsis-induced dysbalance of the immune system necessitates immediate and aggressive therapeutic interventions to prevent further damage progression of the disease to septic shock and multiple organ failure. This includes supportive therapy to normalize and maintain organ and tissue perfusion as well as the identification of the infection focus. In cases where an infectious focus is identified, surgical source control frequently is a key element of the treatment strategy besides pharmacologic and supportive measures. The integrative approach of the management of septic patients requires rapid communication between the involved medical disciplines and the nursing personnel. Therefore, this article outlines current therapeutic concepts of septic diseases as well as central nursing aspects.

  10. Value innovation: an important aspect of global surgical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotton, Michael; Henry, Jaymie Ang; Hasek, Lauren

    2014-01-06

    Limited resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) drive tremendous innovation in medicine, as well as in other fields. It is not often recognized that several important surgical tools and methods, widely used in high-income countries, have their origins in LMICs. Surgical care around the world stands much to gain from these innovations. In this paper, we provide a short review of some of these successful innovations and their origins that have had an important impact in healthcare delivery worldwide. Examples of LMIC innovations that have been adapted in high-income countries include the Bogotá bag for temporary abdominal wound closure, the orthopaedic external fixator for complex fractures, a hydrocephalus fluid valve for normal pressure hydrocephalus, and intra-ocular lens and manual small incision cataract surgery. LMIC innovations that have had tremendous potential global impact include mosquito net mesh for inguinal hernia repair, and a flutter valve for intercostal drainage of pneumothorax. Surgical innovations from LMICs have been shown to have comparable outcomes at a fraction of the cost of tools used in high-income countries. These innovations have the potential to revolutionize global surgical care. Advocates should actively seek out these innovations, campaign for the financial gains from these innovations to benefit their originators and their countries, and find ways to develop and distribute them locally as well as globally.

  11. [Rendering surgical care to wounded with neck wounds in an armed conflict].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samokhvalov, I M; Zavrazhnov, A A; Fakhrutdinov, A M; Sychev, M I

    2001-10-01

    The results of rendering of the medical care (the first aid, qualified and specialized) obtained in 172 servicemen with neck injuries who stayed in Republic of Chechnya during the period from 09.08.1999 to 28.07.2000 were analyzed. Basing on the results of analysis and experience of casualties' treatment the authors discuss the problems of sequence and volume of surgical care in this group of casualties with reference to available medical evacuation system, surgical tactics at the stage of specialized care. They also consider the peculiarities of operative treatment of the casualties with neck injuries.

  12. Hospital-acquired acute kidney injury in medical, surgical, and intensive care unit: A comparative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T B Singh

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Acute kidney injury (AKI is a common complication in hospitalized patients. There are few comparative studies on hospital-acquired AKI (HAAKI in medical, surgical, and ICU patients. This study was conducted to compare the epidemiological characteristics, clinical profiles, and outcomes of HAAKI among these three units. All adult patients (>18 years of either gender who developed AKI based on RIFLE criteria (using serum creatinine, 48 h after hospitalization were included in the study. Patients of acute on chronic renal failure and AKI in pregnancy were excluded. Incidence of HAAKI in medical, surgical, and ICU wards were 0.54%, 0.72%, and 2.2% respectively ( P < 0.0001. There was no difference in age distribution among the groups, but onset of HAAKI was earliest in the medical ward ( P = 0.001. RIFLE-R was the most common AKI in medical (39.2% and ICU (50% wards but in the surgical ward, it was RIFLE-F that was most common (52.6%. Acute tubular necrosis was more common in ICU ( P = 0.043. Most common etiology of HAAKI in medical unit was drug induced (39.2%, whereas in surgical and ICU, it was sepsis (34% and 35.2% respectively. Mortality in ICU, surgical and medical units were 73.5%, 43.42%, and 37.2%, respectively ( P = 0.003. Length of hospital stay in surgical, ICU and medical units were different ( P = 0.007. This study highlights that the characters of HAAKI are different in some aspects among different hospital settings.

  13. Antibiotic stewardship in the newborn surgical patient: A quality improvement project in the neonatal intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Sarah; Datta, Ankur; Massoumi, Roxanne L; Gross, Erica R; Uhing, Michael; Arca, Marjorie J

    2017-12-01

    There is significant diversity in the utilization of antibiotics for neonates undergoing surgical procedures. Our institution standardized antibiotic administration for surgical neonates, in which no empiric antibiotics were given to infants with surgical conditions postnatally, and antibiotics are given no more than 72 hours perioperatively. We compared the time periods before and after implementation of antibiotic protocol in an institution review board-approved, retrospective review of neonates with congenital surgical conditions who underwent surgical correction within 30 days after birth. Surgical site infection at 30 days was the primary outcome, and development of hospital-acquired infections or multidrug-resistant organism were secondary outcomes. One hundred forty-eight infants underwent surgical procedures pre-protocol, and 127 underwent procedures post-protocol implementation. Surgical site infection rates were similar pre- and post-protocol, 14% and 9% respectively, (P = .21.) The incidence of hospital-acquired infections (13.7% vs 8.7%, P = .205) and multidrug-resistant organism (4.7% vs 1.6%, P = .143) was similar between the 2 periods. Elimination of empiric postnatal antibiotics did not statistically change rates of surgical site infection, hospital-acquired infections, or multidrug-resistant organisms. Limiting the duration of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis to no more than 72 hours after surgery did not increase the rate of surgical site infection, hospital-acquired infections, or multidrug-resistant organism. Median antibiotic days were decreased with antibiotic standardization for surgical neonates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Catheter-related Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fungemia Following Saccharomyces boulardii Probiotic Treatment: In a child in intensive care unit and review of the literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serkan Atıcı

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Although Saccharomyces boulardii is usually a non-pathogenic fungus, in rare occasions it can cause invasive infection in children. We present the case of an 8-year-old patient in pediatric surgical intensive care unit who developed S. cerevisiae fungemia following probiotic treatment containing S. boulardii. Caspofungin was not effective in this case and he was treated with amphotericin B. We want to emphasize that physicians should be careful about probiotic usage in critically ill patients.

  15. Catheter-related Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fungemia Following Saccharomyces boulardii Probiotic Treatment: In a child in intensive care unit and review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atıcı, Serkan; Soysal, Ahmet; Karadeniz Cerit, Kıvılcım; Yılmaz, Şerife; Aksu, Burak; Kıyan, Gürsu; Bakır, Mustafa

    2017-03-01

    Although Saccharomyces boulardii is usually a non-pathogenic fungus, in rare occasions it can cause invasive infection in children. We present the case of an 8-year-old patient in pediatric surgical intensive care unit who developed S. cerevisiae fungemia following probiotic treatment containing S. boulardii . Caspofungin was not effective in this case and he was treated with amphotericin B. We want to emphasize that physicians should be careful about probiotic usage in critically ill patients.

  16. Early hospital mortality prediction of intensive care unit patients using an ensemble learning approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awad, Aya; Bader-El-Den, Mohamed; McNicholas, James; Briggs, Jim

    2017-12-01

    Mortality prediction of hospitalized patients is an important problem. Over the past few decades, several severity scoring systems and machine learning mortality prediction models have been developed for predicting hospital mortality. By contrast, early mortality prediction for intensive care unit patients remains an open challenge. Most research has focused on severity of illness scoring systems or data mining (DM) models designed for risk estimation at least 24 or 48h after ICU admission. This study highlights the main data challenges in early mortality prediction in ICU patients and introduces a new machine learning based framework for Early Mortality Prediction for Intensive Care Unit patients (EMPICU). The proposed method is evaluated on the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II (MIMIC-II) database. Mortality prediction models are developed for patients at the age of 16 or above in Medical ICU (MICU), Surgical ICU (SICU) or Cardiac Surgery Recovery Unit (CSRU). We employ the ensemble learning Random Forest (RF), the predictive Decision Trees (DT), the probabilistic Naive Bayes (NB) and the rule-based Projective Adaptive Resonance Theory (PART) models. The primary outcome was hospital mortality. The explanatory variables included demographic, physiological, vital signs and laboratory test variables. Performance measures were calculated using cross-validated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) to minimize bias. 11,722 patients with single ICU stays are considered. Only patients at the age of 16 years old and above in Medical ICU (MICU), Surgical ICU (SICU) or Cardiac Surgery Recovery Unit (CSRU) are considered in this study. The proposed EMPICU framework outperformed standard scoring systems (SOFA, SAPS-I, APACHE-II, NEWS and qSOFA) in terms of AUROC and time (i.e. at 6h compared to 48h or more after admission). The results show that although there are many values missing in the first few hour of ICU admission

  17. Sleep and sedation in the pediatric intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carno, Margaret-Ann; Connolly, Heidi V

    2005-09-01

    Sleep is an important and necessary function of the human body. Somatic growth and cellular repair occur during sleep. Critically ill children have disturbed sleep while in the pediatric intensive care unit related both to the illness itself and to light, noise, and caregiver activities disrupting an environment conducive to sleep. Medications administered in the pediatric intensive care unit can also disrupt sleep. This article reviews what is known about sleep in the pediatric intensive care unit and the effects of common sedation medications on sleep.

  18. Intensive care management of patients with severe intracerebral haemorrhage after endovascular treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keller, E.; Yonekawa, Y.; Imhof, H.G.; Tanaka, M.; Valavanis, Anton

    2002-01-01

    We studied the impact of emergency neurosurgery and intensive care on the outcome for patients with severe intracerebral haemorrhage after endovascular treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). We reviewed the case notes of 18 patients with severe haemorrhage after embolisation of a brain AVM between 1986 and 2001. During this period the treatment changed: before 1993, these patients were not surgically treated, and they died, while after 1994, all patients underwent emergency surgery. We established a standardised protocol for emergency treatment and intensive care in May 1998, and emergency surgery was performed as soon as possible after the onset of symptoms of haemorrhage. Postoperative intensive care was according to a standardised regime. During these 15 years, 24 out of 605 patients undergoing 1066 interventions had a haemorrhage during or after the procedure, of which 18 were severe (3% of patients, 1.7% of interventions). All patients had a severe clinical deficit (mean Glasgow coma scale 4.2); eight had uni- or bilateral mydriasis. From 1989 to April 1998 four (31%) of 13 patients died, one (7.5%) remained in a vegetative state and eight (61.5%) made a good recovery. All five patients treated between 1998 and 2001 had a favourable outcome. The mean time from onset of the symptoms of haemorrhage to reaching the operation room was 129 min between 1989 and 1998 and 24 min between 1998 and 2001. Standardised emergency treatment and intensive care with early resuscitation, minimal radiological exploration before rapid surgery improved the outcome. A short time between the onset of the symptoms of haemorrhage and evacuation of the haematoma may be the most important factor for a favourable outcome. (orig.)

  19. Implementation of central line-associated bloodstream infection prevention bundles in a surgical intensive care unit using peer tutoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang-Won Park

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs can be prevented through well-coordinated, multifaceted programs. However, implementation of CLABSI prevention programs requires individualized strategies for different institutional situations, and the best strategy in resource-limited settings is uncertain. Peer tutoring may be an efficient and effective method that is applicable in such settings. Methods A prospective intervention was performed to reduce CLABSIs in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU at a tertiary hospital. The core interventions consisted of implementation of insertion and maintenance bundles for CLABSI prevention. The overall interventions were guided and coordinated by active educational programs using peer tutoring. The CLABSI rates were compared for 9 months pre-intervention, 6 months during the intervention and 9 months post-intervention. The CLABSI rate was further observed for three years after the intervention. Results The rate of CLABSIs per 1000 catheter-days decreased from 6.9 infections in the pre-intervention period to 2.4 and 1.8 in the intervention (6 m; P = 0.102 and post-intervention (9 m; P = 0.036 periods, respectively. A regression model showed a significantly decreasing trend in the infection rate from the pre-intervention period (P < 0.001, with incidence-rate ratios of 0.348 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98–1.23 in the intervention period and 0.257 (95% CI, 0.07–0.91 in the post-intervention period. However, after the 9-month post-intervention period, the yearly CLABSI rates reverted to 3.0–5.4 infections per 1000 catheter-days over 3 years. Conclusions Implementation of CLABSI prevention bundles using peer tutoring in a resource-limited setting was useful and effectively reduced CLABSIs. However, maintaining the reduced CLABSI rate will require further strategies.

  20. Care zoning in a psychiatric intensive care unit: strengthening ongoing clinical risk assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullen, Antony; Drinkwater, Vincent; Lewin, Terry J

    2014-03-01

    To implement and evaluate the care zoning model in an eight-bed psychiatric intensive care unit and, specifically, to examine the model's ability to improve the documentation and communication of clinical risk assessment and management. Care zoning guides nurses in assessing clinical risk and planning care within a mental health context. Concerns about the varying quality of clinical risk assessment prompted a trial of the care zoning model in a psychiatric intensive care unit within a regional mental health facility. The care zoning model assigns patients to one of 3 'zones' according to their clinical risk, encouraging nurses to document and implement targeted interventions required to manage those risks. An implementation trial framework was used for this research to refine, implement and evaluate the impact of the model on nurses' clinical practice within the psychiatric intensive care unit, predominantly as a quality improvement initiative. The model was trialled for three months using a pre- and postimplementation staff survey, a pretrial file audit and a weekly file audit. Informal staff feedback was also sought via surveys and regular staff meetings. This trial demonstrated improvement in the quality of mental state documentation, and clinical risk information was identified more accurately. There was limited improvement in the quality of care planning and the documentation of clinical interventions. Nurses' initial concerns over the introduction of the model shifted into overall acceptance and recognition of the benefits. The results of this trial demonstrate that the care zoning model was able to improve the consistency and quality of risk assessment information documented. Care planning and evaluation of associated outcomes showed less improvement. Care zoning remains a highly applicable model for the psychiatric intensive care unit environment and is a useful tool in guiding nurses to carry out routine patient risk assessments. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons

  1. [Medication errors in Spanish intensive care units].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merino, P; Martín, M C; Alonso, A; Gutiérrez, I; Alvarez, J; Becerril, F

    2013-01-01

    To estimate the incidence of medication errors in Spanish intensive care units. Post hoc study of the SYREC trial. A longitudinal observational study carried out during 24 hours in patients admitted to the ICU. Spanish intensive care units. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit participating in the SYREC during the period of study. Risk, individual risk, and rate of medication errors. The final study sample consisted of 1017 patients from 79 intensive care units; 591 (58%) were affected by one or more incidents. Of these, 253 (43%) had at least one medication-related incident. The total number of incidents reported was 1424, of which 350 (25%) were medication errors. The risk of suffering at least one incident was 22% (IQR: 8-50%) while the individual risk was 21% (IQR: 8-42%). The medication error rate was 1.13 medication errors per 100 patient-days of stay. Most incidents occurred in the prescription (34%) and administration (28%) phases, 16% resulted in patient harm, and 82% were considered "totally avoidable". Medication errors are among the most frequent types of incidents in critically ill patients, and are more common in the prescription and administration stages. Although most such incidents have no clinical consequences, a significant percentage prove harmful for the patient, and a large proportion are avoidable. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  2. Nursing care of the newborn in a neonatal intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taysa Costa da Silva

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To verify the main measures of care for the newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit. Method: This is an integrative review, in which, it is possible to identify, analyze and synthesize research results with the inclusion of experimental and non-experimental studies. A total of 133 articles were collected. After reading titles, exclusion criteria and reading resumes, 10 were left, in which the sample was composed. Results: The selected publications were placed in 3 thematic categories: The importance of knowledge in nursing care, to the internal NB in ​​NICU; Nursing evaluation and care used for pain relief in NB; Main factors and adverse events that may lead to the hospitalization of the newborn and the increase of morbidity and mortality in an NICU. Conclusion: The analysis of the aforementioned study exposes the importance and main nursing care that can be administered in newborns in a NICU, so that the reduction of neonatal mortality can be provided. Descriptors: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Nursing care; Newborn.

  3. [Structure and functional organization of integrated cardiac intensive care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherillo, Marino; Miceli, Domenico; Tubaro, Marco; Guiducci, Umberto

    2007-05-01

    The early invasive strategy for the treatment of acute coronary syndromes and the increasing number of older and sicker patients requiring prolonged and more complex intensive care have induced many changes in the function of the intensive care units. These changes include the statement that specially trained cardiologists and cardiac nurses who can manage patients with acute cardiac conditions should staff the intensive care units. This document indicates the structure of the units and specific recommendations for the number of beds, monitoring system, respirators, pacemaker/defibrillators and additional equipment.

  4. Nutritional Care in Iranian Intensive Care Units

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-01-01

    Intensive care units (ICUs) provides intensive treatment medicine to avoid complications such as malnutrition, infection and even death. As very little is currently known about the nutritional practices in Iranian ICUs, this study attempted to assess the various aspects of current nutrition support practices in Iranian ICUs. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 150 critically ill patients at 18 ICUs in 12 hospitals located in 2 provinces of Iran from February 2015 to March 2016. Data were collected through interview with supervisors of ICUs, medical record reviews and direct observation of patients during feeding. Our study showed that hospital-prepared enteral tube feeding formulas are the main formulas used in Iranian hospitals. None of the dietitians worked exclusively an ICU and only 30% of patients received diet counselling. Regular monitoring of nutritional status, daily energy and protein intake were not recorded in any of the participating ICUs. Patients were not monitored for anthropometric measurements such as mid-arm circumference (MAC) and electrolyte status. The nasogastric tube was not switched to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy or jejunostomy (PEG/PEGJ) in approximately 85% of patients receiving long-term enteral nutrition (EN) support. Our findings demonstrated that the quality of nutritional care was inappropriate in Iranian ICUs and improvement of nutritional care services within Iranian ICUs is necessary. PMID:29713622

  5. The surgical care improvement project and prevention of post-operative infection, including surgical site infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenberger, Laura H; Politano, Amani D; Sawyer, Robert G

    2011-06-01

    In response to inconsistent compliance with infection prevention measures, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services collaborated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the Surgical Infection Prevention (SIP) project, introduced in 2002. Quality improvement measures were developed to standardize processes to increase compliance. In 2006, the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) developed out of the SIP project and its process measures. These initiatives, published in the Specifications Manual for National Inpatient Quality Measures, outline process and outcome measures. This continually evolving manual is intended to provide standard quality measures to unify documentation and track standards of care. Seven of the SCIP initiatives apply to the peri-operative period: Prophylactic antibiotics should be received within 1 h prior to surgical incision (1), be selected for activity against the most probable antimicrobial contaminants (2), and be discontinued within 24 h after the surgery end-time (3); (4) euglycemia should be maintained, with well-controlled morning blood glucose concentrations on the first two post-operative days, especially in cardiac surgery patients; (6) hair at the surgical site should be removed with clippers or by depilatory methods, not with a blade; (9) urinary catheters are to be removed within the first two post-operative days; and (10) normothermia should be maintained peri-operatively. There is strong evidence that implementation of protocols that standardize practices reduce the risk of surgical infection. The SCIP initiative targets complications that account for a significant portion of preventable morbidity as well as cost. One of the goals of the SCIP guidelines was a 25% reduction in the incidence of surgical site infections from implementation through 2010. Process measures are becoming routine, and as we practice more evidence-based medicine, it falls to us, the surgeons and scientists, to be active

  6. Making surgical missions a joint operation: NGO experiences of visiting surgical teams and the formal health care system in Guatemala.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roche, Stephanie; Hall-Clifford, Rachel

    2015-01-01

    Each year, thousands of Guatemalans receive non-emergent surgical care from short-term medical missions (STMMs) hosted by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and staffed by foreign visiting medical teams (VMTs). The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of individuals based in NGOs involved in the coordination of surgical missions to better understand how these missions articulate with the larger Guatemalan health care system. During the summers of 2011 and 2013, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 representatives from 11 different Guatemalan NGOs with experience with surgical missions. Transcripts were analysed for major themes using an inductive qualitative data analysis process. NGOs made use of the formal health care system but were limited by several factors, including cost, issues of trust and current ministry of health policy. Participants viewed the government health care system as a potential resource and expressed a desire for more collaboration. The current practices of STMMs are not conducive to health system strengthening. The role of STMMs must be defined and widely understood by all stakeholders in order to improve patient safety and effectively utilise health resources. Priority should be placed on aligning the work of VMTs with that of the larger health care system.

  7. Intensive care unit nurses' evaluation of simulation used for team training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballangrud, Randi; Hall-Lord, Marie Louise; Hedelin, Birgitta; Persenius, Mona

    2014-07-01

    To implement a simulation-based team training programme and to investigate intensive care nurses' evaluations of simulation used for team training. Simulation-based training is recommended to make health care professionals aware of and understand the importance of teamwork related to patient safety. The study was based on a questionnaire evaluation design. A total of 63 registered nurses were recruited: 53 from seven intensive care units in four hospitals in one hospital trust and 10 from an intensive care postgraduate education programme. After conducting a simulation-based team training programme with two scenarios related to emergency situations in the intensive care, the participants evaluated each simulation activity with regard to: (i) outcome of satisfaction and self-confidence in learning, (ii) implementation of educational practice and (iii) simulation design/development. Intensive care nurses were highly satisfied with their simulation-based learning, and they were mostly in agreement with the statements about self-confidence in learning. They were generally positive in their evaluation of the implementation of the educational practice and the simulation design/development. Significant differences were found with regard to scenario roles, prior simulation experience and area of intensive care practice. The study indicates a positive reception of a simulation-based programme with regard to team training in emergency situations in an intensive care unit. The findings may motivate and facilitate the use of simulation for team training to promote patient safety in intensive care and provide educators with support to develop and improve simulation-based training programmes. © 2013 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

  8. Incidence and preventability of adverse events requiring intensive care admission: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlayen, Annemie; Verelst, Sandra; Bekkering, Geertruida E; Schrooten, Ward; Hellings, Johan; Claes, Neree

    2012-04-01

    Adverse events are unintended patient injuries or complications that arise from health care management resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay. Adverse events that require critical care are a considerable financial burden to the health care system, but also their global impact on patients and society is probably underestimated. The objectives of this systematic review were to synthesize the best available evidence regarding the estimates of the incidence and preventability of adverse events that necessitate intensive care admission, to determine the type and consequences [mortality, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and costs] of these adverse events. MEDLINE (from 1966 to present), EMBASE (from 1974 to present) and CENTRAL (version 1-2010) were searched for studies reporting on unplanned admissions on ICUs. Several other sources were searched for additional studies. Only quantitative studies that used chart review for the detection of adverse events requiring intensive care admission were considered for eligibility. For the purposes of this systematic review, ICUs were defined as specialized hospital facilities which provide continuous monitoring and intensive care for acutely ill patients. Studies that were published in the English, Dutch, German, French or Spanish language were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. A total of 27 studies were reviewed. Meta-analysis of the data was not appropriate because of methodological and statistical heterogeneity between studies; therefore, results are presented in a descriptive way. The percentage of surgical and medical adverse events that required ICU admission ranged from 1.1% to 37.2%. ICU readmissions varied from 0% to 18.3%. Preventability of the adverse events varied from 17% to 76.5%. Preventable adverse events are further synthesized by type of event. Consequences of the adverse events included a

  9. X-ray investigations in intensive care units

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pokieser, H.

    1981-10-01

    From special care following surgery and from arteficial respiration of polio patients the modern and very special intensive medical care has developed. At the same time the provisional bedside radiology was improved to one branch of clinical radiology with special organisation and methods of investigation. Importance and urgency of radiological information are requiring close cooperation of all medical branches. Functions of these different groups have to be defined. The movable X-ray apparatus of 20 kV output is necessary for every intensive care unit. Hard beam technique for lung X-rays, scattered radiation grids and adequate positioning of the patient are important to get the same high quality pictures than from the radiological department.

  10. X-ray investigations in intensive care units

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pokieser, H.

    1981-01-01

    From special care following surgery and from arteficial respiration of polio patients the modern and very special intensive medical care has developed. At the same time the provisional bedside radiology was improved to one branch of clinical radiology with special organisation and methods of investigation. Importance and urgency of radiological information are requiring close cooperation of all medical branches. Functions of these different groups have to be defined. The movable X-ray apparatus of 20 kV output is necessary for every intensive care unit. Hard beam technique for lung X-rays, scattered radiation grids and adequate positioning of the patient are important to get the same high quality pictures than from the radiological department. (orig.) [de

  11. Is more neonatal intensive care always better? Insights from a cross-national comparison of reproductive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Lindsay A; Goodman, David C; Little, George A

    2002-06-01

    Despite high per capita health care expenditure, the United States has crude infant survival rates that are lower than similarly developed nations. Although differences in vital recording and socioeconomic risk have been studied, a systematic, cross-national comparison of perinatal health care systems is lacking. To characterize systems of reproductive care for the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including a detailed analysis of neonatal intensive care and mortality. Comparison of selected indicators of reproductive care and mortality from 1993-2000 through a systematic review of journal and government publications and structured interviews of leaders in perinatal and neonatal care. Compared with the other 3 countries, the United States has more neonatal intensive care resources yet provides proportionately less support for preconception and prenatal care. Unlike the United States, the other countries provided free family planning services and prenatal and perinatal physician care, and the United Kingdom and Australia paid for all contraception. The United States has high neonatal intensive care capacity, with 6.1 neonatologists per 10 000 live births; Australia, 3.7; Canada, 3.3; and the United Kingdom, 2.7. For intensive care beds, the United States has 3.3 per 10 000 live births; Australia and Canada, 2.6; and the United Kingdom, 0.67. Greater neonatal intensive care resources were not consistently associated with lower birth weight-specific mortality. The relative risk (United States as reference) of neonatal mortality for infants birth weight rates were notably higher in the United States, partially explaining the high crude mortality rates. The United States has significantly greater neonatal intensive care resources per capita, compared with 3 other developed countries, without having consistently better birth weight-specific mortality. Despite low birth weight rates that exceed other countries, the United States has proportionately

  12. Nurse-perceived barriers to effective communication regarding prognosis and optimal end-of-life care for surgical ICU patients: a qualitative exploration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aslakson, Rebecca A; Wyskiel, Rhonda; Thornton, Imani; Copley, Christina; Shaffer, Dauryne; Zyra, Marylou; Nelson, Judith; Pronovost, Peter J

    2012-08-01

    Integration of palliative care for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is important but often challenging, especially in surgical ICUs (SICUs), in part because many surgeons equate palliative care with terminal care and failure of restorative care. SICU nurses, who are key front-line clinicians, can provide insights into barriers for delivery of optimal palliative care in their setting. We developed a focus group guide to identify barriers to two key components of palliative care-optimal communication regarding prognosis and optimal end-of-life care-and used the tool to conduct focus groups of nurses providing bedside care in three SICUs at a tertiary care, academic, inner city hospital. Using content analysis technique, responses were organized into thematic domains that were validated by independent observers and a subset of participating nurses. Four focus groups included a total of 32 SICU nurses. They identified 34 barriers to optimal communication regarding prognosis, which were summarized into four domains: logistics, clinician discomfort with discussing prognosis, inadequate skill and training, and fear of conflict. For optimal end-of-life care, the groups identified 24 barriers in four domains: logistics, inability to acknowledge an end-of-life situation, inadequate skill and training, and cultural differences relating to end-of-life care. Nurses providing bedside care in SICUs identify barriers in several domains that may impede optimal discussions of prognoses and end-of-life care for patients with surgical critical illness. Consideration of these perceived barriers and the underlying SICU culture is relevant for designing interventions to improve palliative care in this setting.

  13. Innovation in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care: An Exponential Convergence Toward Transformation of Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maher, Kevin O; Chang, Anthony C; Shin, Andrew; Hunt, Juliette; Wong, Hector R

    2015-10-01

    The word innovation is derived from the Latin noun innovatus, meaning renewal or change. Although companies such as Google and Apple are nearly synonymous with innovation, virtually all sectors in our current lives are imbued with yearn for innovation. This has led to organizational focus on innovative strategies as well as recruitment of chief innovation officers and teams in a myriad of organizations. At times, however, the word innovation seems like an overused cliché, as there are now more than 5,000 books in print with the word "innovation" in the title. More recently, innovation has garnered significant attention in health care. The future of health care is expected to innovate on a large scale in order to deliver sustained value for an overall transformative care. To date, there are no published reports on the state of the art in innovation in pediatric health care and in particular, pediatric cardiac intensive care. This report will address the issue of innovation in pediatric medicine with relevance to cardiac intensive care and delineate possible future directions and strategies in pediatric cardiac intensive care. © The Author(s) 2015.

  14. Intensive Care Nurses' Attitude on Palliative and End of Life Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tripathy, Swagata; Routray, Pragyan K; Mishra, Jagdish C

    2017-10-01

    Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses have a vital role in the implementation of end of life (EOL) care. There is limited data on the attitude of ICU nurses toward EOL and palliation. This study aimed to investigate knowledge, attitude, and beliefs of intensive care nurses in eastern India toward EOL. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to delegates in two regional critical care nurses' training programs. Of 178 questionnaires distributed, 138 completed, with a response rate of 75.5*. About half (48.5*) had more than 1 year ICU experience. A majority (81.9*) agreed that nurses should be involved in and initiate (62.3*) EOL discussions. Terms "EOL care or palliative care in ICU" were new for 19.6*; 21* and 55.8* disagreed with allowing peaceful death in terminal patients and unrestricted family visits, respectively. Work experience was associated with wanting unrestricted family visitation, discontinuing monitoring and investigations at EOL, equating withholding and withdrawal of treatment, and being a part of EOL team discussions ( P = 0.005, 0.01, 0.01, and 0.001), respectively. Religiousness was associated with a greater desire to initiate EOL discussions ( P = 0.001). Greater emphasis on palliative care in critical care curriculum may improve awareness among critical care nurses.

  15. Continuity of care of emergency surgical admissions: impact on SpR training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ledwidge, S F C; Bryden, E; Halestrap, P; Galland, R B

    2008-06-01

    Continuity of patient care is an important component of surgical education. This study assesses continuity of care in the current working climate. Data were collected prospectively on consecutive emergency general surgical admissions during one month. Our SpR rota is a partial shift 24 hour on call with the SpR's own consultant. The SpR is free of commitments the next day following post-take work. The on call general surgery SpR was designated the 'assessor'. Data were analysed according to involvement of the 'assessor' at subsequent stages of the admission--consent, operation, review during admission and review on discharge. Data were also collected defining whether the 'assessor' and operator followed-up the patient. There were 200 admissions; 108 female and 92 male. Overall 23% admissions had the same 'assessor' for all stages of patient care. The 'assessor' dealt with an aspect of patient care in 11% of admissions who underwent an operation and 29% of admissions who were conservatively managed. SpR follow-up of admissions on whom they operated was 70% but only 41% of admissions who were conservatively managed were followed-up by the assessing SpR. Complete in-hospital continuity of care was poor, although SpR follow-up of patients on whom they had operated was better. Introduction of shift patterns has reduced continuity of patient care. This will have a negative impact on both surgical training and patient care.

  16. Safety of milrinone use in neonatal intensive care units

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S. Samiee-Zafarghandy; S.R. Raman (Sudha R.); J.N. van den Anker (John); K. McHutchison (Kerstin); C.P. Hornik; R.H. Clark; P.B. Smith; D.K. Benjamin (Daniel K.); K. Berezny (Katherine); J. Barrett (Jeffrey); E.V. Capparelli (Edmund); M. Cohen-Wolkowiez (Michael); G.L. Kearns (Greg); M. Laughon (Matthew); A. Muelenaer (Andre); T. Michael O'Shea; I.M. Paul (Ian M.); K. Wade (Kelly); T.J. Walsh (Thomas J.)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractBackground: Milrinone use in the neonatal intensive care unit has increased over the last 10. years despite a paucity of published safety data in infants. We sought to determine the safety of milrinone therapy among infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Methods: We conducted a

  17. [Application and evalauation of care plan for patients admitted to Intensive Care Units].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuzco Cabellos, C; Guasch Pomés, N

    2015-01-01

    Assess whether the use of the nursing care plans improves outcomes of nursing care to patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The study was conducted in a University Hospital of Barcelona in Spain, using a pre- and post-study design. A total of 61 patient records were analysed in the pre-intervention group. A care plan was applied to 55 patients in the post-intervention group. Specific quality indicators in a medical intensive care unit to assess the clinical practice of nursing were used. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the degree of association between quality indicators in the two groups. A total of 116 records of 121 patients were evaluated: 61 pre-intervention and 55 post-intervention. Fisher test: The filling of nursing records, p=.0003. Checking cardiorespiratory arrest equipment, p <.001. Central vascular catheter related bacteraemia (B-CVC) p=.622. Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) p=.1000. Elevation of the head of the bed more than 30° p=.049, and the pain management in non-sedated patients p=.082. The implementation of nursing care plans in patients admitted to the intensive care area may contribute to improvement in the outcomes of nursing care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEEIUC. All rights reserved.

  18. Point-of-care testing on admission to the intensive care unit: lactate and glucose independently predict mortality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Jan; Blobner, Manfred; Busch, Raymonde; Moser, Norman; Kochs, Eberhard; Luppa, Peter B

    2013-02-01

    The aim of the study was to retrospectively investigate whether parameters of routine point-of-care testing (POCT) predict hospital mortality in critically ill surgical patients on admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Arterial blood analyses of 1551 patients on admission to the adult surgical ICU of the Technical University Munich were reviewed. POCT was performed on a blood gas analyser. The association between acid-base status and mortality was evaluated. Metabolic acidosis was defined by base excess (BE) lactate >50% of BE, anion gap (AG)-acidosis by AG >16 mmol/L, hyperchloraemic acidosis by chloride >115 mmol/L. Metabolic alkalosis was defined by BE ≥3 mmol/L. Logistic regression analysis identified variables independently associated with mortality. Overall mortality was 8.8%. Mortality was greater in male patients (p=0.012). Mean age was greater in non-survivors (p55 mm Hg (mortality 23.1%). Three hundred and seventy-seven patients presented with acidosis (mortality 11.4%), thereof 163 patients with lactic acidosis (mortality 19%). Mortality for alkalosis (174 patients) was 12.1%. Mean blood glucose level for non-survivors was higher compared to survivors (plactate, glucose, age, male gender as independent predictors of mortality. Lactate and glucose on ICU admission independently predict mortality. BE and AG failed as prognostic markers. Lactic acidosis showed a high mortality rate implying that lactate levels should be obtained on ICU admission. Prevalence of hyperchloraemic acidosis was low. Metabolic alkalosis was associated with an increased mortality. Further studies on this disturbance and its attendant high mortality are warranted.

  19. Bomb Blast and Its Consequences: Successful Intensive Care Management of Massive Pulmonary Embolsim.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shamim, Faisal; Rizwan, Muhammad; Aziz, Adil

    2016-06-01

    A suicide bomb blast in 2013 at a distant city of Pakistan killed 84 and wounded more than 150 people. Some patients were transferred to our tertiary care hospital because of extreme load on medical services there. This patient arrived at the Aga Khan Hospital, 2 days after the bomb blast injury and underwent an orthopedic procedure. Next day, he developed sudden tachypnea, desaturation, and circulatory collapse. After initial cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he was immediately transferred to surgical intensive care unit. Based on history, echocardiography findings and patient parameters, a clinical diagnosis of massive pulmonary embolism was made and immediate thrombolytic therapy with alteplase was started. The immediate improvement in hemodynamic status was evident following 2 hours of alteplase infusion. This case also highlights the aggressiveness of resuscitation, decision making in initiating thrombolytic therapy on clinical grounds, importance of deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis, and exhaustion of health resources due to blast related mass destruction.

  20. Intensive Care Nursing And Time Management

    OpenAIRE

    ÖZCANLI, Derya; İLGÜN, Seda

    2008-01-01

    Time is not like other resources, because it can not be bought, sold, stolen, borrowed, stored, saved, multiplied or changed. All it can be done is spent. Time management means the effective use of resources, including time, in such a way that indi- viduals are effective in achieving important personal goals. With the increasing emphasis on efficiency in health care, how a nurse manages her time is an important consideration. Since intensive care nurs- ing is focused on the care and tr...

  1. A comprehensive approach to quality management of intensive care services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hariharan, Seetharaman; Dey, Prasanta Kumar

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework for improving intensive care unit performance. The study introduces a quality management framework by combining cause and effect diagram and logical framework. An intensive care unit was identified for the study on the basis of its performance. The reasons for not achieving the desired performance were identified using a cause and effect diagram with the stakeholder involvement. A logical framework was developed using information from the cause and effect diagram and a detailed project plan was developed. The improvement projects were implemented and evaluated. Stakeholders identified various intensive care unit issues. Managerial performance, organizational processes and insufficient staff were considered major issues. A logical framework was developed to plan an improvement project to resolve issues raised by clinicians and patients. Improved infrastructure, state-of-the-art equipment, well maintained facilities, IT-based communication, motivated doctors, nurses and support staff, improved patient care and improved drug availability were considered the main project outputs for improving performance. The proposed framework is currently being used as a continuous quality improvement tool, providing a planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating framework for the quality improvement measures on a sustainable basis. The combined cause and effect diagram and logical framework analysis is a novel and effective approach to improving intensive care performance. Similar approaches could be adopted in any intensive care unit. The paper focuses on a uniform model that can be applied to most intensive care units.

  2. Preliminary UK experience of dexmedetomidine, a novel agent for postoperative sedation in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venn, R M; Bradshaw, C J; Spencer, R; Brealey, D; Caudwell, E; Naughton, C; Vedio, A; Singer, M; Feneck, R; Treacher, D; Willatts, S M; Grounds, R M

    1999-12-01

    Dexmedetomidine, a highly selective and potent alpha2-adrenergic agonist, has a potentially useful role as a sedative agent in patients requiring intensive care. As part of a larger European multicentre trial, a total of 119 postoperative cardiac and general surgical patients requiring ventilation and sedation in an intensive care unit were enrolled in four centres in the United Kingdom. One hundred and five patients were randomly allocated to receive either dexmedetomidine or placebo with rescue sedation and analgesia provided by midazolam and morphine, respectively. Compared with the control group, intubated patients receiving dexmedetomidine required 80% less midazolam [mean 4.9 (5.8) microg.kg-1.h-1 vs. 23.7 (27.5) microg.kg-1.h-1, p < 0.0001], and 50% less morphine [11.2 (13.4) microg.kg-1.h-1 vs. 21.5 (19.4) microg.kg-1.h-1,p = 0.0006]. Cardiovascular effects and adverse events could be predicted from the known properties of alpha-2 agonists. In conclusion, dexmedetomidine is a useful agent for the provision of postoperative analgesia and sedation.

  3. Parental involvement and kangaroo care in European neonatal intensive care units

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pallás-Alonso, Carmen R; Losacco, Valentina; Maraschini, Alice

    2012-01-01

    To compare, in a large representative sample of European neonatal intensive care units, the policies and practices regarding parental involvement and holding babies in the kangaroo care position as well as differences in the tasks mothers and fathers are allowed to carry out....

  4. [Palliative care in the intensive cardiac care unit: a new competence for the cardiac intensivist].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romanò, Massimo; Bertona, Roberta; Zorzoli, Federica; Villani, Rosvaldo

    2017-10-01

    Admissions to the intensive care unit at the end of life of patients with chronic non-malignant diseases are increasing. This involves the need for the development of palliative care culture and competence, also in the field of intensive cardiology. Palliative care should be implemented in the treatment of all patients with critical stages of disease, irrespective of prognosis, in order to improve the quality of care at the end of life.This review analyzes in detail the main clinical, ethical and communicational issues to move toward the introduction of basics of palliative care in cardiac intensive care units. It outlines the importance of shared decision-making with the patient and his family, with special attention to withholding/withdrawing of life-sustaining treatments, palliative sedation, main symptom control, patient and family psychological support.

  5. Improvement in intensive care unit: Effect on mortality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adeniyi Adesida

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The Lagos University Teaching Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU was founded in 1975. It was designed as an eight-bedded ICU, a previous review of outcome of surgical admissions in the ICU in 2002 placed mortality at 40.3%, however, presently run as a five-bed unit with new ICU equipment procured in 2012, arterial blood gas machines, patient monitors, and ventilators with sustained multidisciplinary approach to patient management. We compared the number of admissions, mortality, and discharges to the ward 1 year before (Period I and after the upgrade of the ICU facilities (Period II. Methods: This was a retrospective study of all patients admitted into the ICU between June 2011 and May 2013. We looked at the admission register of the ICU and retrieved biometric data, diagnosis, age, pattern of units admitting patients into ICU, length of stay (LOS, and outcome of ICU care whether the patient died in ICU or was discharged to the ward. Results: There were 122 patients admitted into the ICU in Period I and 156 patients were admitted in Period II with a mean LOS of 6.3 ± 5.4 days and 7.8 ± 7.3 days, respectively. Mortality rate in Period I was 74.6% while mortality fell to 57.7% in Period II (P = 0.005. Conclusion: There was a significant improvement in the ICU outcome with the upgrade of the ICU facilities.

  6. Implementation of a mandatory checklist of protocols and objectives improves compliance with a wide range of evidence-based intensive care unit practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrnes, Matthew C; Schuerer, Douglas J E; Schallom, Marilyn E; Sona, Carrie S; Mazuski, John E; Taylor, Beth E; McKenzie, Wendi; Thomas, James M; Emerson, Jeffrey S; Nemeth, Jennifer L; Bailey, Ruth A; Boyle, Walter A; Buchman, Timothy G; Coopersmith, Craig M

    2009-10-01

    To determine a) if a checklist covering a diverse group of intensive care unit protocols and objectives would improve clinician consideration of these domains and b) if improved consideration would change practice patterns. Pre- and post observational study. A 24-bed surgical/burn/trauma intensive care unit in a teaching hospital. A total of 1399 patients admitted between June 2006 and May 2007. The first component of the study evaluated whether mandating verbal review of a checklist covering 14 intensive care unit best practices altered verbal consideration of these domains. Evaluation was performed using real-time bedside audits on morning rounds. The second component evaluated whether the checklist altered implementation of these domains by changing practice patterns. Evaluation was performed by analyzing data from the Project IMPACT database after patients left the intensive care unit. Verbal consideration of evaluable domains improved from 90.9% (530/583) to 99.7% (669/671, p < .0001) after verbal review of the checklist was mandated. Bedside consideration improved on the use of deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis (p < .05), stress ulcer prophylaxis (p < .01), oral care for ventilated patients (p < 0.01), electrolyte repletion (p < .01), initiation of physical therapy (p < .05), and documentation of restraint orders (p < .0001). Mandatory verbal review of the checklist resulted in a greater than two-fold increase in transferring patients out of the intensive care unit on telemetry (16% vs. 35%, p < .0001) and initiation of physical therapy (28% vs. 42%, p < .0001) compared with baseline practice. A mandatory verbal review of a checklist covering a wide range of objectives and goals at each patient's bedside is an effective method to improve both consideration and implementation of intensive care unit best practices. A bedside checklist is a simple, cost-effective method to prevent errors of omission in basic domains of intensive care unit management that might

  7. Occurrence of nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as a marker for transmission in a surgical intensive care unit in China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, Yong; Zhao, Wei; Liu, Hui; Song, Qing; Wang, Yan; Zhao, Jingya; Zheng, Dongyu; Han, Xuelin; Hu, Xiaohua; Grundmann, Hajo; Han, Li

    In 2008, an intensive care unit (ICU) in a large Chinese hospital was moved from a 6-bed old ward to a 20-bed new ward. After the move, the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients and environmental sites decreased significantly, but the number of ICU-acquired

  8. Computed radiography in neonatal intensive care

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merlo, L.; Bighi, S.; Cervi, P.M.; Lupi, L.

    1991-01-01

    The Authors report their experience in the employment of a computerized digital radiographic system in Neonatal Intensive Care. The analog screen-film system is replaced by photosensitive imaging plates, scanned after X-ray exposure by a laser that releases the digital image, which can then be manipulated on computer work-stations. In a period of twelve months about 200 chest-abdomen X-ray examinations in Neonatal Intensive Care have been performed using this method with good technical and diagnostic results. The use of digital radiography in the neonatal area is of high interest: this system produces good quality images, there is a reduction in radiation dose and 'retakes', the system allows selective enhancement of different structures and their magnification. (orig.)

  9. Teamwork in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbosa, Vanessa Maziero

    2013-01-01

    Medical and technological advances in neonatology have prompted the initiation and expansion of developmentally supportive services for newborns and have incorporated rehabilitation professionals into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) multidisciplinary team. Availability of therapists specialized in the care of neonates, the roles of…

  10. Admission, discharge and triage guidelines for paediatric intensive care units in Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de la Oliva, Pedro; Cambra-Lasaosa, Francisco José; Quintana-Díaz, Manuel; Rey-Galán, Corsino; Sánchez-Díaz, Juan Ignacio; Martín-Delgado, María Cruz; de Carlos-Vicente, Juan Carlos; Hernández-Rastrollo, Ramón; Holanda-Peña, María Soledad; Pilar-Orive, Francisco Javier; Ocete-Hita, Esther; Rodríguez-Núñez, Antonio; Serrano-González, Ana; Blanch, Luis

    2018-05-01

    A paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a separate physical facility or unit specifically designed for the treatment of paediatric patients who, because of the severity of illness or other life-threatening conditions, require comprehensive and continuous inten-sive care by a medical team with special skills in paediatric intensive care medicine. Timely and personal intervention in intensive care reduces mortality, reduces length of stay, and decreases cost of care. With the aim of defending the right of the child to receive the highest attainable standard of health and the facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation, as well as ensuring the quality of care and the safety of critically ill paediatric patients, the Spanish Association of Paediatrics (AEP), Spanish Society of Paediatric Intensive Care (SECIP) and Spanish Society of Critical Care (SEMICYUC) have approved the guidelines for the admission, discharge and triage for Spanish PICUs. By using these guidelines, the performance of Spanish paediatric intensive care units can be optimised and paediatric patients can receive the appropriate level of care for their clinical condition. Copyright © 2017. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

  11. Spiritual Care in the Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Jim Q; Nguyen, Christopher D; Lopes, Richard; Ezeji-Okoye, Stephen C; Kuschner, Ware G

    2018-05-01

    Spiritual care is an important component of high-quality health care, especially for critically ill patients and their families. Despite evidence of benefits from spiritual care, physicians and other health-care providers commonly fail to assess and address their patients' spiritual care needs in the intensive care unit (ICU). In addition, it is common that spiritual care resources that can improve both patient outcomes and family member experiences are underutilized. In this review, we provide an overview of spiritual care and its role in the ICU. We review evidence demonstrating the benefits of, and persistent unmet needs for, spiritual care services, as well as the current state of spiritual care delivery in the ICU setting. Furthermore, we outline tools and strategies intensivists and other critical care medicine health-care professionals can employ to support the spiritual well-being of patients and families, with a special focus on chaplaincy services.

  12. Ethics and law in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danbury, C M; Waldmann, C S

    2006-12-01

    Intensive Care Medicine epitomises the difficulties inherent in modern medicine. In this chapter we examine some key medicolegal and ethical areas that are evolving. The principles of autonomy and consent are well established, but developments in UK caselaw have shown that the courts may be moving away from their traditional deference of the medical profession. We examine some recent cases and discuss the impact that these cases may have on practice in Intensive Care.

  13. Format of medical order sheet improves security of antibiotics prescription: The experience of an intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasserfallen, Jean-Blaise; Bütschi, Anne-Joëlle; Muff, Patrik; Biollaz, Jérôme; Schaller, Marie-Denise; Pannatier, André; Revelly, Jean-Pierre; Chiolero, René

    2004-03-01

    To assess whether formatting the medical order sheet has an effect on the accuracy and security of antibiotics prescription. Prospective assessment of antibiotics prescription over time, before and after the intervention, in comparison with a control ward. The medical and surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital. All patients hospitalized in the medical or surgical ICU between February 1 and April 30, 1997, and July 1 and August 31, 2000, for whom antibiotics were prescribed. Formatting of the medical order sheet in the surgical ICU in 1998. Compliance with the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists' criteria for prescription safety was measured. The proportion of safe orders increased in both units, but the increase was 4.6 times greater in the surgical ICU (66% vs. 74% in the medical ICU and 48% vs. 74% in the surgical ICU). For unsafe orders, the proportion of ambiguous orders decreased by half in the medical ICU (9% vs. 17%) and nearly disappeared in the surgical ICU (1% vs. 30%). The only missing criterion remaining in the surgical ICU was the drug dose unit, which could not be preformatted. The aim of antibiotics prescription (either prophylactic or therapeutic) was indicated only in 51% of the order sheets. Formatting of the order sheet markedly increased security of antibiotics prescription. These findings must be confirmed in other settings and with different drug classes. Formatting the medical order sheet decreases the potential for prescribing errors before full computerized prescription is available.

  14. Awareness of holistic care practices by intensive care nurses in north-western Saudi Arabia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albaqawi, Hamdan M; Butcon, Vincent R; Molina, Roger R

    2017-08-01

    To examine awareness of holistic patient care by staff nurses in the intensive care units of hospitals in the city of Hail, Saudi Arabia.  Methods: A quantitative correlational study design was used to investigate relationships between intensive care nurse's awareness of holistic practices and nurses' latest performance review. Intensive care staff nurses (n=99) from 4 public sector hospitals in Hail were surveyed on their awareness of variables across 5 holistic domains: physiological, sociocultural, psychological, developmental, and spiritual. Data were collected between October and December 2015 using written survey, and performance evaluations obtained from the hospital administrations. Results were statistically analyzed and compared (numerical, percentage, Pearson's correlation, Chronbach's alpha). Results: The ICU staff nurses in Hail City were aware of the secular aspects of holistic care, and the majority had very good performance evaluations. There were no demographic trends regarding holistic awareness and nurse performance. Further, awareness of holistic care was not associated with nurse performance.  Conclusion: A caring-enhancement workshop and a mentoring program for non-Saudi nurses may increase holistic care awareness and enhance its practice in the ICUs.

  15. Sublingual misoprostol versus standard surgical care for treatment of incomplete abortion in five sub-Saharan African countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shochet Tara

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In low-resource settings, where abortion is highly restricted and self-induced abortions are common, access to post-abortion care (PAC services, especially treatment of incomplete terminations, is a priority. Standard post-abortion care has involved surgical intervention but can be hard to access in these areas. Misoprostol provides an alternative to surgical intervention that could increase access to abortion care. We sought to gather additional evidence regarding the efficacy of 400 mcg of sublingual misoprostol vs. standard surgical care for treatment of incomplete abortion in the environments where need for economical non-surgical treatments may be most useful. Methods A total of 860 women received either sublingual misoprostol or standard surgical care for treatment of incomplete abortion in a multi-site randomized trial. Women with confirmed incomplete abortion, defined as past or present history of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy and an open cervical os, were eligible to participate. Participants returned for follow-up one week later to confirm clinical status. If abortion was incomplete at that time, women were offered an additional follow-up visit or immediate surgical evacuation. Results Both misoprostol and surgical evacuation are highly effective treatments for incomplete abortion (misoprostol: 94.4%, surgical: 100.0%. Misoprostol treatment resulted in a somewhat lower chance of success than standard surgical practice (RR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.89-0.92. Both tolerability of side effects and women’s satisfaction were similar in the two study arms. Conclusion Misoprostol, much easier to provide than surgery in low-resource environments, can be used safely, successfully, and satisfactorily for treatment of incomplete abortion. Focus should shift to program implementation, including task-shifting the provision of post-abortion care to mid- and low- level providers, training and assurance of drug availability. Trial

  16. Impact of a clinical microbiology-intensive care consulting program in a cardiothoracic intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arena, Fabio; Scolletta, Sabino; Marchetti, Luca; Galano, Angelo; Maglioni, Enivarco; Giani, Tommaso; Corsi, Elisabetta; Lombardi, Silvia; Biagioli, Bonizella; Rossolini, Gian Maria

    2015-09-01

    A preintervention-postintervention study was carried out over a 4-year period to assess the impact of an antimicrobial stewardship intervention, based on clinical microbiologist ward rounds (clinical microbiology-intensive care partnership [CMICP]), at a cardiothoracic intensive care unit. Comparison of clinical data for 37 patients with diagnosis of bacteremia (18 from preintervention period, 19 from postintervention period) revealed that CMICP implementation resulted in (1) significant increase of appropriate empirical treatments (+34%, P = .029), compliance with guidelines (+28%, P = .019), and number of de-escalations (+42%, P = .032); and (2) decrease (average = 2.5 days) in time to optimization of antimicrobial therapy and levofloxacin (Δ 2009-2012 = -74 defined daily dose [DDD]/1,000 bed days) and teicoplanin (Δ 2009-2012 = -28 DDD/1,000 bed days) use. Copyright © 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Transfusional profile in different types of intensive care units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilusca Cardoso de Paula

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and objectives: anemia is a common clinical finding in intensive care units. The red blood cell transfusion is the main form of treatment, despite the associated risks. Thus, we proposed to evaluate the profile of transfusional patients in different intensive care units. Methods: prospective analysis of patients admitted in the intensive care units of a tertiary university hospital with an indication for transfusion of packed red blood cells. Demographic profile and transfusional profile were collected, a univariate analysis was done, and the results were considered significant at p = 0.05. Results: 408 transfusions were analyzed in 71 patients. The mean hemoglobin concentration on admission was 9.7 ± 2.3 g/dL and the pre-transfusional concentration was 6.9 ± 1.1 g/dL. The main indications for transfusion were hemoglobin concentration (49% and active bleeding (32%. The median number of units transfused per episode was 2 (1-2 and the median storage time was 14 (7-21 days. The number of patients transfused with hemoglobin levels greater than 7 g/dL and the number of bags transfused per episode were significantly different among intensive care units. Patients who received three or more transfusions had longer mechanical ventilation time and intensive care unit stay and higher mortality after 60 days. There was an association of mortality with disease severity but not with transfusional characteristics. Conclusions: the practice of blood products transfusion was partially in agreement with the guidelines recommended, although there are differences in behavior between the different profiles of intensive care units. Transfused patients evolved with unfavorable outcomes. Despite the scarcity of blood in blood banks, the mean storage time of the bags was high.

  18. The "Flipped Classroom" Model for Teaching in the Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tainter, Christopher R; Wong, Nelson L; Cudemus-Deseda, Gaston A; Bittner, Edward A

    2017-03-01

    The intensive care unit (ICU) is a dynamic and complex learning environment. The wide range in trainee's experience, specialty training, fluctuations in patient acuity and volume, limitations in trainee duty hours, and additional responsibilities of the faculty contribute to the challenge in providing a consistent experience with traditional educational strategies. The "flipped classroom" is an educational model with the potential to improve the learning environment. In this paradigm, students gain exposure to new material outside class and then use class time to assimilate the knowledge through problem-solving exercises or discussion. The rationale and pedagogical foundations for the flipped classroom are reviewed, practical considerations are discussed, and an example of successful implementation is provided. An education curriculum was devised and evaluated prospectively for teaching point-of-care echocardiography to residents rotating in the surgical ICU. Preintervention and postintervention scores of knowledge, confidence, perceived usefulness, and likelihood of use the skills improved for each module. The quality of the experience was rated highly for each of the sessions. The flipped classroom education curriculum has many advantages. This pilot study was well received, and learners showed improvement in all areas evaluated, across several demographic subgroups and self-identified learning styles.

  19. Incidence of constipation in an intensive care unit

    OpenAIRE

    Guerra, Tatiana Lopes de Souza; Mendonça, Simone Sotero; Guimarães Marshall, Norma

    2013-01-01

    Objectives To evaluate the incidence of constipation in critical patients on enteral nutrition in a hospital intensive care unit and to correlate this incidence with the variables found for critical patients. Methods The present investigation was a retrospective analytical study conducted in the intensive care unit of Hospital Regional da Asa Norte (DF) via the analysis of medical records of patients admitted during the period from January to December 2011. Data on the incidence of constipati...

  20. Rotation placements help students' understanding of intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, Lisa

    2011-07-01

    It is vital that children's nursing students are fit for practice when they qualify and are able to meet various essential skills as defined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). To gain the knowledge and skills required, students need placements in areas where high dependency and potentially intensive care are delivered. Efforts to maximise the number of students experiencing intensive care as a placement have led to the development of the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) rotation, increasing placements on the PICU from 5 to 40 per cent of the student cohort per year. The lecturer practitioner organises the rotation, providing credible links between university and practice areas, while supporting students and staff in offering a high-quality placement experience. Students say the rotation offers a positive insight into PICU nursing, helping them develop knowledge and skills in a technical area and creating an interest in this specialty.

  1. Stress ulcer prophylaxis in the intensive care unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krag, Morten Brøgger; Perner, A; Wetterslev, J

    2013-01-01

    Stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) is regarded as standard of care in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, recent randomized, clinical trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses have questioned the rationale and level of evidence for this recommendation. The aim of the present systematic review was to evaluate...... incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding varies considerably. Data on the incidence and severity of GI bleeding in general ICUs in the developed world as of today are lacking. The best intervention for SUP is yet to be settled by balancing efficacy and harm. In essence, it is unresolved if intensive care...... patients benefit overall from SUP. The following clinically research questions are unanswered: (1) What is the incidence of GI bleeding, and which interventions are used for SUP in general ICUs today?; (2) Which criteria are used to prescribe SUP?; (3) What is the best SUP intervention?; (4) Do intensive...

  2. Guideline for stress ulcer prophylaxis in the intensive care unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Kristian Rørbaek; Lorentzen, Kristian; Clausen, Niels

    2014-01-01

    Stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) is commonly used in the intensive care unit (ICU), and is recommended in the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines 2012. The present guideline from the Danish Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Danish Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine sums...... critically ill patients in the ICU outside the context of randomized controlled trials (GRADE 1C). No robust evidence supports recommendations for subpopulations in the ICU such as septic, burn, trauma, cardiothoracic or enterally fed patients. However, if SUP is considered clinically indicated in individual...

  3. Abnormal environmental light exposure in the intensive care environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Emily P; Abbott, Sabra M; Reid, Kathryn J; Zee, Phyllis C; Maas, Matthew B

    2017-08-01

    We sought to characterize ambient light exposure in the intensive care unit (ICU) environment to identify patterns of light exposure relevant to circadian regulation. A light monitor was affixed to subjects' bed at eye level in a modern intensive care unit and continuously recorded illuminescence for at least 24h per subject. Blood was sampled hourly and measured for plasma melatonin. Subjects underwent hourly vital sign and bedside neurologic assessments. Care protocols and the ICU environment were not modified for the study. A total of 67,324 30-second epochs of light data were collected from 17 subjects. Light intensity peaked in the late morning, median 64.1 (interquartile range 19.7-138.7) lux. The 75th percentile of light intensity exceeded 100lx only between 9AM and noon, and never exceeded 150lx. There was no correlation between melatonin amplitude and daytime, nighttime or total light exposure (Spearman's correlation coefficients all 0.5). Patients' environmental light exposure in the intensive care unit is consistently low and follows a diurnal pattern. No effect of nighttime light exposure was observed on melatonin secretion. Inadequate daytime light exposure in the ICU may contribute to abnormal circadian rhythms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. [Admission, discharge and triage guidelines for paediatric intensive care units in Spain].

    Science.gov (United States)

    de la Oliva, Pedro; Cambra-Lasaosa, Francisco José; Quintana-Díaz, Manuel; Rey-Galán, Corsino; Sánchez-Díaz, Juan Ignacio; Martín-Delgado, María Cruz; de Carlos-Vicente, Juan Carlos; Hernández-Rastrollo, Ramón; Holanda-Peña, María Soledad; Pilar-Orive, Francisco Javier; Ocete-Hita, Esther; Rodríguez-Núñez, Antonio; Serrano-González, Ana; Blanch, Luis

    2018-05-01

    A paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a separate physical facility or unit specifically designed for the treatment of paediatric patients who, because of the severity of illness or other life-threatening conditions, require comprehensive and continuous inten-sive care by a medical team with special skills in paediatric intensive care medicine. Timely and personal intervention in intensive care reduces mortality, reduces length of stay, and decreases cost of care. With the aim of defending the right of the child to receive the highest attainable standard of health and the facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation, as well as ensuring the quality of care and the safety of critically ill paediatric patients, the Spanish Association of Paediatrics (AEP), Spanish Society of Paediatric Intensive Care (SECIP) and Spanish Society of Critical Care (SEMICYUC) have approved the guidelines for the admission, discharge and triage for Spanish PICUs. By using these guidelines, the performance of Spanish paediatric intensive care units can be optimised and paediatric patients can receive the appropriate level of care for their clinical condition. Copyright © 2017 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  5. Performance of an automated electronic acute lung injury screening system in intensive care unit patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenig, Helen C; Finkel, Barbara B; Khalsa, Satjeet S; Lanken, Paul N; Prasad, Meeta; Urbani, Richard; Fuchs, Barry D

    2011-01-01

    Lung protective ventilation reduces mortality in patients with acute lung injury, but underrecognition of acute lung injury has limited its use. We recently validated an automated electronic acute lung injury surveillance system in patients with major trauma in a single intensive care unit. In this study, we assessed the system's performance as a prospective acute lung injury screening tool in a diverse population of intensive care unit patients. Patients were screened prospectively for acute lung injury over 21 wks by the automated system and by an experienced research coordinator who manually screened subjects for enrollment in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Clinical Trials Network (ARDSNet) trials. Performance of the automated system was assessed by comparing its results with the manual screening process. Discordant results were adjudicated blindly by two physician reviewers. In addition, a sensitivity analysis using a range of assumptions was conducted to better estimate the system's performance. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, an academic medical center and ARDSNet center (1994-2006). Intubated patients in medical and surgical intensive care units. None. Of 1270 patients screened, 84 were identified with acute lung injury (incidence of 6.6%). The automated screening system had a sensitivity of 97.6% (95% confidence interval, 96.8-98.4%) and a specificity of 97.6% (95% confidence interval, 96.8-98.4%). The manual screening algorithm had a sensitivity of 57.1% (95% confidence interval, 54.5-59.8%) and a specificity of 99.7% (95% confidence interval, 99.4-100%). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated a range for sensitivity of 75.0-97.6% of the automated system under varying assumptions. Under all assumptions, the automated system demonstrated higher sensitivity than and comparable specificity to the manual screening method. An automated electronic system identified patients with acute lung injury with high sensitivity and specificity in diverse

  6. Lived experience of the intensive care unit for patients who experienced delirium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitehorne, Karen; Gaudine, Alice; Meadus, Robert; Solberg, Shirley

    2015-11-01

    Delirium is a common occurrence for patients in the intensive care unit and can have a profound and lasting impact on them. Few studies describe the experience of intensive care patients who have had delirium. To understand the lived experience of intensive care for critically ill patients who experienced delirium. The study participants consisted of 7 men and 3 women, 46 to 70 years old, who had delirium according to the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit. The van Manen method of hermeneutic phenomenology was used, and data collection entailed audio recorded semistructured interviews. Four themes were detected: "I can't remember," "Wanting to make a connection," "Trying to get it straight," and "Fear and safety concerns." Nurses working in intensive care units need to assess patients for delirium, assess the mental status of patients who have delirium, and help patients and patients' families learn about and deal with the psychological effects of the intensive care unit experience. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

  7. Surgical Technical Evidence Review for Elective Total Joint Replacement Conducted for the AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siletz, Anaar E.; Singer, Emily S.; Faltermeier, Claire; Hu, Q. Lina; Ko, Clifford Y.; Golladay, Gregory J.; Kates, Stephen L.; Wick, Elizabeth C.; Maggard-Gibbons, Melinda

    2018-01-01

    Background: Use of enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) can improve patient outcomes, yet national implementation of these pathways remains low. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ; funder), the American College of Surgeons, and the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patent Safety and Quality have developed the Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery—a national effort to catalyze implementation of practices to improve perioperative care and enhance recovery of surgical patients. This review synthesizes evidence that can be used to develop a protocol for elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA). Study Design: This review focuses on potential components of the protocol relevant to surgeons; anesthesia components are reported separately. Components were identified through review of existing pathways and from consultation with technical experts. For each, a structured review of MEDLINE identified systematic reviews, randomized trials, and observational studies that reported on these components in patients undergoing elective TKA/THA. This primary evidence review was combined with existing clinical guidelines in a narrative format. Results: Sixteen components were reviewed. Of the 10 preoperative components, most were focused on risk factor assessment including anemia, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, obesity, nutrition, immune-modulating therapy, and opiates. Preoperative education, venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis, and bathing/Staphylococcus aureus decolonization were also included. The routine use of drains was the only intraoperative component evaluated. The 5 postoperative components included early mobilization, continuous passive motion, extended duration VTE prophylaxis, early oral alimentation, and discharge planning. Conclusion: This review synthesizes the evidence supporting potential surgical components of an ERP for elective TKA/THA. The AHRQ Safety Program for Improving

  8. Surgical Technical Evidence Review for Elective Total Joint Replacement Conducted for the AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Childers, Christopher P; Siletz, Anaar E; Singer, Emily S; Faltermeier, Claire; Hu, Q Lina; Ko, Clifford Y; Golladay, Gregory J; Kates, Stephen L; Wick, Elizabeth C; Maggard-Gibbons, Melinda

    2018-01-01

    Use of enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) can improve patient outcomes, yet national implementation of these pathways remains low. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ; funder), the American College of Surgeons, and the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patent Safety and Quality have developed the Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery-a national effort to catalyze implementation of practices to improve perioperative care and enhance recovery of surgical patients. This review synthesizes evidence that can be used to develop a protocol for elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA). This review focuses on potential components of the protocol relevant to surgeons; anesthesia components are reported separately. Components were identified through review of existing pathways and from consultation with technical experts. For each, a structured review of MEDLINE identified systematic reviews, randomized trials, and observational studies that reported on these components in patients undergoing elective TKA/THA. This primary evidence review was combined with existing clinical guidelines in a narrative format. Sixteen components were reviewed. Of the 10 preoperative components, most were focused on risk factor assessment including anemia, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, obesity, nutrition, immune-modulating therapy, and opiates. Preoperative education, venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis, and bathing/ Staphylococcus aureus decolonization were also included. The routine use of drains was the only intraoperative component evaluated. The 5 postoperative components included early mobilization, continuous passive motion, extended duration VTE prophylaxis, early oral alimentation, and discharge planning. This review synthesizes the evidence supporting potential surgical components of an ERP for elective TKA/THA. The AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery aims to guide hospitals and

  9. Successful prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in an intensive care setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marra, Alexandre R; Cal, Ruy Guilherme Rodrigues; Silva, Cláudia Vallone; Caserta, Raquel Afonso; Paes, Angela Tavares; Moura, Denis Faria; dos Santos, Oscar Fernando Pavão; Edmond, Michael B; Durão, Marcelino Souza

    2009-10-01

    Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common health care-associated infections (HAIs) in critical care settings. Our objective was to examine the effect of a series of interventions, implemented in 3 different periods to reduce the incidence of VAP in an intensive care unit (ICU). A quasiexperimental study was conducted in a medical-surgical ICU. Multiple interventions to optimize VAP prevention were performed during different phases. From March 2001 to December 2002 (phase 1: P1), some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) evidence-based practices were implemented. From January 2003 to December 2006 (P2), we intervened in these processes at the same time that performance monitoring was occurring at the bedside, and, from January 2007 to September 2008 (P3), we continued P2 interventions and implemented the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's ventilator bundle plus oral decontamination with chlorhexidine and continuous aspiration of subglottic secretions. The incidence density of VAP in the ICU per 1000 patient-days was 16.4 in phase 1, 15.0 in phase 2, and 10.4 in phase 3, P=.05. Getting to zero VAP was possible only in P3 when compliance with all interventions exceeded 95%. These results suggest that reducing VAP rates to zero is a complex process that involves multiple performance measures and interventions.

  10. [Economy in intensive care medicine--a contradiction?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janssens, U

    2015-05-01

    Medical progress and demographic changes will lead to increasing budgetary constraints in the health care system in the coming years. With respect to economic, medical, and ethical aspects, intensive care medicine has a particular role within the health system. Nonetheless, financial restriction will be inevitable in the near future. A literature review was performed. In an era of economic decline accompanied by widespread recognition that healthcare costs are on a consistent upward spiral, rationalization and rationing are unavoidable. Priorization models will play a pivotal role in allocation of resources. Individual ethics (respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence) as well as justice are essential in daily practice. Economic thinking and acting as well as being ethically responsible are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, acting in an ethically responsible manner will be of considerable significance given the pressure of increasing costs in intensive care medicine.

  11. Equitable access to comprehensive surgical care: the potential of indigenous private philanthropy in low-income settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samad, Lubna; Iqbal, Mehreen; Tariq, Ahson; Shahzad, Wasif; Khan, Aamir J

    2015-01-01

    Equitable access to surgical care is necessary for improving global health. We report on the performance, financial sustainability, and policy impact of a free-of-cost multispecialty surgical delivery program in Karachi, Pakistan built upon local private philanthropy. We evaluated trends in surgical service delivery, expenditures, and philanthropic donations from Indus Hospital's first 5 years of operation (2007-2012), projected these over the hospital's current expansion phase, compared these to publicly accessible records of other philanthropic hospitals providing surgical care, and documented the government's evolving policies toward this model. Between 2007 and 2012, Indus Hospital treated 40,012 in-patients free of cost, 33,606 (84 %) of them for surgical procedures. Surgical procedures increased fivefold to 9,478 during 2011-2012 from 1,838 during 2007-2008. Bed occupancy increased to 91 % from 65 % over the same period. External surgical missions accounted for less than 0.5 % of patients served. Ninety-eight percent (98 %) of all philanthropic donations--totaling USD 26.6 million over 2007-2012--were locally generated. Zakat (obligatory annual religious alms in the Islamic faith) constituted 34 % of all donations, followed by unrestricted funds (24 %) and donations-in-kind (24 %), buildings (12 %), grants (5 %), and return on investments (1 %). Overall, donations received between 2007 and 2012 increased sevenfold, with Zakat increasing 12-fold. During 2013-2014, the Government of Pakistan provided land lease and annual operational grants totaling USD 9 million. Local philanthropy can sustain and grow the provision of free, high-quality surgical care in low-income settings, and encourage the development of hybrid government-philanthropic models of surgical care.

  12. Performance of three prognostic models in patients with cancer in need of intensive care in a medical center in China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    XueZhong Xing

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 (SAPS 3, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE IV in patients with cancer admitted to intensive care unit (ICU in a single medical center in China.This is a retrospective observational cohort study including nine hundred and eighty one consecutive patients over a 2-year period.The hospital mortality rate was 4.5%. When all 981 patients were evaluated, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC, 95% Confidential Intervals of the three models in predicting hospital mortality were 0.948 (0.914-0.982, 0.863 (0.804-0.923, and 0.873 (0.813-0.934 for SAPS 3, APACHE II and APACHE IV respectively. The p values of Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics for the models were 0.759, 0.900 and 0.878 for SAPS 3, APACHE II and APACHE IV respectively. However, SAPS 3 and APACHE IV underestimated the in-hospital mortality with standardized mortality ratio (SMR of 1.5 and 1.17 respectively, while APACHE II overestimated the in-hospital mortality with SMR of 0.72. Further analysis showed that discrimination power was better with SAPS 3 than with APACHE II and APACHE IV whether for emergency surgical and medical patients (AUROC of 0.912 vs 0.866 and 0.857 or for scheduled surgical patients (AUROC of 0.945 vs 0.834 and 0.851. Calibration was good for all models (all p > 0.05 whether for scheduled surgical patients or emergency surgical and medical patients. However, in terms of SMR, SAPS 3 was both accurate in predicting the in-hospital mortality for emergency surgical and medical patients and for scheduled surgical patients, while APACHE IV and APACHE II were not.In this cohort, we found that APACHE II, APACHE IV and SAPS 3 models had good discrimination and calibration ability in predicting in-hospital mortality of critically ill patients with cancer in need of intensive care. Of

  13. Knowledge Sharing, Control of Care Quality, and Innovation in Intensive Care Nursing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paunova, Minna; Li-Ying, Jason; Egerod, Ingrid Eugenie

    This study investigates the influence of nurse knowledge sharing behavior on nurse innovation, given different conditions of control of care quality within the intensive care unit (ICU). After conducting a number of interviews and a pilot study, we carried out a multi-source survey study of more...... control of care quality and innovate may be conflicting, unless handled properly....

  14. Why routine intensive care unit admission after elective open infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm repair is no longer an evidence based practice.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Ryan, David

    2012-01-31

    BACKGROUND: Elective open infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) repair is major surgery performed on high-risk patients. Routine ICU admission postoperatively is the current accepted standard of care. Few of these patients actually require a level of care that cannot be provided just as effectively in a surgical high dependency unit (HDU). Our aim was to determine, \\'can high risk patients that will require ICU admission postoperatively be reliably identified preoperatively?\\'. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all elective open infrarenal AAA repairs in our institution over a 3-year period was performed. The Estimation of Physiological Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) model was used as our risk stratification tool for predicting post-operative morbidity. Renal function was also considered as a predictor of outcome, independent of the E-PASS. RESULTS: 80% (n = 16) were admitted to ICU. Only 30% (n = 6) of the total study population necessitated intensive care. There were 9 complications in 7 patients in our study. The E-PASS comprehensive risk score (CRS)\\/Surgical stress score (SSS) were found to be significantly associated with the presence of a complication (p = 0.009)\\/(p = 0.032) respectively. Serum creatinine (p = 0.013) was similarly significantly associated with the presence of a complication. CONCLUSIONS: The E-PASS model possessing increasing external validity is an effective risk stratification tool in safely deciding the appropriate level of post-operative care for elective infrarenal AAA repairs.

  15. Access to emergency and surgical care in sub-Saharan Africa: the infrastructure gap.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsia, Renee Y; Mbembati, Naboth A; Macfarlane, Sarah; Kruk, Margaret E

    2012-05-01

    The effort to increase access to emergency and surgical care in low-income countries has received global attention. While most of the literature on this issue focuses on workforce challenges, it is critical to recognize infrastructure gaps that hinder the ability of health systems to make emergency and surgical care a reality. This study reviews key barriers to the provision of emergency and surgical care in sub-Saharan Africa using aggregate data from the Service Provision Assessments and Demographic and Health Surveys of five countries: Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. For hospitals and health centres, competency was assessed in six areas: basic infrastructure, equipment, medicine storage, infection control, education and quality control. Percentage of compliant facilities in each country was calculated for each of the six areas to facilitate comparison of hospitals and health centres across the five countries. The percentage of hospitals with dependable running water and electricity ranged from 22% to 46%. In countries analysed, only 19-50% of hospitals had the ability to provide 24-hour emergency care. For storage of medication, only 18% to 41% of facilities had unexpired drugs and current inventories. Availability of supplies to control infection and safely dispose of hazardous waste was generally poor (less than 50%) across all facilities. As few as 14% of hospitals (and as high as 76%) among those surveyed had training and supervision in place. No surveyed hospital had enough infrastructure to follow minimum standards and practices that the World Health Organization has deemed essential for the provision of emergency and surgical care. The countries where these hospitals are located may be representative of other low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the results suggest that increased attention to building up the infrastructure within struggling health systems is necessary for improvements in global access to medical care.

  16. Outcomes of surgical management of intestinal atresias

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2013-11-22

    Nov 22, 2013 ... nutrition and neonatal surgical intensive care services are the norm. Thus, outcome of management in ... Social Sciences (SPSS 15.0 version, SPSS Inc, Chicago Ill) was used for data entry and analysis. ..... Excellent long‑term outcome for survivors of apple peel atresia. J Pediatr Surg 2002;37:61‑5. 17.

  17. The need for pharmaceutical care in an intensive care unit at a teaching hospital in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N Shellack

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Background. The role of the pharmacist has evolved over the last 2 decades beyond traditional functions such as stock control and dispensing. Objectives. To describe the functions performed by a clinical pharmacist while based in a surgical and trauma intensive care unit of a teaching hospital. Methods. An operational research study that included indications of programme success was conducted. Interventions to assess therapy and achieve definite outcomes to satisfy patients’ medicine needs were documented for 51 patients over a study period of 8 weeks.Results. A total of 181 interventions were suggested by the pharmacist, with 127 (70% accepted and implemented by the medical and nursing staff of the unit. The most frequent interventions were related to: untreated medical conditions (15.5%, appropriate therapy or course (13.8%, investigations indicated or outstanding (12.2%, and inappropriate doses and dosing frequency (11%. Interventions were also made regularly to address system errors or non-compliance and factors hindering therapeutic effect. Of the 250 h the pharmacist spent in the ward, most time was used for pharmaceutical care (28% and ward rounds (21% with members of the multidisciplinary team.Conclusions. The study results demonstrated that a clinical pharmacist’s contribution to patient care at ward level resulted in improved monitoring of pharmacotherapy. Medicine-related problems were identified and addressed.

  18. Nurses' knowledge and barriers regarding pain management in intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hsiang-Ling; Tsai, Yun-Fang

    2010-11-01

    To explore nurses' knowledge and barriers regarding pain management in intensive care units. Pain is a common and treatable condition among intensive care patients. Quality care of these patients depends on the pain knowledge and pain management skills of critical care nurses. However, no single study has explored these nurses' knowledge of and perceived barriers to pain management in Taiwan. A cross-sectional study. Intensive care unit nurses (n = 370) were recruited from 16 hospitals chosen by stratified sampling across Taipei County in Taiwan. Data were collected on nurses' knowledge of pain management using the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey-Taiwanese version, on perceived barriers to pain management using a researcher-developed scale and on background information. The overall average correct response rate for the knowledge scale was 53.4%, indicating poor knowledge of pain management. The top barrier to managing pain identified by these nurses was 'giving proper pain prescription needs doctor's approval; can't depend on me'. Knowledge of pain management was significantly and negatively related to perceived barriers to pain management. In addition, scores for knowledge and perceived barriers differed significantly by specific intensive care unit. Knowledge also differed significantly by nurses' education level, clinical competence level (nursing ladder) and hospital accreditation category. Our results indicate an urgent need to strengthen pain education by including case analysis for intensive care nurses in Taiwan. Pain education should target knowledge deficits and barriers to changing pain management approaches for Taiwanese nurses in intensive care units. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  19. Funding intensive care - approaches in systems using diagnosis-related groups.

    OpenAIRE

    Ettelt, S; Nolte, E

    2010-01-01

    This report reviews approaches to funding intensive care in health systems that use activitybased payment mechanisms based on diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) to reimburse hospital care. The report aims to inform the current debate about options for funding intensive care services for adults, children and newborns in England. Funding mechanisms reviewed here include those in Australia (Victoria), Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United States (Medicare). Approaches to org...

  20. Cognitive and physical rehabilitation of intensive care unit survivors: results of the RETURN randomized controlled pilot investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, James C; Ely, E Wesley; Morey, Miriam C; Anderson, Venice M; Denne, Laural B; Clune, Jennifer; Siebert, Carol S; Archer, Kristin R; Torres, Renee; Janz, David; Schiro, Elena; Jones, Julie; Shintani, Ayumi K; Levine, Brian; Pun, Brenda T; Thompson, Jennifer; Brummel, Nathan E; Hoenig, Helen

    2012-04-01

    Millions of patients who survive medical and surgical general intensive care unit care every year experience newly acquired long-term cognitive impairment and profound physical and functional disabilities. To overcome the current reality in which patients receive inadequate rehabilitation, we devised a multifaceted, in-home, telerehabilitation program implemented using social workers and psychology technicians with the goal of improving cognitive and functional outcomes. This was a single-site, feasibility, pilot, randomized trial of 21 general medical/surgical intensive care unit survivors (8 controls and 13 intervention patients) with either cognitive or functional impairment at hospital discharge. After discharge, study controls received usual care (sporadic rehabilitation), whereas intervention patients received a combination of in-home cognitive, physical, and functional rehabilitation over a 3-month period via a social worker or master's level psychology technician utilizing telemedicine to allow specialized multidisciplinary treatment. Interventions over 12 wks included six in-person visits for cognitive rehabilitation and six televisits for physical/functional rehabilitation. Outcomes were measured at the completion of the rehabilitation program (i.e., at 3 months), with cognitive functioning as the primary outcome. Analyses were conducted using linear regression to examine differences in 3-month outcomes between treatment groups while adjusting for baseline scores. Patients tolerated the program with only one adverse event reported. At baseline both groups were well-matched. At 3-month follow-up, intervention group patients demonstrated significantly improved cognitive executive functioning on the widely used and well-normed Tower test (for planning and strategic thinking) vs. controls (median [interquartile range], 13.0 [11.5-14.0] vs. 7.5 [4.0-8.5]; adjusted p improving cognitive performance and functional outcomes in just 3 months. Future investigations

  1. Burnout Among Anesthetists and Intensive Care Physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikalauskas, Audrius; Benetis, Rimantas; Širvinskas, Edmundas; Andrejaitienė, Judita; Kinduris, Šarūnas; Macas, Andrius; Padaiga, Žilvinas

    2018-01-01

    Burnout is a syndrome of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and low personal accomplishment. Little is known about burnout in physicians. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of burnout among anesthetists and intensive care physicians, and associations between burnout and personal, as well as professional, characteristics. In total, 220 anesthetists and intensive care physicians were contacted by email, asking them to participate in the study. For depression screening the PHQ-2 questionnaire, for problem drinking, CAGE items were used. Burnout was measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Overall, 34% anesthetists and intensive care physicians indicated high levels of emotional exhaustion, 25% indicated high levels of depersonalization, and 38% showed low personal accomplishment. Burnout was found more frequent among subjects with problem drinking (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.5-6.8), depressiveness (OR 10.2, 95% CI 4.6-22.6), cardiovascular disorders (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.7-7.1), and digestive disorders (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2-4.0). Some favorite after-work activities positively correlated with burnout, such as sedative medications abuse (OR 4.8, 95% CI 1.8-12.5), alcohol abuse (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.5), eating more than usual (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.5), and transferring the accumulated stress to relatives (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.4-5.5). In contrast, reading of non-medical literature seemed to have a protective effect (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2-0.9). Burnout was highly prevalent among anesthetists and intensive care physicians with two fifths of them meeting diagnostic criteria. It was strongly correlated with problem drinking, depressiveness, cardiovascular and digestive disorders, use of sedatives and overeating.

  2. [Cases of acute poisoning admitted to a medical intensive care unit].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viertel, A; Weidmann, E; Brodt, H R

    2001-10-19

    Because of the paucity of information on the epidemiology of acute poisoning requiring intensive medical care, all such patients treated on the medical intensive care unit of the university hospital in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, between January 1993 and December 1999, were retrospectively evaluated. Of the total of 6211 patients, 147 (80 women, 67 men, mean age 41 years, 2,3 %) were treated for acute intoxication in the intensive care unit. Reasons for admission to the intensive care unit were the need for ventilator treatment or intensive monitoring of vital functions. 52 % of the patients (n = 76) had attempted suicide, most of them using anti-depressive drugs (n = 19), paracetamol (n = 16), or benzodiazepines (n = 9). Two patients (2,6 %) died. 48 % of the patients (n = 71) were admitted because of accidental poisoning. Leading toxic agents in this group were heroin (n = 19), alcohol (n = 18) and digitalis (n = 12). 11 patients had taken herbicides, animal poisons or chemicals used at work or for house cleaning. In this cohort, three i. v. drug abusers (4,2 %) had died. Depending on the agents used, a variety of treatments (charcoal, antidots, extracorporal therapy) were undertaken. Due to excellent care in the prehospital phase and in the emergency room the number of patients requiring treatment on the intensive care unit was rather low. The mortality was in the range of other reports.

  3. Reducing nosocomial infections in neonatal intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Eileen; Alderdice, Fiona; McCall, Emma; Jenkins, John; Craig, Stanley

    2010-09-01

    Nosocomial infection is a common problem in neonatal intensive care. A pilot quality improvement initiative focussing on hand hygiene and aimed at reducing nosocomial infection in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants was introduced in five Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Line associated laboratory confirmed bloodstream infection (LCBSI) and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) were chosen as main outcome measures. In VLBW infants, the rate of line associated LCBSI per 1000 central venous catheter days fell by 24%. The rate of VAP per 1000 ventilator days in VLBW infants fell by 38%. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires showed a statistically significant increase in use of alcohol-based gels and increased knowledge of hand hygiene.

  4. Evaluation of a Progressive Mobility Protocol in Postoperative Cardiothoracic Surgical Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Floyd, Shawn; Craig, Sarah W; Topley, Darla; Tullmann, Dorothy

    2016-01-01

    Cardiothoracic surgical patients are at high risk for complications related to immobility, such as increased intensive care and hospital length of stay, intensive care unit readmission, pressure ulcer development, and deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolus. A progressive mobility protocol was started in the thoracic cardiovascular intensive care unit in a rural academic medical center. The purpose of the progressive mobility protocol was to increase mobilization of postoperative patients and decrease complications related to immobility in this unique patient population. A matched-pairs design was used to compare a randomly selected sample of the preintervention group (n = 30) to a matched postintervention group (n = 30). The analysis compared outcomes including intensive care unit and hospital length of stay, intensive care unit readmission occurrence, pressure ulcer prevalence, and deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism prevalence between the 2 groups. Although this comparison does not achieve statistical significance (P mobility. This study has implications for nursing, hospital administration, and therapy services with regard to staffing and cost savings related to fewer complications of immobility. Future studies with a larger sample size and other populations are warranted.

  5. You pray to your God: A qualitative analysis of challenges in the provision of safe, timely, and affordable surgical care in Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albutt, Katherine; Yorlets, Rachel R; Punchak, Maria; Kayima, Peter; Namanya, Didacus B; Anderson, Geoffrey A; Shrime, Mark G

    2018-01-01

    Five billion people lack access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical and anesthesia care. Significant challenges remain in the provision of surgical care in low-resource settings. Uganda is no exception. From September to November 2016, we conducted a mixed-methods countrywide surgical capacity assessment at 17 randomly selected public hospitals in Uganda. Researchers conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders to understand factors related to the provision of surgical care. The framework approach was used for thematic and explanatory data analysis. The Ugandan public health care sector continues to face significant challenges in the provision of safe, timely, and affordable surgical care. These challenges can be broadly grouped into preparedness and policy, service delivery, and the financial burden of surgical care. Hospital staff reported challenges including: (1) significant delays in accessing surgical care, compounded by a malfunctioning referral system; (2) critical workforce shortages; (3) operative capacity that is limited by inadequate infrastructure and overwhelmed by emergency and obstetric volume; (4) supply chain difficulties pertaining to provision of essential medications, equipment, supplies, and blood; (5) significant, variable, and sometimes catastrophic expenditures for surgical patients and their families; and (6) a lack of surgery-specific policies and priorities. Despite these challenges, innovative strategies are being used in the public to provide surgical care to those most in need. Barriers to the provision of surgical care are cross-cutting and involve constraints in infrastructure, service delivery, workforce, and financing. Understanding current strengths and shortfalls of Uganda's surgical system is a critical first step in developing effective, targeted policy and programming that will build and strengthen its surgical capacity.

  6. Structure and Function: Planning a New Intensive Care Unit to Optimize Patient Care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jozef Kesecioğlu

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available To survey the recent medical literature reporting effects of intensive care unit (ICU design on patients’ and family members’ well-being, safety and functionality. Features of ICU design linked to the needs of patients and their family are single-rooms, privacy, quiet surrounding, exposure to daylight, views of nature, prevention of infection, a family area and open visiting hours. Other features such as safety, working procedures, ergonomics and logistics have a direct impact on the patient care and the nursing and medical personnel. An organization structured on the needs of the patient and their family is mandatory in designing a new intensive care. The main aims in the design of a new department should be patient centered care, safety, functionality, innovation and a future-proof concept.

  7. Withholding or withdrawing therapy in intensive care units: improving interdisciplinary cooperation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Hanne Irene; Ammentorp, Jette; Ørding, Helle

    INTRODUCTION. Decisions regarding withholding or withdrawing therapy are common in the intensive care units. The health care professionals involved in the decision-making process do not always assess the situation identically, leading to potential conflicts. Studies have suggested that improving...... (conducted at two hospitals) with participation of primary care physicians, anaesthesiologists (both with and without ICU as their main workplace) and intensive care nurses. A total of 29 participated in the audits. The participants received beforehand three complicated cases (borrowed from other hospitals...... unit conflicts: the conflicus study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med180:853-860. (2) Halvorsen K, Forde R, Nortvedt P (2009) Value choices and considerations when limiting intensive care treatment: a qualitative study. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 53:10-17 GRANT ACKNOWLEDGMENT. The study was supported...

  8. Diagnostic imaging in intensive care patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Afione, Cristina; Binda, Maria del C.

    2004-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the role of imaging diagnostic methods in the location of infection causes of unknown origin in the critical care patient. Material and methods: A comprehensive medical literature search has been done. Recommendations for the diagnostic imaging of septic focus in intensive care patients are presented for each case, with analysis based on evidence. The degree of evidence utilized has been that of Oxford Center for Evidence-based Medicine. Results: Nosocomial infection is the most frequent complication in the intensive care unit (25 to 33%) with high sepsis incidence rate. In order to locate the infection focus, imaging methods play an important role, as a diagnostic tool and to guide therapeutic procedures. The most frequent causes of infection are: ventilation associated pneumonia, sinusitis, intra-abdominal infections and an acute acalculous cholecystitis. This paper analyses the diagnostic imaging of hospital infection, with the evaluation of choice methods for each one and proposes an algorithm to assess the septic patient. Conclusion: There are evidences, with different degrees of recommendation, for the use of diagnostic imaging methods for infectious focuses in critical care patients. The studies have been selected based on their diagnostic precision, on the capacity of the medical team and on the availability of resources, considering the risk-benefit balance for the best safety of the patient. (author)

  9. Emergency obstetric care in a rural district of Burundi: What are the surgical needs?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E De Plecker

    Full Text Available In a rural district hospital in Burundi offering Emergency Obstetric care-(EmOC, we assessed the a characteristics of women at risk of, or with an obstetric complication and their types b the number and type of obstetric surgical procedures and anaesthesia performed c human resource cadres who performed surgery and anaesthesia and d hospital exit outcomes.A retrospective analysis of EmOC data (2011 and 2012.A total of 6084 women were referred for EmOC of whom 2534(42% underwent a major surgical procedure while 1345(22% required a minor procedure (36% women did not require any surgical procedure. All cases with uterine rupture(73 and extra-uterine pregnancy(10 and the majority with pre-uterine rupture and foetal distress required major surgery. The two most prevalent conditions requiring a minor surgical procedure were abortions (61% and normal delivery (34%. A total of 2544 major procedures were performed on 2534 admitted individuals. Of these, 1650(65% required spinal and 578(23% required general anaesthesia; 2341(92% procedures were performed by 'general practitioners with surgical skills' and in 2451(96% cases, anaesthesia was provided by nurses. Of 2534 hospital admissions related to major procedures, 2467(97% were discharged, 21(0.8% were referred to tertiary care and 2(0.1% died.Overall, the obstetric surgical volume in rural Burundi is high with nearly six out of ten referrals requiring surgical intervention. Nonetheless, good quality care could be achieved by trained, non-specialist staff. The post-2015 development agenda needs to take this into consideration if it is to make progress towards reducing maternal mortality in Africa.

  10. The Chinese family-centered care survey for adult intensive care unit: A psychometric study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wen-Ling; Feng, Jui-Ying; Wang, Chi-Jen; Chen, Jing-Huei

    2016-02-01

    This study aimed to develop a family-centered care survey for Chinese adult intensive care units and to establish the survey's psychometric properties. Family-centered care (FCC) is widely recognized as an ideal model of care. Few studies have explored FCC perceptions among family members of adult critical care patients in Asian countries, and no Chinese FCC measurement has been developed. An English version of the 3-factor family-centered care survey for adult intensive care units (FCCS-AICU) was translated into Chinese using a modified back translation procedure. Based on the literature review, two additional concepts, information and empowerment, were added to the Chinese FCCS-AICU. The psychometric properties of the Chinese FCCS-AICU were determined with 249 family members from a medical center in Taiwan and were tested for construct and convergent validity, and internal consistency. Both the monolingual and bilingual equivalence tests of the English and Chinese versions of the 3-factor FCCS-AICU were supported. Exploratory factor analysis supported the 5-factor structure of the Chinese FCCS-AICU with a total explained variance of 58.34%. The Chinese FCCS-AICU was correlated with the Chinese Critical Care Family Needs Inventory. Internal consistency, determined by Cronbach's α, for the overall scale was .94. The Chinese FCCS-AICU is a valid and reliable tool for measuring perceptions of FCC by family members of adult intensive care patients within Chinese-speaking communities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Impact of Medicare Advantage penetration and hospital competition on technical efficiency of nursing care in US intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, Ari; Scott, Linda D; Park, Chang; Vincent, Catherine; Ryan, Catherine J; Lee, Taewha

    2018-04-10

    This study aimed to evaluate technical efficiency of US intensive care units and determine the effects of environmental factors on technical efficiency in providing quality of nursing care. Data were obtained from the 2014 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Data envelopment analysis was used to estimate technical efficiency for each intensive care unit. Multilevel modeling was used to determine the effects of environmental factors on technical efficiency. Overall, Medicare Advantage penetration and hospital competition in a market did not create pressure for intensive care units to become more efficient by reducing their inputs. However, these 2 environmental factors showed positive influences on technical efficiency in intensive care units with certain levels of technical efficiency. The implications of the study results for management strategies and health policy may vary according to the levels of technical efficiency in intensive care units. Further studies are needed to examine why and how intensive care units with particular levels of technical efficiency are differently affected by certain environmental factors. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Tracheotomy in the intensive care unit: guidelines from a French expert panel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trouillet, Jean Louis; Collange, Olivier; Belafia, Fouad; Blot, François; Capellier, Gilles; Cesareo, Eric; Constantin, Jean-Michel; Demoule, Alexandre; Diehl, Jean-Luc; Guinot, Pierre-Grégoire; Jegoux, Franck; L'Her, Erwan; Luyt, Charles-Edouard; Mahjoub, Yazine; Mayaux, Julien; Quintard, Hervé; Ravat, François; Vergez, Sebastien; Amour, Julien; Guillot, Max

    2018-03-15

    Tracheotomy is widely used in intensive care units, albeit with great disparities between medical teams in terms of frequency and modality. Indications and techniques are, however, associated with variable levels of evidence based on inhomogeneous or even contradictory literature. Our aim was to conduct a systematic analysis of the published data in order to provide guidelines. We present herein recommendations for the use of tracheotomy in adult critically ill patients developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method. These guidelines were conducted by a group of experts from the French Intensive Care Society (Société de Réanimation de Langue Française) and the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine (Société Francaise d'Anesthésie Réanimation) with the participation of the French Emergency Medicine Association (Société Française de Médecine d'Urgence), the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology. Sixteen experts and two coordinators agreed to consider questions concerning tracheotomy and its practical implementation. Five topics were defined: indications and contraindications for tracheotomy in intensive care, tracheotomy techniques in intensive care, modalities of tracheotomy in intensive care, management of patients undergoing tracheotomy in intensive care, and decannulation in intensive care. The summary made by the experts and the application of GRADE methodology led to the drawing up of 8 formal guidelines, 10 recommendations, and 3 treatment protocols. Among the 8 formal guidelines, 2 have a high level of proof (Grade 1+/-) and 6 a low level of proof (Grade 2+/-). For the 10 recommendations, GRADE methodology was not applicable and instead 10 expert opinions were produced.

  13. Sleep in the Intensive Care Unit measured by polysomnography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, J H; Boesen, Hans Christian Toft; Olsen, Karsten Skovgaard

    2013-01-01

    Sleep deprivation has deleterious effects on most organ systems. Patients in the Intensive care unit (ICU) report sleep deprivation as the second worst experience during their stay only superseded by pain. The aim of the review is to provide the clinician with knowledge of the optimal sleep-frien......-friendly care and environment.......Sleep deprivation has deleterious effects on most organ systems. Patients in the Intensive care unit (ICU) report sleep deprivation as the second worst experience during their stay only superseded by pain. The aim of the review is to provide the clinician with knowledge of the optimal sleep...

  14. Reduction in nosocomial infection with improved hand hygiene in intensive care units of a tertiary care hospital in Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenthal, Victor D; Guzman, Sandra; Safdar, Nasia

    2005-09-01

    Hand hygiene is a fundamental measure for the control of nosocomial infection. However, sustained compliance with hand hygiene in health care workers is poor. We attempted to enhance compliance with hand hygiene by implementing education, training, and performance feedback. We measured nosocomial infections in parallel. We monitored the overall compliance with hand hygiene during routine patient care in intensive care units (ICUs); 1 medical surgical ICU and 1 coronary ICU, of 1 hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before and during implementation of a hand hygiene education, training, and performance feedback program. Observational surveys were done twice a week from September 2000 to May 2002. Nosocomial infections in the ICUs were identified using the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) criteria, with prospective surveillance. We observed 4347 opportunities for hand hygiene in both ICUs. Compliance improved progressively (handwashing adherence, 23.1% (268/1160) to 64.5% (2056/3187) (RR, 2.79; 95% CI: 2.46-3.17; P nosocomial infection in both ICUs decreased from 47.55 per 1000 patient-days (104/2187) to 27.93 per 1000 patient days (207/7409) RR, 0.59; 95% CI: 0.46-0.74, P hand hygiene, coinciding with a reduction in nosocomial infection rates in the ICUs.

  15. Effect of Early Intensive Care on Recovery from Whiplash-Associated Disorders

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skillgate, Eva; Côté, Pierre; Cassidy, J. David

    2016-01-01

    Objective To determine whether the results from previous research suggesting that early intensive health care delays recovery from whiplash-associated disorders (WADs) were confounded by expectations of recovery and whether the association between early health care intensity and time to recovery......; 95% CI,.68-.90) had significantly slower recovery. Conclusions Our study adds to the existing evidence that early intensive care is associated with slower recovery from WAD, independent of expectation of recovery. The results have policy implications and suggest that the optimal management of WADs...

  16. Healthcare professionals' views of smart glasses in intensive care: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romare, Charlotte; Hass, Ursula; Skär, Lisa

    2018-04-01

    The aim of this study was to describe healthcare professionals' views of smart glasses before their implementation in an intensive care unit, both regarding quality of use of the glasses and to identify possible intensive care situations where the glasses could be used to increase patient safety. Data were generated through focus group interviews and analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings describe participants' views of smart glasses divided into three categories; Smart glasses to facilitate work at intensive care unit; Quality of use and Utilisation. Participants assumed smart glasses to cause both effect and affect in intensive care. Participants' concern for patients arose recurrently and through their concern intention to work to promote patient safety. Smart glasses are suggested as a complement to existing monitoring and routines and cannot replace human presence in intensive care. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  17. Professional Competencies of Cuban Specialists in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Véliz-Martínez, Pedro L; Jorna-Calixto, Ana R; Oramas-González, René

    2016-10-01

    INTRODUCTION The quality of medical training and practice reflects the competency level of the professionals involved. The intensive care and emergency medicine specialty in Cuba has not defined its competencies. OBJECTIVE Identify the competencies required for specialty practice in intensive care and emergency medicine. METHODS The study was conducted from January 2014 to December 2015, using qualitative techniques; 48 professionals participated. We undertook functional occupational analysis, based on functions defined in a previous study. Three expert groups were utilized: the first used various group techniques; the second, the Delphi method; and the third, the Delphi method and a Likert questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 73 specific competencies were defined, grouped in 11 units: 44 in the patient care function, 16 in management, 7 in teaching and 6 in research. A competency map is provided. CONCLUSIONS The intensive care and emergency medicine specialty competencies identified will help improve professional standards, ensure health workforce quality, improve patient care and academic performance, and enable objective evaluation of specialists' competence and performance. KEYWORDS Clinical competency, competency-based education, professional education, intensive care, emergency medicine, urgent care, continuing medical education, curriculum, medical residency, Cuba.

  18. [Epidemiological trends 1992-2007 in a neonatal intensive care unit].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feria-Kaiser, Carina; Vargas, Mario H; Furuya, María E Y

    2013-01-01

    progressive advances in neonatal care are expected to change the epidemiological profile of patients and conditions seen in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Thus, the objective of this study was to identify such changes in a NICU in Mexico City. retrospectively, we analyzed age, gender, weight at admission, hospital stay,diagnoses at discharge and cause of death in 5,192 patients admitted from 1992-2007. in the study period,patients were admitted at a progressively older age (median of 3 days old in 1992 to 9 in 2007; rS = 0.87) and lower weight (2,800-2,343 g; rS = –0.56), while length of hospital stay was stable (approximately, 9 days). Over 90% patients had cardiological, digestive and/or pulmonary diseases, and most patients (71.4%) had conditions for which a surgical approach is the usual treatment. Cardiological and neurologic problems increased (rS = 0.86 and 0.85, respectively),while pulmonary diseases decreased (rS = –0.79). Mortality and autopsy rate diminished from 26 to 15% (rS = –0.80),and from 32.5 to 10.7% (rS = –0.53), respectively. Conditions more frequently associated with death were urologic/nephrologic and infectious diseases. epidemiological patterns in our NICU are clearly changing, and thus searching for similar time trends in other NICU is warranted.

  19. [Refusal of care in the intensive care: how makes decision?].

    OpenAIRE

    Borel , Marie; Veber , Benoit; Villette-Baron , Karen; Hariri , S.; Dureuil , Bertrand; Hervé , Christian

    2009-01-01

    International audience; It is not a question of going towards a systematic admission in intensive care of any patient proposed, but to make sure that so if there is a refusal, it is carried out according to a step ethically acceptable.

  20. Comparative study of 2 oral care protocols in intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ory, Jérôme; Raybaud, Evelyne; Chabanne, Russell; Cosserant, Bernard; Faure, Jean Sébastien; Guérin, Renaud; Calvet, Laure; Pereira, Bruno; Mourgues, Charline; Guelon, Dominique; Traore, Ousmane

    2017-03-01

    The quality of oral care is important in limiting the emergence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in intubated patients. Our main objective was to measure the quality improvement in oral care following the implementation of a new oral care protocol. We also monitored VAP rates. This was a cohort study of patients in 5 adult ICUs covering different specialties. During period 1, caregivers used a foam stick for oral care and during period 2 a stick and tooth brushing with aspiration. Oral chlorhexidine was used during both periods. The caregivers rated improvement in oral health on the basis of 4 criteria (tongue, mucous membranes, gingivae, and teeth). Caregiver satisfaction was also assessed. The incidence of VAP was monitored. A total of 2,030 intubated patients admitted to intensive care units benefited from oral care. The patient populations during the 2 periods were similar with regard to demographic data and VAP potential risk factors. Oral health was significantly better from the third day of oral care in period 2 onward (period 1, 6.4 ± 2.1; period 2, 5.6 ± 1.8; P = .043). Caregivers found the period 2 protocol easier to implement and more effective. VAP rates decreased significantly between the 2 periods (period 1, 12.8%; period 2, 8.5%; P = .002). Our study showed that the implementation of a simple strategy improved the quality of oral care of patients in intensive care units, and decreased VAP rates. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. A qualitative study exploring contextual challenges to surgical care provision in 21 LMICs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raykar, Nakul P; Yorlets, Rachel R; Liu, Charles; Greenberg, Sarah L M; Kotagal, Meera; Goldman, Roberta; Roy, Nobhojit; Meara, John G; Gillies, Rowan D

    2015-04-27

    Billions of people worldwide are without access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical care. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) conducted a qualitative study to understand the contextual challenges to surgical care provision in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), and how providers overcome them. A semi-structured interview was administered to 143 care providers in 21 LMICs using stratified purposive sampling to include both urban and rural areas and reputational case selection to identify individual providers. Interviews were conducted in Argentina (n=5), Botswana (3), Brazil (10), Cape Verde (4), China (14), Colombia (4), Ecuador (6), Ethiopia (10), India (15), Indonesia (1), Mexico (9), Mongolia (4), Namibia (2), Pakistan (13), Peru (5), Philippines (1), Sierra Leone (11), Tanzania (5), Thailand (2), Uganda (9), and Zimbabwe (15). Local collaborators of LCoGS conducted interviews using a standardised implementation manual and interview guide. Questions revolved around challenges or barriers in the area of access to care for patients; challenges or barriers in the area of in-hospital care for patients; and challenges or barriers in the area of governance or health policy. De-identified interviews were coded and interpreted by an independent analyst. Providers across continent and context noted significant geographical, financial, and educational barriers to access. Surgical care provision in the rural hospital setting was hindered by a paucity of trained workforce, and inadequacies in basic infrastructure, equipment, supplies, and access to banked blood. In urban areas, providers face high patient volumes combined with staff shortages, minimal administrative support, and poor interhospital care coordination. At a policy level, providers identified regulations that were inconsistent with the realities of low-resource care provision (eg, a requirement to provide 'free' care to certain populations but without any guarantee for funding

  2. Clinical benefits, costs, and cost-effectiveness of neonatal intensive care in Mexico.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jochen Profit

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Neonatal intensive care improves survival, but is associated with high costs and disability amongst survivors. Recent health reform in Mexico launched a new subsidized insurance program, necessitating informed choices on the different interventions that might be covered by the program, including neonatal intensive care. The purpose of this study was to estimate the clinical outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness of neonatal intensive care in Mexico.A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using a decision analytic model of health and economic outcomes following preterm birth. Model parameters governing health outcomes were estimated from Mexican vital registration and hospital discharge databases, supplemented with meta-analyses and systematic reviews from the published literature. Costs were estimated on the basis of data provided by the Ministry of Health in Mexico and World Health Organization price lists, supplemented with published studies from other countries as needed. The model estimated changes in clinical outcomes, life expectancy, disability-free life expectancy, lifetime costs, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs for neonatal intensive care compared to no intensive care. Uncertainty around the results was characterized using one-way sensitivity analyses and a multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analysis. In the base-case analysis, neonatal intensive care for infants born at 24-26, 27-29, and 30-33 weeks gestational age prolonged life expectancy by 28, 43, and 34 years and averted 9, 15, and 12 DALYs, at incremental costs per infant of US$11,400, US$9,500, and US$3,000, respectively, compared to an alternative of no intensive care. The ICERs of neonatal intensive care at 24-26, 27-29, and 30-33 weeks were US$1,200, US$650, and US$240, per DALY averted, respectively. The findings were robust to variation in parameter values over wide ranges in sensitivity analyses

  3. Intensity of Care at the End of Life Among Older Adults in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Su Hyun; Kang, Sangwook; Song, Mi-Kyung

    2018-01-01

    To examine the intensity of care at the end of life among older adults in Korea and to identify the individual and institutional factors associated with care intensity. This secondary data analysis included a sample of 6278 decedents aged 65 years or older who were identified from the 2009 to 2010 Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort Claims data. We examined the medical care received by the cohort in the last 30 days of their lives. Overall, 36.5% of the sample received at least 1 intensive care procedure in the last 30 days of their lives; 26.3% of patients experienced intensive care unit admission, with an average stay of 7.45 days, 19.5% received mechanical ventilation, 12.3% received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and 15.5% had a feeding tube placement. A statistical analysis using a multiple logistic regression model with random effects showed that younger age, higher household income, primary diagnoses of diseases (ischemic heart disease, infectious disease, chronic lung disease, or chronic heart disease), and characteristics of care setting (large hospitals and facilities located in metropolitan areas) were significantly associated with the likelihood of receiving high-intensity care at the end of life. A substantial number of older adults in Korea experienced high-intensity end-of-life care. Both individual and institutional factors were associated with the likelihood of receiving high-intensity care. Gaining an understanding of the intensity of care at the end of life and the impact of the determinants would advance efforts to improve quality of care at the end of life for older adults in Korea.

  4. Understanding the reasons for delay to definitive surgical care of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background. Acute appendicitis in rural South Africa is associated with significant morbidity due to prolonged delays before definitive surgical care. Objective. This audit aimed to quantify the delay in our healthcare system. Methods. From September 2010 to September 2012, all patients with confirmed acute appendicitis ...

  5. Family-Centered Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: Combining Intensive Care and Family Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araki, Shunsuke; Saito, Tomoko; Ichikawa, Saori; Saito, Kaori; Takada, Tsuzumi; Noguchi, Satoko; Yamada, Miki; Nakagawa, Fumi

    Advances in treatment in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) for preterm and sick newborns have improved the mortality rate of patients, but admission to the NICU may disrupt parent-infant interaction, with adverse consequences for infants and their families because of physical, psychological, and emotional separation. The concept of family centered care (FCC), in which family members are part of the care team and infants are close to the family, is important and has become popular in NICU. In 2013, we created a team called "Kodomo-Kazoku Mannaka" to promote FCC in Japan, and visited the NICU at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, which is internationally famous for FCC. Since this fruitful visit, we have been promoting FCC in Japan by exhibitions and presentations of the FCC ideas at academic conferences and using internet services. A questionnaire survey conducted in 2015 revealed that the importance and the benefits of FCC in NICU are recognized, although there are some barriers to FCC in each facility. It is hard to change facilities and social systems right away, but it is easier and more important to change people's minds. Our role is to spread the concept of FCC and to help each facility find its own way to adopt it. We will continue to make efforts encourage to promote FCC in Japan.

  6. [Post-traumatic stress disorder-related to intensive care stay: influence of sedation practices].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauerheim, Nadège; Masseret, Elodie; Mercier, Emmanuelle; Dequin, Pierre-François; El-Hage, Wissam

    2013-03-01

    The stay in intensive care unit can be potentially traumatic at the origin of post-traumatic stress symptoms. The severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms is linked to the intensity and the type of traumatic memories of the intensive care stay. Sedatives and analgesics given to ventilated patients in intensive care influence the traumatic memory. The level, the duration and the type of sedation-analgesia protocol are risk factors of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Links between sedation, dissociative symptoms, delirium and post-traumatic stress symptoms are documented. Environmental and pharmacological measures are to be considered to reduce the traumatic potential risk of the intensive care. Intensive care caregivers, liaison-psychiatrist and general practitioner have each a specific role to play in the screening of the post-traumatic stress symptoms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  7. Hand hygiene in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tschudin-Sutter, Sarah; Pargger, Hans; Widmer, Andreas F

    2010-08-01

    Healthcare-associated infections affect 1.4 million patients at any time worldwide, as estimated by the World Health Organization. In intensive care units, the burden of healthcare-associated infections is greatly increased, causing additional morbidity and mortality. Multidrug-resistant pathogens are commonly involved in such infections and render effective treatment challenging. Proper hand hygiene is the single most important, simplest, and least expensive means of preventing healthcare-associated infections. In addition, it is equally important to stop transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization guidelines on hand hygiene in health care, alcohol-based handrub should be used as the preferred means for routine hand antisepsis. Alcohols have excellent in vitro activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a variety of fungi, and most viruses. Some pathogens, however, such as Clostridium difficile, Bacillus anthracis, and noroviruses, may require special hand hygiene measures. Failure to provide user friendliness of hand hygiene equipment and shortage of staff are predictors for noncompliance, especially in the intensive care unit setting. Therefore, practical approaches to promote hand hygiene in the intensive care unit include provision of a minimal number of handrub dispensers per bed, monitoring of compliance, and choice of the most attractive product. Lack of knowledge of guidelines for hand hygiene, lack of recognition of hand hygiene opportunities during patient care, and lack of awareness of the risk of cross-transmission of pathogens are barriers to good hand hygiene practices. Multidisciplinary programs to promote increased use of alcoholic handrub lead to an increased compliance of healthcare

  8. 2016 CAPS ethics session/Ein debate: 1. Regionalization of pediatric surgical care 2. Ethical introduction of surgical innovation 3. Addressing stress in a surgical practice: resiliency, well-being, and burnout.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagwell, Charles E; Chiu, Priscilla; Fecteau, Annie; Gow, Kenneth W; Mueller, Claudia M; Price, David; Zigman, Andrew F

    2017-05-01

    The following is the conference proceeding of the Second Ein Debate from the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Paediatric Surgeons held in Vancouver, BC, from September 22 to 24, 2016. The three main topics for debate, as prepared by the members of the CAPS Ethics Committee, are: 1. Regionalization of care: pros and cons, 2. Innovation in clinical care: ethical considerations, and 3. Surgeon well-being: caring for the caregiver. The authors of this paper, as participants in the debate, were assigned their positions at random. Therefore, the opinions they express within this summary might not reflect their own viewpoints. In the first discussion, arguments for and against the regionalization of pediatric surgical care are discussed, primarily in the context of a case of BA. In the pro argument, the evidence and lessons learned from different European countries are explored as well as different models to provide the best BA care outside of large teaching centers. In the counterargument, the author explains how regionalization of care could be detrimental for the patient, the family, the regional center, and for the health care system in general. In the debate on surgical innovation the authors define surgical innovation. They review the pertinent ethical principles, explore a model for its implementation, and the role of the institution at which the innovation is proposed. In the third section, surgeon well-being is examined, and recent literature on surgeon resiliency and burnout both at the attending and resident level is reviewed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Palliative care and the intensive care nurses: feelings that endure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silveira, Natyele Rippel; Nascimento, Eliane Regina Pereira do; Rosa, Luciana Martins da; Jung, Walnice; Martins, Sabrina Regina; Fontes, Moisés Dos Santos

    2016-01-01

    to know the feelings of nurses regarding palliative care in adult intensive care units. qualitative study, which adopted the theoretical framework of Social Representations, carried out with 30 nurses of the state of Santa Catarina included by Snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted from April to August 2015, organized and analyzed through the Collective Subject Discourse. the results showed how central ideas are related to feelings of comfort, frustration, insecurity and anguish, in addition to the feeling that the professional training and performance are focused on the cure. the social representations of nurses regarding the feelings related to palliative care are represented mainly by negative feelings, probably as consequence of the context in which care is provided.

  10. Neonatal intensive care unit: Reservoirs of Nosocomial pathogens ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Improvement in the care and treatment of neonates had contributed to their increased survival. Nosocomial infection remains an important problem in intensive care units. Hospital wards had been shown to act as reservoirs of pathogenic microorganisms associated with infection. To assess the prevalence of pathogenic ...

  11. Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients With Cellulitis Requiring Intensive Care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cranendonk, Duncan R.; van Vught, Lonneke A.; Wiewel, Maryse A.; Cremer, Olaf L.; Horn, Janneke; Bonten, Marc J.; Schultz, Marcus J.; van der Poll, Tom; Wiersinga, W. Joost

    2017-01-01

    Cellulitis is a commonly occurring skin and soft tissue infection and one of the most frequently seen dermatological diseases in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, clinical characteristics of patients with cellulitis requiring intensive care treatment are poorly defined. Necrotizing fasciitis

  12. Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients With Cellulitis Requiring Intensive Care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cranendonk, Duncan R; van Vught, Lonneke A; Wiewel, Maryse A; Cremer, Olaf L; Horn, Janneke; Bonten, Marc J; Schultz, Marcus J; van der Poll, Tom; Wiersinga, W Joost

    Importance: Cellulitis is a commonly occurring skin and soft tissue infection and one of the most frequently seen dermatological diseases in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, clinical characteristics of patients with cellulitis requiring intensive care treatment are poorly defined. Necrotizing

  13. Validation of a 10-item care-related regret intensity scale (RIS-10) for health care professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Courvoisier, Delphine S; Cullati, Stéphane; Haller, Chiara S; Schmidt, Ralph E; Haller, Guy; Agoritsas, Thomas; Perneger, Thomas V

    2013-03-01

    Regret after one of the many decisions and interventions that health care professionals make every day can have an impact on their own health and quality of life, and on their patient care practices. To validate a new care-related regret intensity scale (RIS) for health care professionals. Retrospective cross-sectional cohort study with a 1-month follow-up (test-retest) in a French-speaking University Hospital. A total of 469 nurses and physicians responded to the survey, and 175 answered the retest. RIS, self-report questions on the context of the regret-inducing event, its consequences for the patient, involvement of the health care professionals, and changes in patient care practices after the event. We measured the impact of regret intensity on health care professionals with the satisfaction with life scale, the SF-36 first question (self-reported health), and a question on self-esteem. On the basis of factor analysis and item response analysis, the initial 19-item scale was shortened to 10 items. The resulting scale (RIS-10) was unidimensional and had high internal consistency (α=0.87) and acceptable test-retest reliability (0.70). Higher regret intensity was associated with (a) more consequences for the patient; (b) lower life satisfaction and poorer self-reported health in health care professionals; and (c) changes in patient care practices. Nurses reported analyzing the event and apologizing, whereas physicians reported talking preferentially to colleagues, rather than to their supervisor, about changing practices. The RIS is a valid and reliable measure of care-related regret intensity for hospital-based physicians and nurses.

  14. Moral distress in end-of-life care in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    St Ledger, Una; Begley, Ann; Reid, Joanne; Prior, Lindsay; McAuley, Danny; Blackwood, Bronagh

    2013-08-01

    To explore moral distress in relatives doctors and nurses, in end-of-life care decision-making, in the adult intensive care unit. Many deaths in intensive care involve decisions about withholding and withdrawing therapy, potentially triggering moral distress. Moral distress occurs when individuals feel constrained from acting in accordance with moral choice, or act against moral judgement, generating painful, unresolved emotions, and problems that continue long after an event. Prior research has focused mainly on nurses; less is known about doctors' experiences and occurrence and impact on relatives is unknown. A narrative inquiry case study approach, funded by a Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Doctorate Fellowship Award (April 2011). In-depth digitally recorded interviews will be conducted with relatives, doctors, and nurses involved in end-of-life cases comprising: (1) withdrawal of therapy, including circulatory death organ donation; (2) non-escalation of therapy; and (3) brain stem death with a request for organ donation. Relatives will be offered the opportunity to share their experiences on 'Healthtalkonline' by copyrighting audio-visual interviews to the Health Experiences Research Group, Oxford University. Research Ethics Committee approval was obtained (April 2012). This is the first time that moral distress is explored, in a case approach, among relatives, doctors, and nurses intimately involved in end-of-life decisions in intensive care. Dissemination of findings will make a large contribution to international knowledge and understanding in this area and alert healthcare professionals and relatives to an otherwise under-recognized, but potentially detrimental, experience. Findings will inform education, practice, and policy. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  15. Intensive Care for Eclampic Coma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Moroz

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to enhance the efficiency of treatment of puerperas with eclampic coma, by substantiating, developing, and introducing new algorithms for correction of systemic hemodynamic, metabolic disturbances, and perfusion-metabolic changes in brain tissues. Subjects and methods. Studies were conducted in 18 puerperas with eclampic coma (Group 2 in whom the authors used a new treatment algorithm aimed at maintaining baseline cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP, restoring volemic levels at the expense of interstitial fluid. A control group (Group 1 included 30 patients who received conventional standard therapy. Regional cerebral circulation was measured by a non-invasive (inhalation radioisotopic method, by applying the tracer 131Xe, as described by V. D. Obrist et al., on a modified КПРДИ-1 apparatus (USSR. The rate of brain oxygen uptake was determined from the oxygen content between the artery and the internal jugular vein. Central hemodynamic parameters were studied by the direct method of right heart catheterization using a flow-directed Swan-Ganz catheter. The volumes of total and extracellular fluids were estimated using 20% urea and mannitol solutions, respectively, at 0.2 g/kg weight by the procedure of V. M. Mogen. Circulating blood volume (CBV was determined by a radioisotopic method using 131iodine albumin on an УPI-7 apparatus (USSR. Cerebral spinal fluid pressure was measured by an ИиНД apparatus. Studies were made in four steps: 1 on admission; 2 on days 2—3; 3 during emergence from coma; 4 before transition. Results. The use of the new algorithm for intensive care for eclampic coma, which is aimed at improving the perfusion metabolic provision of brain structures, with a reduction in mean blood pressure by 10—15% of the baseline level, by administering magnesium sulfate and nimodipine, and at compensating for CBV by high-molecular-weight hydroxyethylated starch (stabizol, ensured early emergence from a comatose state

  16. Patient's dignity in intensive care unit: A critical ethnography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidabadi, Farimah Shirani; Yazdannik, Ahmadreza; Zargham-Boroujeni, Ali

    2017-01-01

    Maintaining patient's dignity in intensive care units is difficult because of the unique conditions of both critically-ill patients and intensive care units. The aim of this study was to uncover the cultural factors that impeded maintaining patients' dignity in the cardiac surgery intensive care unit. The study was conducted using a critical ethnographic method proposed by Carspecken. Participants and research context: Participants included all physicians, nurses and staffs working in the study setting (two cardiac surgery intensive care units). Data collection methods included participant observations, formal and informal interviews, and documents assessment. In total, 200 hours of observation and 30 interviews were performed. Data were analyzed to uncover tacit cultural knowledge and to help healthcare providers to reconstruct the culture of their workplace. Ethical Consideration: Ethical approval for the study from Ethics committee of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences was obtained. The findings of the study fell into the following main themes: "Presence: the guarantee for giving enough attention to patients' self-esteem", "Instrumental and objectified attitudes", "Adherence to the human equality principle: value-action gap", "Paternalistic conduct", "Improper language", and "Non-interactive communication". The final assertion was "Reductionism as a major barrier to the maintaining of patient's dignity". The prevailing atmosphere in subculture of the CSICU was reductionism and paternalism. This key finding is part of the biomedical discourse. As a matter of fact, it is in contrast with dignified care because the latter necessitate holistic attitudes and approaches. Changing an ICU culture is not easy; but through increasing awareness and critical self-reflections, the nurses, physicians and other healthcare providers, may be able to reaffirm dignified care and cure in their therapeutic relationships.

  17. Face-to-face handoff: improving transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit after cardiac surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vergales, Jeffrey; Addison, Nancy; Vendittelli, Analise; Nicholson, Evelyn; Carver, D Jeannean; Stemland, Christopher; Hoke, Tracey; Gangemi, James

    2015-01-01

    The goal was to develop and implement a comprehensive, primarily face-to-face handoff process that begins in the operating room and concludes at the bedside in the intensive care unit (ICU) for pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart surgery. Involving all stakeholders in the planning phase, the framework of the handoff system encompassed a combination of a formalized handoff tool, focused process steps that occurred prior to patient arrival in the ICU, and an emphasis on face-to-face communication at the conclusion of the handoff. The final process was evaluated by the use of observer checklists to examine quality metrics and timing for all patients admitted to the ICU following cardiac surgery. The process was found to improve how various providers view the efficiency of handoff, the ease of asking questions at each step, and the overall capability to improve patient care regardless of overall surgical complexity. © 2014 by the American College of Medical Quality.

  18. Improving Family Meetings in Intensive Care Units: A Quality Improvement Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruenewald, David A; Gabriel, Michelle; Rizzo, Dorothy; Luhrs, Carol A

    2017-07-01

    Family meetings in the intensive care unit are associated with beneficial outcomes for patients, their families, and health care systems, yet these meetings often do not occur in a timely, effective, reliable way. The Department of Veterans Affairs Comprehensive End-of-Life Care Implementation Center sponsored a national initiative to improve family meetings in Veterans Affairs intensive care units across the United States. Process measures of success for the initiative were identified, including development of a curriculum to support facility-based quality improvement projects to implement high-quality family meetings. Identified curriculum requirements included suitability for distance learning and applicability to many clinical intensive care units. Curriculum modules were cross-mapped to the "Plan-Do-Study-Act" model to aid in planning quality improvement projects. A questionnaire was e-mailed to users to evaluate the curriculum's effectiveness. Users rated the curriculum's effectiveness in supporting and achieving aims of the initiative as 3.6 on a scale of 0 (not effective) to 4 (very effective). Users adapted the curriculum to meet local needs. The number of users increased from 6 to 17 quality improvement teams in 2 years. All but 3 teams progressed to implementation of an action plan. Users were satisfied with the effectiveness and adaptability of a family-meeting quality improvement curriculum to support implementation of a quality improvement project in Veterans Affairs intensive care units. This tool may be useful in facilitating projects to improve the quality of family meetings in other intensive care units. ©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

  19. Geriatric patient profile in the cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korha, E.A.; Hakverdioglu, G.; Ozlem, M.; Yurekli, I.; Gurbuz, A.; Alp, N.A

    2013-01-01

    Objectives: To determine hospitalization durations and mortalities of elderly in the Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit. Methods: The retrospective study was conducted in a Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit in Turkey and comprised patient records from January 1 to December 31, 2011. Computerized epicrisis reports of 255, who had undergone a cardiac surgery were collected. The patients were grouped according to their ages, Group I aged 65-74 and Group II aged 75 and older. European society for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation scores of the two groups were compared using SPSS 17. Results: Overall, there were 80 (31.37%) females and 175 (68.62%) males. There were 138 (54.1%) patients in Group I and 117 (45.9%) in Group II. Regarding their hospitalization reasons, it was determined that 70 (27.5%) patients in Group I and 79 (30.9%) patients in Group II were treated with the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The average hospitalization duration of patients in the intensive care unit was determined to be 11.57+-10.40 days. Regarding the EuroSCORE score intervals of patients, 132 (51.8%)had 3-5 and 225 (88.2%) patients were transferred to the Cardiovascular Surgery and then all of them were discharged; 5 (4.1%) had a mortal course; and 11 (7.7%) were transferred to the anaesthesia intensive care unit Conclusions: The general mortality rates are very low in the Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit and the patients have a good prognosis. (author)

  20. The development of pediatric anesthesia and intensive care in Scandinavia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nilsson, Krister; Ekström-Jodal, Barbro; Meretoja, Olli; Valentin, Niels; Wagner, Kari

    2015-05-01

    The initiation and development of pediatric anesthesia and intensive care have much in common in the Scandinavian countries. The five countries had to initiate close relations and cooperation in all medical disciplines. The pediatric anesthesia subspecialty took its first steps after the Second World War. Relations for training and exchange of experiences between Scandinavian countries with centers in Europe and the USA were a prerequisite for development. Specialized pediatric practice was not a full-time position until during the 1950s, when the first pediatric anesthesia positions were created. Scandinavian anesthesia developed slowly. In contrast, Scandinavia pioneered both adult and certainly pediatric intensive care. The pioneers were heavily involved in the teaching and training of anesthetists and nurses. This was necessary to manage the rapidly increasing work. The polio epidemics during the 1950s initiated a combination of clinical development and technical innovations. Blood gas analyses technology and interpretation in combination with improved positive pressure ventilators were developed in Scandinavia contributing to general and pediatric anesthesia and intensive care practice. Scandinavian specialist training and accreditation includes both anesthesia and intensive care. Although pediatric anesthesia/intensive care is not a separate specialty, an 'informal accreditation' for a specialist position is obtained after training. The pleasure of working in a relatively small group of devoted colleagues and staff has persisted from the pioneering years. It is still one of the most inspiring and pleasant gifts for those working in this demanding specialty. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Geriatric patient profile in the cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korhan, Esra Akin; Hakverdioglu, Gulendam; Ozlem, Maryem; Ozlem, Maryem; Yurekli, Ismail; Gurbuz, Ali; Alp, Nilgun Akalin

    2013-11-01

    To determine hospitalization durations and mortalities of elderly in the Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit. The retrospective study was conducted in a Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit in Turkey and comprised patient records from January 1 to December 31, 2011. Computerized epicrisis reports of 255, who had undergone a cardiac surgery were collected. The patients were grouped according to their ages, Group I aged 65-74 and Group II aged 75 and older. European society for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation scores of the two groups were compared using SPSS 17. Overall, there were 80 (31.37%) females and 175 (68.62%) males. There were 138 (54.1%) patients in Group I and 117 (45.9%) in Group II. Regarding their hospitalization reasons, it was determined that 70 (27.5%) patients in Group I and 79 (30.9%) patients in Group II were treated with the diagnosis ofcoronary artery disease. The average hospitalization duration of patients in the intensive care unit was determined to be 11.57 +/- 0.40 days. Regarding the EuroSCORE score intervals of patients, 132 (51.8%) had 3-5 and 225 (88.2%) patients were transferred to the Cardiovascular Surgery and then all of them were discharged; 5 (4.1%) had a mortal course; and 11 (7.7%) were transferred to the anaesthesia intensive care unit. The general mortality rates are very low in the Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit and the patients have a good prognosis.

  2. Patients’ Admissions in Intensive Care Units: A Clustering Overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Ribeiro

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Intensive care is a critical area of medicine having a multidisciplinary nature requiring all types of healthcare professionals. Given the critical environment of intensive care units (ICUs, the need to use information technologies, like decision support systems, to improve healthcare services and ICU management is evident. It is proven that unplanned and prolonged admission to the ICU is not only prejudicial to a patient's health, but also such a situation implies a readjustment of ICU resources, including beds, doctors, nurses, financial resources, among others. By discovering the common characteristics of the admitted patients, it is possible to improve these outcomes. In this study clustering techniques were applied to data collected from admitted patients in an intensive care unit. The best results presented a silhouette of 1, with a distance to centroids of 6.2 × 10−17 and a Davies–Bouldin index of −0.652.

  3. Attitudes of surgical residents toward trauma care: a Canadian-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girotti, M J; Leslie, K; Chinnick, B; Butcher, C; Holliday, R L

    1994-01-01

    Surgical residents (n = 330) registered in training programs in the province of Ontario, Canada were surveyed about their attitudes toward trauma care related issues. Questionnaires were returned by 48%. Overall, 84% felt that their clinical exposure to trauma was adequate; 78% noted that the emphasis placed on trauma topics in their educational programs was appropriate; 50% spend > 10% of their current clinical time in trauma care. Orthopedic residents (n = 43) were different; 79% devoted > 10% and 29% > or = 30% of their time to trauma. Future clinical activity in trauma as practicing surgeons was expressed by 83% of the trainees: 31% intended 30% of their future practices to be related to trauma. The major positive factors of trauma were the scope and excitement of trauma care. The major negative factors were the night/weekend activity and the time away from family. We are encouraged by the results of this survey in that a significant number of residents perceive trauma as a clinical endeavor to be incorporated into their future surgical practices.

  4. [Experience of the surgical management of the esophageal achalasia in a tertiary care hospital].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barajas-Fregoso, Elpidio Manuel; Romero-Hernández, Teodoro; Sánchez-Fernández, Patricio Rogelio; Fuentes-Orozco, Clotilde; González-Ojeda, Alejandro; Macías-Amezcua, Michel Dassaejv

    2015-01-01

    Achalasia is a primary esophageal motor disorder. The most common symptoms are: dysphagia, chest pain, reflux and weight loss. The esophageal manometry is the standard for diagnosis. The aim of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of the surgical management in patients with achalasia in a tertiary care hospital. A case series consisting of achalasia patients, treated surgically between January and December of 2011. Clinical charts were reviewed to obtain data and registries of the type of surgical procedure, morbidity and mortality. Fourteen patients were identified, with an average age of 49.1 years. The most common symptoms were: dysphagia, vomiting, weight loss and pyrosis. Eight open approaches were performed and six by laparoscopy, with an average length of cardiomyotomy of 9.4 cm. Eleven patients received an antireflux procedure. The effectiveness of procedures performed was 85.7 %. Surgical management offered at this tertiary care hospital does not differ from that reported in other case series, giving effectiveness and safety for patients with achalasia.

  5. Sleep in intensive care unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boyko, Yuliya; Jennum, Poul; Nikolic, Miki

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE: To determine if improving intensive care unit (ICU) environment would enhance sleep quality, assessed by polysomnography (PSG), in critically ill mechanically ventilated patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomized controlled trial, crossover design. The night intervention "quiet routine...... Medicine) sleep scoring criteria were insufficient for the assessment of polysomnograms. Modified classification for sleep scoring in critically ill patients, suggested by Watson et al. (Crit Care Med 2013;41:1958-1967), was used. RESULTS: Sound level analysis showed insignificant effect...... patients. We were not able to further reduce the already existing low noise levels in the ICU and did not find any association between the environmental intervention and the presence of normal sleep characteristics in the PSG....

  6. Surgical care for the direct and indirect victims of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ford Nathan

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The provision of surgical assistance in conflict is often associated with care for victims of violence. However, there is an increasing appreciation that surgical care is needed for non-traumatic morbidities. In this paper we report on surgical interventions carried out by Médecins sans Frontières in Masisi, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo to contribute to the scarce evidence base on surgical needs in conflict. Methods We analysed data on all surgical interventions done at Masisi district hospital between September 2007 and December 2009. Types of interventions are described, and logistic regression used to model associations with violence-related injury. Results 2869 operations were performed on 2441 patients. Obstetric emergencies accounted for over half (675, 57% of all surgical pathology and infections for another quarter (160, 14%. Trauma-related injuries accounted for only one quarter (681, 24% of all interventions; among these, 363 (13% were violence-related. Male gender (adjusted odds ratio (AOR = 20.0, p Conclusions In this study, most surgical interventions were unrelated to violent trauma and rather reflected the general surgical needs of a low-income tropical country. Programs in conflict zones in low-income countries need to be prepared to treat both the war-wounded and non-trauma related life-threatening surgical needs of the general population. Given the limited surgical workforce in these areas, training of local staff and task shifting is recommended to support broad availability of essential surgical care. Further studies into the surgical needs of the population are warranted, including population-based surveys, to improve program planning and resource allocation and the effectiveness of the humanitarian response.

  7. Surgical care for the direct and indirect victims of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Kathryn; Havet, Philippe; Ford, Nathan; Trelles, Miguel

    2010-04-14

    The provision of surgical assistance in conflict is often associated with care for victims of violence. However, there is an increasing appreciation that surgical care is needed for non-traumatic morbidities. In this paper we report on surgical interventions carried out by Médecins sans Frontières in Masisi, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo to contribute to the scarce evidence base on surgical needs in conflict. We analysed data on all surgical interventions done at Masisi district hospital between September 2007 and December 2009. Types of interventions are described, and logistic regression used to model associations with violence-related injury. 2869 operations were performed on 2441 patients. Obstetric emergencies accounted for over half (675, 57%) of all surgical pathology and infections for another quarter (160, 14%). Trauma-related injuries accounted for only one quarter (681, 24%) of all interventions; among these, 363 (13%) were violence-related. Male gender (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 20.0, p violence-related injury. Immediate peri-operative mortality was 0.2%. In this study, most surgical interventions were unrelated to violent trauma and rather reflected the general surgical needs of a low-income tropical country. Programs in conflict zones in low-income countries need to be prepared to treat both the war-wounded and non-trauma related life-threatening surgical needs of the general population. Given the limited surgical workforce in these areas, training of local staff and task shifting is recommended to support broad availability of essential surgical care. Further studies into the surgical needs of the population are warranted, including population-based surveys, to improve program planning and resource allocation and the effectiveness of the humanitarian response.

  8. Inadequate follow-up after tracheostomy and intensive care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mondrup, Frederik; Skjelsager, Karen; Madsen, Kristian Rørbæk

    2012-01-01

    When patients are transferred from intensive care units (ICUs) to general wards with a tracheostomy in situ, there is a risk of suboptimal care and increased morbidity. The aim of this study was to elucidate the management of patients with a tracheostomy in situ at discharge from the ICU...

  9. [Surgical research in Germany--an international comparison].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fendrich, V; Rothmund, M

    2010-04-01

    Surgical research in Germany occupies a lower position in international ranking than expected. According to the size of the population, the economic impact, the gross domestic product and the research funding capacity, the impact of German surgical research should be much higher. Reasons are a more intensive commitment to patient care, structural differences and a changing lifestyle in younger doctors in comparison to many leading countries. If the situation is to be improved all factors have to be evaluated and, if possible, changed. Overall, German surgeons are underrepresented as readers and authors in the scientific market, which is mostly in the English language.

  10. Acute and long-term survival in chronically critically ill surgical patients: a retrospective observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartl, Wolfgang H; Wolf, Hilde; Schneider, Christian P; Küchenhoff, Helmut; Jauch, Karl-Walter

    2007-01-01

    Various cohort studies have shown that acute (short-term) mortality rates in unselected critically ill patients may have improved during the past 15 years. Whether these benefits also affect acute and long-term prognosis in chronically critically ill patients is unclear, as are determinants relevant to prognosis. We conducted a retrospective analysis of data collected from March 1993 to February 2005. A cohort of 390 consecutive surgical patients requiring intensive care therapy for more than 28 days was analyzed. The intensive care unit (ICU) survival rate was 53.6%. Survival rates at one, three and five years were 61.8%, 44.7% and 37.0% among ICU survivors. After adjustment for relevant covariates, acute and long-term survival rates did not differ significantly between 1993 to 1999 and 1999 to 2005 intervals. Acute prognosis was determined by disease severity during ICU stay and by primary diagnosis. However, only the latter was independently associated with long-term prognosis. Advanced age was an independent prognostic determinant of poor short-term and long-term survival. Acute and long-term prognosis in chronically critically ill surgical patients has remained unchanged throughout the past 12 years. After successful surgical intervention and intensive care, long-term outcome is reasonably good and is mainly determined by age and underlying disease.

  11. Improving care by understanding the way we work: human factors and behavioural science in the context of intensive care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sevdalis, Nick; Brett, Stephen J

    2009-01-01

    Effectiveness and efficiency of care of the critically ill patient are subject to a number of systemic influences, including skills of individual physicians/nurses (technical and non-technical), team-working in the intensive care unit (ICU), and the ICU environment. We first discuss the paper of Fackler and colleagues as a contribution to the systems approach to clinical performance in the context of intensive care. We then highlight features of care delivery that are unique to intensive care and discuss the need for better understanding of human and non-human elements of the system of care of the critically ill patient as a driver for improvement of care delivery. PMID:19439048

  12. Consensus guidelines on analgesia and sedation in dying intensive care unit patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lemieux-Charles Louise

    2002-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Intensivists must provide enough analgesia and sedation to ensure dying patients receive good palliative care. However, if it is perceived that too much is given, they risk prosecution for committing euthanasia. The goal of this study is to develop consensus guidelines on analgesia and sedation in dying intensive care unit patients that help distinguish palliative care from euthanasia. Methods Using the Delphi technique, panelists rated levels of agreement with statements describing how analgesics and sedatives should be given to dying ICU patients and how palliative care should be distinguished from euthanasia. Participants were drawn from 3 panels: 1 Canadian Academic Adult Intensive Care Fellowship program directors and Intensive Care division chiefs (N = 9; 2 Deputy chief provincial coroners (N = 5; 3 Validation panel of Intensivists attending the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group meeting (N = 12. Results After three Delphi rounds, consensus was achieved on 16 statements encompassing the role of palliative care in the intensive care unit, the management of pain and suffering, current areas of controversy, and ways of improving palliative care in the ICU. Conclusion Consensus guidelines were developed to guide the administration of analgesics and sedatives to dying ICU patients and to help distinguish palliative care from euthanasia.

  13. Weaning from mechanical ventilation: factors that influence intensive care nurses' decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tingsvik, Catarina; Johansson, Karin; Mårtensson, Jan

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the study was to describe the factors that influence intensive care nurses' decision-making when weaning patients from mechanical ventilation. Patients with failing vital function may require respiratory support. Weaning from mechanical ventilation is a process in which the intensive care nurse participates in both planning and implementation. A qualitative approach was used. The data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with 22 intensive care nurses. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis. One theme emerged: 'A complex nursing situation where the patient receives attention and which is influenced by the current care culture'. There was consensus that the overall assessment of the patient made by the intensive care nurse was the main factor that influenced the decision-making process. This assessment was a continuous process consisting of three factors: the patient's perspective as well as her/his physical and mental state. On the other hand, there was a lack of consensus about what other factors influenced the decision-making process. These factors included the care culture constituted by the characteristics of the team, the intensive care nurses' professional skills, personalities and ability to be present. The individual overall assessment of the patient enabled nursing care from a holistic perspective. Furthermore, the weaning process can be more effective and potential suffering reduced by creating awareness of the care culture's impact on the decision-making process. © 2014 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

  14. Safety of milrinone use in neonatal intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samiee-Zafarghandy, Samira; Raman, Sudha R; van den Anker, John N; McHutchison, Kerstin; Hornik, Christoph P; Clark, Reese H; Brian Smith, P

    2015-01-01

    Milrinone use in the neonatal intensive care unit has increased over the last 10 years despite a paucity of published safety data in infants. We sought to determine the safety of milrinone therapy among infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. We conducted a retrospective data analysis, identifying all infants who were exposed to milrinone and discharged from 322 neonatal intensive care units managed by the Pediatrix Medical Group from 1997-2010. We identified adverse events (AEs) during milrinone exposure. The unit of observation for clinical AEs was the first course of milrinone and for laboratory AEs it was an infant-day of exposure to milrinone. Overall, 1446 of 716,821 (0.2%) infants received milrinone for a total of 6894 infant-days. The proportion of infants exposed to milrinone increased from 0 in 1997 to 4/1000 infant cases in 2010. Persistent pulmonary hypertension (40%) was the most commonly reported diagnosis at the start of milrinone administration. Overall, 606/1446 (42%) of infants had at least 1 clinical AE recorded during milrinone therapy. Hypotension requiring pressors and thrombocytopenia (milrinone therapy. Among infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit, there was an increase in the use of milrinone over the past 13 years. The safety, dosing, and efficacy of milrinone in infants should be determined in prospective clinical trials. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. S3 guidelines for intensive care in cardiac surgery patients: hemodynamic monitoring and cardiocirculary system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schmitt, D. V.

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Hemodynamic monitoring and adequate volume-therapy, as well as the treatment with positive inotropic drugs and vasopressors are the basic principles of the postoperative intensive care treatment of patient after cardiothoracic surgery. The goal of these S3 guidelines is to evaluate the recommendations in regard to evidence based medicine and to define therapy goals for monitoring and therapy. In context with the clinical situation the evaluation of the different hemodynamic parameters allows the development of a therapeutic concept and the definition of goal criteria to evaluate the effect of treatment. Up to now there are only guidelines for subareas of postoperative treatment of cardiothoracic surgical patients, like the use of a pulmonary artery catheter or the transesophageal echocardiography. The German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Thorax-, Herz- und Gefäßchirurgie, DGTHG and the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und lntensivmedizin, DGAI made an approach to ensure and improve the quality of the postoperative intensive care medicine after cardiothoracic surgery by the development of S3 consensus-based treatment guidelines. Goal of this guideline is to assess the available monitoring methods with regard to indication, procedures, predication, limits, contraindications and risks for use. The differentiated therapy of volume-replacement, positive inotropic support and vasoactive drugs, the therapy with vasodilatators, inodilatators and calcium sensitizers and the use of intra-aortic balloon pumps will also be addressed. The guideline has been developed following the recommendations for the development of guidelines by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF. The presented key messages of the guidelines were approved after two consensus meetings under the moderation of the Association of the

  16. The patient experience of intensive care: a meta-synthesis of Nordic studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egerod, Ingrid; Bergbom, Ingegerd; Lindahl, Berit; Henricson, Maria; Granberg-Axell, Anetth; Storli, Sissel Lisa

    2015-08-01

    Sedation practices in the intensive care unit have evolved from deep sedation and paralysis toward lighter sedation and better pain management. The new paradigm of sedation has enabled early mobilization and optimized mechanical ventilator weaning. Intensive care units in the Nordic countries have been particularly close to goals of lighter or no sedation and a more humane approach to intensive care. The aim of our study was to systematically review and reinterpret newer Nordic studies of the patient experience of intensive care to obtain a contemporary description of human suffering during life-threatening illness. We conducted a meta-synthesis in which we collected, assessed, and analyzed published qualitative studies with the goal of synthesizing these findings into a new whole. Analysis was based on the scientific approach of Gadamerian hermeneutics. Nordic intensive care units. Patients in Nordic intensive care units. We performed a literature search of qualitative studies of the patient experience of intensive care based on Nordic publications in 2000-2013. We searched the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and PsycINFO. Each original paper was assessed by all authors using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program instrument for qualitative research. We included 22 studies, all of which provided direct patient quotes. The overarching theme was identified as: The patient experience when existence itself is at stake. We constructed an organizing framework for analysis using the main perspectives represented in the included studies: body, mind, relationships, and ICU-environment. Final analysis and interpretation resulted in the unfolding of four themes: existing in liminality, existing in unboundedness, existing in mystery, and existing on the threshold. Our main finding was that human suffering during intensive care is still evident although sedation is lighter and the environment is more humane. Our interpretation suggested that patients with life

  17. Experiences of Turkish undergraduate nursing students in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tastan, Sevinc; Iyigun, Emine; Ayhan, Hatice; Hatipoglu, Sevgi

    2015-01-01

    Clinical practicum provides many opportunities for nursing students to learn more about their subject and develop essential nursing skills. In contrast, nursing students often have difficulties during their clinical practicum. This study aims to describe the clinical experiences of undergraduate nursing students in the intensive care unit. A descriptive qualitative approach was used in this study. The study was performed at a military medical academy between 1 March and 30 April 2008. The study was conducted with 15 fourth-year baccalaureate nursing students. Data were obtained through open-ended and in-depth audio-taped interviews, which lasted approximately 35-45 min. Themes emerged from the participants' descriptions of their experiences in the intensive care unit: anxiety, fear of doing harm, emotional connection and empathy, improving self-confidence, perceived responsibility for patients, prioritizing care of patients, preserving dignity, coping with confronting situations, and communication in the intensive care unit. The views and expectations of nursing students regarding intensive care practice are important for the organization of the nursing education environment. The nursing curriculum must be revised and developed according to the needs of students.

  18. The mourning before: can anticipatory grief theory inform family care in adult intensive care?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coombs, Maureen A

    2010-12-01

    Although anticipatory grief is a much-debated and critiqued bereavement concept, it does offer a way of understanding and exploring expected loss that may be helpful in certain situations. In end-of-life care in adult intensive care units, families often act as proxy decision makers for patients in the transition from curative treatment efforts to planned treatment withdrawal. Despite there being a developed evidence base to inform care of families at this time, few of the clinical studies that provided this evidence were underpinned by bereavement theory. Focusing on end-of-life intensive care practices, this paper integrates work on anticipatory grief and family interventions to present a family-centred framework of care. Through this it is argued that the complex needs of families must be more comprehensively understood by doctors and nurses and that interventions must be more systematically planned to improve quality end-of-life care for families in this setting.

  19. 'It's a matter of patient safety': understanding challenges in everyday clinical practice for achieving good care on the surgical ward - a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jangland, Eva; Nyberg, Berit; Yngman-Uhlin, Pia

    2017-06-01

    Surgical care plays an important role in the acute hospital's delivery of safe, high-quality patient care. Although demands for effectiveness are high in surgical wards quality of care and patient safety must also be secured. It is therefore necessary to identify the challenges and barriers linked to quality of care and patient safety with a focus on this specific setting. To explore situations and processes that support or hinder good safe patient care on the surgical ward. This qualitative study was based on a strategic sample of 10 department and ward leaders in three hospitals and six surgical wards in Sweden. Repeated reflective interviews were analysed using systematic text condensation. Four themes described the leaders' view of a complex healthcare setting that demands effectiveness and efficiency in moving patients quickly through the healthcare system. Quality of care and patient safety were often hampered factors such as a shift of care level, with critically ill patients cared for without reorganisation of nurses' competencies on the surgical ward. There is a gap between what is described in written documents and what is or can be performed in clinical practice to achieve good care and safe care on the surgical ward. A shift in levels of care on the surgical ward without reallocation of the necessary competencies at the patient's bedside show consequences for quality of care and patient safety. This means that surgical wards should consider reviewing their organisation and implementing more advanced nursing roles in direct patient care on all shifts. The ethical issues and the moral stress on nurses who lack the resources and competence to deliver good care according to professional values need to be made more explicit as a part of the patient safety agenda in the surgical ward. © 2016 Nordic College of Caring Science.

  20. Prevalence of nursing diagnoses in an intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinicia de Holanda Cabral

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available To identify the main nursing diagnostic titles used in the care of critically ill patients hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit, verifying the presence thereof in the diagnoses of NANDA International’s Taxonomy II. Methods: descriptive and documental study, in which 69 medical records of patients aged over 18 years were consulted. Results: 22 nursing diagnostic titles were found; the most frequent was risk for infection (99.0%, risk for skin integrity (75.0% and risk for aspiration (61.0%. Most diagnoses were in the domains safety/ protection (43.0% and activity/rest (26.5%. Conclusions: authors identified the main nursing diagnostic titles used in the care of critically ill patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and the presence thereof in the diagnoses of NANDA International’s Taxonomy II.

  1. Myasthenic crisis patients who require intensive care unit management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakaguchi, Hideya; Yamashita, Satoshi; Hirano, Teruyuki; Nakajima, Makoto; Kimura, En; Maeda, Yasushi; Uchino, Makoto

    2012-09-01

    The purpose of this report was to investigate predictive factors that necessitate intensive care in myasthenic crisis (MC). We retrospectively reviewed MC patients at our institution and compared ICU and ward management groups. Higher MG-ADL scale scores, non-ocular initial symptoms, infection-triggered findings, and higher MGFA classification were observed more frequently in the ICU group. In patients with these prognostic factors, better outcomes may be obtained with early institution of intensive care. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. [End-of-life and euthanasia, an intensive care team's experience].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baruteau, J; Devilliers, A; François, I; Blettery, B

    2002-04-20

    The improvement in the medical techniques used in intensive care units over the last 30 years has led to a different approach towards the end of life and death. Our study has underlined the feelings of all the staff of an intensive care unit towards the various difficulties engendered by death and the question of euthanasia. Conducted in the particular context of an intensive care unit, this work is a survey on the staff's feelings and factual experiences, in order to promote discussions on this painful subject. Sixty-one percent of the persons surveyed declared that euthanasia was ethically acceptable. The patients take the initiative of the request (92%) and the cohesion of the team is unanimously required. Pain and corporeal deterioration are the first motivations. Euthanasia is a difficult question, sometimes impassionate, and the care units have to consider whether they are concerned by the quality of their patients' care. The press regularly issues reports on this. But beyond these quantified questions, the staff who care for these ill patients are often very discreet. The regular confrontation with this situation changes the medical team's view of the profession.

  3. A comparison of the intensive care experiences of emergency and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2015-09-11

    Sep 11, 2015 ... Department of Nursing, Surgical Nursing, Medipol University,. Faculty of Health Science, ..... stress felt by married patients at being separated from their spouse or children and .... its effect on burnout. Am J Crit Care 2004 ...

  4. [Qualified and emergency specialized surgical care for those with wounds to the extremities].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iurkevich, V V; Fidarov, E Z; Bauér, V A

    1997-06-01

    Experience of organization of the surgical care in the military hospital to 438 wounded in extremities during armed conflict in Republic of Chechnya is generalized. Maximum reduction of stages of medical evacuation of the wounded in extremities, approaching of the qualified and urgent specialized surgical care directly to the region of battle actions, use of opportunities for it one-moment rendering corresponded to principles of the modern military-medical doctrine. Due to realization of the requirements of the doctrine life of many wounded ++ was saved, terms of treatment, medical and social rehabilitation are reduced. Besides lethality, treatment cost and numbers of transferring to the reserve from the Armed Forces were reduced.

  5. [Descriptive Analysis of Health Economics of Intensive Home Care of Ventilated Patients].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, Yvonne; Ostermann, Julia; Reinhold, Thomas; Ewers, Michael

    2018-05-14

    Long-term ventilated patients in Germany receive intensive care mainly in the patients' home or in assisted-living facilities. There is a lack of knowledge about the nature and extent of resource use and costs associated with care of this small, heterogeneous but overall growing patient group. A sub-study in the context of a research project SHAPE analyzed costs of 29 patients descriptively from a social perspective. Direct and indirect costs of intensive home care over a period of three months were recorded and analyzed retrospectively. Standardized recorded written self-reports from patients and relatives as well as information from the interviewing of nursing staff and from nursing documentation were the basis for this analysis. There was an average total cost of intensive home care for three months per patient of 61194 € (95% CI 53 884-68 504) including hospital stays. The main costs were directly linked to outpatient medical and nursing care provided according to the Code of Social Law V and XI. Services provided by nursing home care service according to § 37(2) Code of Social Law V (65%) were the largest cost item. Approximately 13% of the total costs were attributable to indirect costs. Intensive home care for ventilated patients is resource-intensive and cost-intensive and has received little attention also from a health economics perspective. Valid information and transparency about the cost structures are required for an effective and economic design and management of the long-term care of this patient group. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  6. Well-being of intensive care nurses (WEBIC) : a job analytic approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blanc, Le P.M.; Jonge, de J.; Rijk, de A.E.; Schaufeli, W.B.

    2001-01-01

    This paper presents the results of a validation study of the so-called well-being of intensive care nurses (WEBIC)-questionnaire that is designed to perform a detailed job analysis of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses’ jobs. The WEBIC-questionnaire is based on modern sociotechnical systems theory,

  7. Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae colonization in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units: risk factors for progression to infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akturk, Hacer; Sutcu, Murat; Somer, Ayper; Aydın, Derya; Cihan, Rukiye; Ozdemir, Aslı; Coban, Asuman; Ince, Zeynep; Citak, Agop; Salman, Nuran

    2016-01-01

    .1-61.0) and previous surgical procedure (OR: 7.4; 95% CI: 1.9-28.5) as independent risk factors for carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in patients colonized with carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Out of 24 patients with carbapenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, 4 (16.6%) died of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae sepsis. Asymptomatic colonization with carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in intensive care units of pediatric departments should alert health care providers about forthcoming carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infection. Those carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae colonized patients at risk of developing infection due to carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae may be targeted for interventions to reduce subsequent infection occurence and also for timely initiation of empirical carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae active treatment, when necessary. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  8. Early versus late tracheostomy in cardiovascular intensive care patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puentes, Wilfredo; Jerath, Angela; Djaiani, George; Cabrerizo Sanchez, Rosa; Wąsowicz, Marcin

    2016-01-01

    Benefits of tracheostomy have been well established. Most of the literature, refers these benefits to general intensive care population, excluding cardiac surgery or including only small number of these patients. On the other hand, there is no clear definition describing the proper time to perform the procedure and defining what are potential benefits of early compared to late tracheostomy. This retrospective cohort aims to assess the potential benefits of early tracheostomy on post-operative outcomes, length of stay and post-tracheostomy complications within cardiac surgical population. After obtaining REB approval, we conducted a retrospective chart review in a single, tertiary care institution, identifying patients who underwent tracheostomy after cardiac surgery from 1999 to 2006. Time-to-tracheostomy was defined as "early" if tracheostomy. 32 (22%) patients underwent early tracheostomy and 115 (78%) late tracheostomy. Incidence of atrial fibrillation (31.2% vs 61.7%; P = 0.003), kidney dysfunction (6.3% vs 27.2%; P=0.015) and kidney failure 18.8% vs 43.5%; P = 0.013) were lower in the early tracheostomy group. There were no differences on post tracheostomy infection or presence of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Both the ICU and hospital length of stay were significantly shorter in early tracheostomy group, 21.5 (ET) vs 36.9 (LT) days and 37.5 (ET) vs 57.6 (LT) days respectively. There were no differences in mortality between groups. There are significant benefits in reduction of postoperative morbidities with overall shorter ICU and hospital stay. These benefits may promote faster patient rehabilitation with reduced healthcare costs.

  9. Interprofessional Simulations Promote Knowledge Retention and Enhance Perceptions of Teamwork Skills in a Surgical-Trauma-Burn Intensive Care Unit Setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Katie L; Quatrara, Beth

    The current state of health care encompasses highly acute, complex patients, managed with ever-changing technology. The ability to function proficiently in critical care relies on knowledge, technical skills, and interprofessional teamwork. Integration of these factors can improve patient outcomes. Simulation provides "hands-on" practice and allows for the integration of teamwork into knowledge/skill training. However, simulation can require a significant investment of time, effort, and financial resources. The Institute of Medicine recommendations from 2015 include "strengthening the evidence base for interprofessional education (IPE)" and "linking IPE with changes in collaborative behavior." In one surgical-trauma-burn intensive care unit (STBICU), no IPE existed. The highly acute and diverse nature of the patients served by the unit highlights the importance of appropriate training. This is heightened during critical event situations where patients deteriorate rapidly and the team intervenes swiftly. The aims of this study were to (1) evaluate knowledge retention and analyze changes in perceptions of teamwork among nurses and resident physicians in a STBICU setting after completion of an interprofessional critical event simulation and (2) provide insight for future interprofessional simulations (IPSs), including the ideal frequency of such training, associated cost, and potential effect on nursing turnover. A comparison-cohort pilot study was developed to evaluate knowledge retention and analyze changes in perceptions of teamwork. A 1-hour critical event IPS was held for nurses and resident physicians in a STBICU setting. A traumatic brain injury patient with elevated intracranial pressure, rapid deterioration, and cardiac arrest was utilized for the simulation scenario. The simulation required the team to use interventions to reduce elevated intracranial pressure and then perform cardiac resuscitation according to Advanced Cardiac Life Support guidelines. A

  10. [Ulcerating Herpes simplex infections in intensive care patients].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, M; Wohlrab, J; Radke, J; Marsch, W C; Soukup, J

    2002-11-01

    Herpes simplex infections are potentially a life-threatening situation for immunocompromised as well as critically ill patients. The correct diagnosis is made more difficult in comatose patients by the fact that the characteristic symptom of extreme pain cannot be registered. The clinical dermatological findings (polycyclic configuration, easily bleeding ulcers) are thus especially important in patients under intensive care conditions. As examples, the cases of 3 critically ill patients (subarachnoid bleeding or head injury) developing therapy-resistant, flat sacral or perioral skin ulcers with peripheral blisters are presented. Herpes simplex virus was confirmed immunohistologically and in the smear test. All patients subsequently died. These cases emphasize that patients in the intensive care unit are in danger of developing a chronic persistent Herpes simplex infection due to latent immunosuppression. Chronic persistent Herpes infections may be underrated in intensive therapy, and must always be ruled out in case of therapy-resistant erosions or ulcerations.

  11. Late Intensive Care Unit Admission in Liver Transplant Recipients: 10-Year Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atar, Funda; Gedik, Ender; Kaplan, Şerife; Zeyneloğlu, Pınar; Pirat, Arash; Haberal, Mehmet

    2015-11-01

    We evaluated late intensive care unit admission in liver transplant recipients to identify incidences and causes of acute respiratory failure in the postoperative period and to compare these results with results in patients who did not have acute respiratory failure. We retrospectively screened the data of 173 consecutive adult liver transplant recipients from January 2005 through March 2015 to identify patients with late admission (> 30 d posttransplant) to an intensive care unit. Patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with and without acute respiratory failure. Acute respiratory failure was defined as severe dyspnea, respiratory distress, decreased oxygen saturation, hypoxemia or hypercapnia on room air, or need for noninvasive or invasive mechanical ventilation. Demographic, laboratory, clinical, and respiratory data were collected. Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores; lengths of intensive care unit and hospital stays; and hospital mortality were assessed. Among 173 patients, 37 (21.4%) were admitted to an intensive care unit, including 22 (59.5%) with acute respiratory failure. The leading cause of acute respiratory failure was pneumonia (n = 19, 86.4%). Patients with acute respiratory failure had significantly lower levels of albumin before intensive care unit admission (P = .003). In patients with acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis and septic shock were more frequently observed and tracheotomy was more frequently performed (P = .041). Acute respiratory failure developed in 59.5% of liver transplant recipients with late intensive care unit admission. The leading cause was pneumonia, with this group of patients having higher requirements for invasive mechanical ventilation and tracheotomy, longer stays in an intensive care unit, and higher mortality.

  12. Stressors in the relatives of patients admitted to an intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barth, Angélica Adam; Weigel, Bruna Dorfey; Dummer, Claus Dieter; Machado, Kelly Campara; Tisott, Taís Montagner

    2016-09-01

    To identify and stratify the main stressors for the relatives of patients admitted to the adult intensive care unit of a teaching hospital. Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted with relatives of patients admitted to an intensive care unit from April to October 2014. The following materials were used: a questionnaire containing identification information and demographic data of the relatives, clinical data of the patients, and 25 stressors adapted from the Intensive Care Unit Environmental Stressor Scale. The degree of stress caused by each factor was determined on a scale of values from 1 to 4. The stressors were ranked based on the average score obtained. The main cause of admission to the intensive care unit was clinical in 36 (52.2%) cases. The main stressors were the patient being in a state of coma (3.15 ± 1.23), the patient being unable to speak (3.15 ± 1.20), and the reason for admission (3.00 ± 1.27). After removing the 27 (39.1%) coma patients from the analysis, the main stressors for the relatives were the reason for admission (2.75 ± 1.354), seeing the patient in the intensive care unit (2.51 ± 1.227), and the patient being unable to speak (2.50 ± 1.269). Difficulties in communication and in the relationship with the patient admitted to the intensive care unit were identified as the main stressors by their relatives, with the state of coma being predominant. By contrast, the environment, work routines, and relationship between the relatives and intensive care unit team had the least impact as stressors.

  13. Parents' experiences with neonatal home care following initial care in the neonatal intensive care unit: a phenomenological hermeneutical interview study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dellenmark-Blom, Michaela; Wigert, Helena

    2014-03-01

    A descriptive study of parents' experiences with neonatal home care following initial care in the neonatal intensive care unit. As survival rates improve among premature and critically ill infants with an increased risk of morbidity, parents' responsibilities for neonatal care grow in scope and degree under the banner of family-centred care. Concurrent with medical advances, new questions arise about the role of parents and the experience of being provided neonatal care at home. An interview study with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. Parents from a Swedish neonatal (n = 22) home care setting were extensively interviewed within one year of discharge. Data were collected during 2011-2012. The main theme of the findings is that parents experience neonatal home care as an inner emotional journey, from having a child to being a parent. This finding derives from three themes: the parents' experience of leaving the hospital milieu in favour of establishing independent parenthood, maturing as a parent and processing experiences during the period of neonatal intensive care. This study suggests that neonatal home care is experienced as a care structure adjusted to incorporate parents' needs following discharge from a neonatal intensive care unit. Neonatal home care appears to bridge the gap between hospital and home, supporting the family's adaptation to life in the home setting. Parents become empowered to be primary caregivers, having nurse consultants serving the needs of the whole family. Neonatal home care may therefore be understood as the implementation of family-centred care during the transition from NICU to home. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Compared to Palliative Care, Working in Intensive Care More than Doubles the Chances of Burnout: Results from a Nationwide Comparative Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Martins Pereira

    Full Text Available Professionals working in intensive and palliative care units, hence caring for patients at the end-of-life, are at risk of developing burnout. Workplace conditions are determinant factors to develop this syndrome among professionals providing end-of-life care.To identify and compare burnout levels between professionals working in intensive and palliative care units; and to assess which workplace experiences are associated with burnout.A nationwide, multicentre quantitative comparative survey study was conducted in Portugal using the following instruments: Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey, Questionnaire of workplace experiences and ethical decisions, and Questionnaire of socio-demographic and professional characteristics. A total of 355 professionals from 10 intensive care and 9 palliative care units participated in the survey. A series of univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed; odds ratio sidelong with 95% confidence intervals were calculated.27% of the professionals exhibited burnout. This was more frequent in intensive care units (OR = 2.525, 95% CI: 1.025-6.221, p = .006. Univariate regression analyses showed that higher burnout levels were significantly associated with conflicts, decisions to withhold/withdraw treatment, and implementing palliative sedation. When controlling for socio-demographic and educational characteristics, and setting (intensive care units versus palliative care units, higher burnout levels were significantly and positively associated with experiencing conflicts in the workplace. Having post-graduate education in intensive/palliative care was significantly but inversely associated to higher burnout levels.Compared to palliative care, working in intensive care units more than doubled the likelihood of exhibiting burnout. Experiencing conflicts (e.g., with patients and/or families, intra and/or inter-teams was the most significant determinant of burnout and having post

  15. Compared to Palliative Care, Working in Intensive Care More than Doubles the Chances of Burnout: Results from a Nationwide Comparative Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teixeira, Carla Margarida; Carvalho, Ana Sofia; Hernández-Marrero, Pablo

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Professionals working in intensive and palliative care units, hence caring for patients at the end-of-life, are at risk of developing burnout. Workplace conditions are determinant factors to develop this syndrome among professionals providing end-of-life care. Objectives To identify and compare burnout levels between professionals working in intensive and palliative care units; and to assess which workplace experiences are associated with burnout. Methods A nationwide, multicentre quantitative comparative survey study was conducted in Portugal using the following instruments: Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey, Questionnaire of workplace experiences and ethical decisions, and Questionnaire of socio-demographic and professional characteristics. A total of 355 professionals from 10 intensive care and 9 palliative care units participated in the survey. A series of univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed; odds ratio sidelong with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results 27% of the professionals exhibited burnout. This was more frequent in intensive care units (OR = 2.525, 95% CI: 1.025–6.221, p = .006). Univariate regression analyses showed that higher burnout levels were significantly associated with conflicts, decisions to withhold/withdraw treatment, and implementing palliative sedation. When controlling for socio-demographic and educational characteristics, and setting (intensive care units versus palliative care units), higher burnout levels were significantly and positively associated with experiencing conflicts in the workplace. Having post-graduate education in intensive/palliative care was significantly but inversely associated to higher burnout levels. Conclusions Compared to palliative care, working in intensive care units more than doubled the likelihood of exhibiting burnout. Experiencing conflicts (e.g., with patients and/or families, intra and/or inter-teams) was the most significant

  16. Prioritizing Surgical Care on National Health Agendas: A Qualitative Case Study of Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Sierra Leone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dare, Anna J; Lee, Katherine C; Bleicher, Josh; Elobu, Alex E; Kamara, Thaim B; Liko, Osborne; Luboga, Samuel; Danlop, Akule; Kune, Gabriel; Hagander, Lars; Leather, Andrew J M; Yamey, Gavin

    2016-05-01

    Little is known about the social and political factors that influence priority setting for different health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), yet these factors are integral to understanding how national health agendas are established. We investigated factors that facilitate or prevent surgical care from being prioritized in LMICs. We undertook country case studies in Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, using a qualitative process-tracing method. We conducted 74 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in health agenda setting and surgical care in these countries. Interviews were triangulated with published academic literature, country reports, national health plans, and policies. Data were analyzed using a conceptual framework based on four components (actor power, ideas, political contexts, issue characteristics) to assess national factors influencing priority for surgery. Political priority for surgical care in the three countries varies. Priority was highest in Papua New Guinea, where surgical care is firmly embedded within national health plans and receives significant domestic and international resources, and much lower in Uganda and Sierra Leone. Factors influencing whether surgical care was prioritized were the degree of sustained and effective domestic advocacy by the local surgical community, the national political and economic environment in which health policy setting occurs, and the influence of international actors, particularly donors, on national agenda setting. The results from Papua New Guinea show that a strong surgical community can generate priority from the ground up, even where other factors are unfavorable. National health agenda setting is a complex social and political process. To embed surgical care within national health policy, sustained advocacy efforts, effective framing of the problem and solutions, and country-specific data are required. Political, technical, and financial support from

  17. Prioritizing Surgical Care on National Health Agendas: A Qualitative Case Study of Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Sierra Leone.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna J Dare

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about the social and political factors that influence priority setting for different health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs, yet these factors are integral to understanding how national health agendas are established. We investigated factors that facilitate or prevent surgical care from being prioritized in LMICs.We undertook country case studies in Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, using a qualitative process-tracing method. We conducted 74 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in health agenda setting and surgical care in these countries. Interviews were triangulated with published academic literature, country reports, national health plans, and policies. Data were analyzed using a conceptual framework based on four components (actor power, ideas, political contexts, issue characteristics to assess national factors influencing priority for surgery. Political priority for surgical care in the three countries varies. Priority was highest in Papua New Guinea, where surgical care is firmly embedded within national health plans and receives significant domestic and international resources, and much lower in Uganda and Sierra Leone. Factors influencing whether surgical care was prioritized were the degree of sustained and effective domestic advocacy by the local surgical community, the national political and economic environment in which health policy setting occurs, and the influence of international actors, particularly donors, on national agenda setting. The results from Papua New Guinea show that a strong surgical community can generate priority from the ground up, even where other factors are unfavorable.National health agenda setting is a complex social and political process. To embed surgical care within national health policy, sustained advocacy efforts, effective framing of the problem and solutions, and country-specific data are required. Political, technical, and financial

  18. Prioritizing Surgical Care on National Health Agendas: A Qualitative Case Study of Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Sierra Leone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dare, Anna J.; Lee, Katherine C.; Bleicher, Josh; Elobu, Alex E.; Kamara, Thaim B.; Liko, Osborne; Luboga, Samuel; Danlop, Akule; Kune, Gabriel; Hagander, Lars; Leather, Andrew J. M.; Yamey, Gavin

    2016-01-01

    Background Little is known about the social and political factors that influence priority setting for different health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), yet these factors are integral to understanding how national health agendas are established. We investigated factors that facilitate or prevent surgical care from being prioritized in LMICs. Methods and Findings We undertook country case studies in Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, using a qualitative process-tracing method. We conducted 74 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in health agenda setting and surgical care in these countries. Interviews were triangulated with published academic literature, country reports, national health plans, and policies. Data were analyzed using a conceptual framework based on four components (actor power, ideas, political contexts, issue characteristics) to assess national factors influencing priority for surgery. Political priority for surgical care in the three countries varies. Priority was highest in Papua New Guinea, where surgical care is firmly embedded within national health plans and receives significant domestic and international resources, and much lower in Uganda and Sierra Leone. Factors influencing whether surgical care was prioritized were the degree of sustained and effective domestic advocacy by the local surgical community, the national political and economic environment in which health policy setting occurs, and the influence of international actors, particularly donors, on national agenda setting. The results from Papua New Guinea show that a strong surgical community can generate priority from the ground up, even where other factors are unfavorable. Conclusions National health agenda setting is a complex social and political process. To embed surgical care within national health policy, sustained advocacy efforts, effective framing of the problem and solutions, and country-specific data are required. Political

  19. Grantee Spotlight: Marvella Ford, Ph.D. - Reducing Barriers to Surgical Cancer Care among African Am

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drs. Marvella E. Ford and Nestor F. Esnaola were awarded a five-year NIH/NIMHD R01 grant to evaluate a patient navigation intervention to reduce barriers to surgical cancer care and improving surgical resection rates in African Americans with lung cancer.

  20. Surgical insertion of central venous catheters in low-birth-weight ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Aim: Neonatal central vascular access (CVA) represents a daily practice in neonatal intensive care unit. Low birth weight (LBW) neonates pose a challenge to anesthetists who try the landmark technique to cannulate central veins. We reported our experience of open surgical cutdown (OSC) to insert catheters through right ...

  1. Open-access MIMIC-II database for intensive care research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joon; Scott, Daniel J; Villarroel, Mauricio; Clifford, Gari D; Saeed, Mohammed; Mark, Roger G

    2011-01-01

    The critical state of intensive care unit (ICU) patients demands close monitoring, and as a result a large volume of multi-parameter data is collected continuously. This represents a unique opportunity for researchers interested in clinical data mining. We sought to foster a more transparent and efficient intensive care research community by building a publicly available ICU database, namely Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II (MIMIC-II). The data harnessed in MIMIC-II were collected from the ICUs of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from 2001 to 2008 and represent 26,870 adult hospital admissions (version 2.6). MIMIC-II consists of two major components: clinical data and physiological waveforms. The clinical data, which include patient demographics, intravenous medication drip rates, and laboratory test results, were organized into a relational database. The physiological waveforms, including 125 Hz signals recorded at bedside and corresponding vital signs, were stored in an open-source format. MIMIC-II data were also deidentified in order to remove protected health information. Any interested researcher can gain access to MIMIC-II free of charge after signing a data use agreement and completing human subjects training. MIMIC-II can support a wide variety of research studies, ranging from the development of clinical decision support algorithms to retrospective clinical studies. We anticipate that MIMIC-II will be an invaluable resource for intensive care research by stimulating fair comparisons among different studies.

  2. Understanding the reasons for delay to definitive surgical care of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Understanding the reasons for delay to definitive surgical care of patients with acute appendicitis in rural South Africa. V Y Kong,1 MB ChB; C Aldous,2 PhD; D L Clarke,1 FCS ... Acute appendicitis in rural South Africa is associated with significant morbidity due to prolonged delays before definitive .... telemedicine support.

  3. ACUTE RENAL FAILURE IN THE NEWBORNS HOSPITALIZED AT THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT, UNIVERSITY CLINICAL CENTRE TUZLA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zulić Evlijana

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Reasons for acute renal failure in hospitalized infants were sepsis, hypovolemia, asphyxia, respiratory distress syndrome, surgical interventions and congenital heart defects. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and and main etiologies, and early outcome of neonatal acute renal failure. Materials and Methods: At Intensive Care Unit, Clinical Center Tuzla, from 15. 01. 2013 to 15. 01. 2015 in 21 newborn was diagnosed renal failure, based on the amount of excreted urine and serum creatinine. Results: The prevalence of renal failure was 6.84%, with a higher incidence of female. 33.3% of infants were term neonates. Oliguria was diagnosed in 71.4% of newborns. Sepsis was the most common predisposing factor for the development of renal failure, associated with high mortality. Other causes of renal failure were perinatal hypoxia, RDS, surgical interventions and congenital heart defects. There was a positive correlation between the gestational age of the newborn and serum creatinine. Discussion: Early prevention of risk factors with rapid diagnosis and effective treatment, can affect further outcome of acute renal failure in infants.

  4. Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy in Intensive Care Unit: Prevention, Diagnosis and Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hannah Masoud

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate diagnosis of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy has substantial prognostic implications in an intensive care unit, given its increased mortality risk and association with life-threatening complications. This report seeks to discuss diagnostic modalities that can be useful in accurately differentiating Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy from Acute Coronary Syndrome, and also briefly discuss prevention and management of this cardiomyopathy in an intensive care unit. For critically ill Takotsubo patients, intensive clinicians can consider establishment of diagnosis by specific electrocardiograph changes, distinctive marked release of cardiac enzymes, characteristic echocardiograph findings, as well as invasive coronary angiography or noninvasive cardiac magnetic imaging.

  5. Education on invasive mechanical ventilation involving intensive care nurses: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilhermino, Michelle C; Inder, Kerry J; Sundin, Deborah

    2018-03-26

    Intensive care unit nurses are critical for managing mechanical ventilation. Continuing education is essential in building and maintaining nurses' knowledge and skills, potentially improving patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine whether continuing education programmes on invasive mechanical ventilation involving intensive care unit nurses are effective in improving patient outcomes. Five electronic databases were searched from 2001 to 2016 using keywords such as mechanical ventilation, nursing and education. Inclusion criteria were invasive mechanical ventilation continuing education programmes that involved nurses and measured patient outcomes. Primary outcomes were intensive care unit mortality and in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital and intensive care unit length of stay, length of intubation, failed weaning trials, re-intubation incidence, ventilation-associated pneumonia rate and lung-protective ventilator strategies. Studies were excluded if they excluded nurses, patients were ventilated for less than 24 h, the education content focused on protocol implementation or oral care exclusively or the outcomes were participant satisfaction. Quality was assessed by two reviewers using an education intervention critical appraisal worksheet and a risk of bias assessment tool. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers and analysed narratively due to heterogeneity. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria for full review: 11 pre- and post-intervention observational and 1 quasi-experimental design. Studies reported statistically significant reductions in hospital length of stay, length of intubation, ventilator-associated pneumonia rates, failed weaning trials and improvements in lung-protective ventilation compliance. Non-statistically significant results were reported for in-hospital and intensive care unit mortality, re-intubation and intensive care unit length of stay. Limited evidence of the effectiveness of

  6. Patients' family satisfaction with needs met at the medical intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalaila, Rabia

    2013-05-01

    The current study investigated the perceived importance and the perceived met needs of family members in the medical intensive care unit and assessed family members' satisfaction with needs met. Studies conducted throughout the world over the past 30 years indicate that family needs are still neglected. Unmet needs of family members of patients in the intensive care unit lead to dissatisfaction with care. A cross-sectional study. A total of 70 family members of critically ill patients were included in this study conducted in a medical intensive care unit in Israel between October 2007-September 2008, using a structured interview. Three outcomes measured by the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit Inventory were regressed separately for baseline variables and family needs met subscales as measured by the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to detect factors that could have predicted each outcome. The results showed differences between the perceived importance and the perceived met needs of family members. Satisfaction with care was positively related to meeting all needs domains except the information need. However, satisfaction with information and decision-making was related only to meeting information and emotional support needs. Continued unmet needs of family members of intensive care unit patients have a negative impact on family satisfaction. Only sweeping changes in clinical practice will succeed in meeting the unmet needs of patients' families. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  7. Knowledge sharing behavior and intensive care nurse innovation: the moderating role of control of care quality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li-Ying, Jason; Paunova, Minna; Egerod, Ingrid

    2016-01-01

    Aims This study investigates the influence of intensive care unit nurses’ knowledge sharing behaviour on nurse innovation, given different conditions of care quality control. Background Health-care organisations face an increasing pressure to innovate while controlling care quality. We have littl...

  8. Patient care and administrative activities of nurses in clinical/surgical units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marilia Moura Luvisotto

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To identify the administrative and nursing care activities most performed by nurses in clinical/surgical units and to determine which are most and least pleasant to them. Methods: A descriptive-exploratory field study, with a quantitative approach and with a sample made up of 40 nurses working in clinical/surgical units who answered a three-part questionnaire composed of identification data and characterization of the professional; a list of nursing and administrative activities for the nurse to grade according to the numbers: “0 = I do not perform it”, “1 = I perform it occasionally”, “2 = I perform it often”, “3 = I perform it daily”; two open-ended questions, in which the nurse listed the activities he/she enjoyed the most and the least. Results: The administrative activities most performed by the nurses were: changing work shifts, preparing employee daily task charts and managing tests; the most performed nursing care activities were related to the stages of the Nursing Care Systematization and the interaction with the multi-professional team; the most enjoyable activities were direct patient care, patient evaluation and implementation of the systematization; the least enjoyable activities were administrative and bureaucratic routines, justification of complaints/problem-solving and preparation of employee task charts. Conclusion: Compared to administrative activities, nursing activities were performed most during the daily routine of the nurse, and the most enjoyable activities were those related to patient care, according to the opinions of the professionals.

  9. Visitation in the intensive care unit: impact on infection prevention and control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Sheila; Herrera, Amando; Miller, Laura; Soto, Rhonda

    2011-01-01

    Evidence-based practice has shown that open visitation in the intensive care setting positively impacts patient outcomes. However, many intensive care units continue to strictly limit visitation hours. One concern for nurses is that open visitation will expose their vulnerable patients to an increased risk of infection. This fear is unfounded in professional literature as well as in the experience of a busy intensive care unit in San Antonio, Texas. Keeping our patients safe from hospital-acquired infections requires vigilant attention to infection prevention procedures. Meanwhile, what may actually be bugging our patients is a health care culture that is based on tradition and is blind to the many benefits provided by a more liberal visitation policy rooted in patient-centered care.

  10. Role of oral care to prevent VAP in mechanically ventilated Intensive Care Unit patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, A; Gupta, A; Singh, T K; Saxsena, A

    2016-01-01

    Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in Intensive Care Unit. One major factor causing VAP is the aspiration of oral colonization because of poor oral care practices. We feel the role of simple measure like oral care is neglected, despite the ample evidence of it being instrumental in preventing VAP.

  11. Role of oral care to prevent VAP in mechanically ventilated Intensive Care Unit patients

    OpenAIRE

    A Gupta; A Gupta; T K Singh; A Saxsena

    2016-01-01

    Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in Intensive Care Unit. One major factor causing VAP is the aspiration of oral colonization because of poor oral care practices. We feel the role of simple measure like oral care is neglected, despite the ample evidence of it being instrumental in preventing VAP.

  12. Impact of Noise on Nurses in Pediatric Intensive Care Units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, J'ai; Kinstler, Angela; Vidonish, William P; Wagner, Michael; Lin, Li; Davis, Kermit G; Kotowski, Susan E; Daraiseh, Nancy M

    2015-09-01

    Excessive exposure to noise places nurses at risk for safety events, near-misses, decreased job performance, and fatigue. Noise is particularly a concern in pediatric intensive care units, where highly skilled providers and vulnerable patients require a quiet environment to promote healing. To measure noise levels and noise duration on specialty pediatric intensive care units to explore sources of noise and its effects on the health of registered nurses. In a cross-sectional pilot study, levels and sources of noise in 3 different specialty pediatric intensive care units were assessed. Fifteen nurses were observed for 4-hour sessions during a 24-hour period. Sound pressure levels (noise) and heart rate were measured continuously, and stress ratings were recorded. Descriptive statistics were calculated for noise (level, source, location, and activity), heart rate, and stress. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to analyze the relationship between heart rate and noise. Mean noise level was 71.9 (SD, 9.2) dBA. Mean heart rate was 85.2/min (SD, 15.8/min) and was significantly associated with noise, unit, within-unit location, nurse sources, and noise activities. The most frequent sources of noise were patients' rooms, care activities, and staff communications. Noise levels in pediatric intensive care units exceed recommended thresholds and require immediate attention through effective interventions. Although noise was not associated with stress, a significant correlation with increased heart rate indicates that noise may be associated with adverse health outcomes. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

  13. Assessing changes in a patient's condition - perspectives of intensive care nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kvande, Monica; Delmar, Charlotte; Lykkeslet, Else; Storli, Sissel Lisa

    2017-03-01

    To explore the phenomenon of assessing changes in patients' conditions in intensive care units from the perspectives of experienced intensive care nurses. Providing safe care for patients in intensive care units requires an awareness and perception of the signs that indicate changes in a patient's condition. Nurses in intensive care units play an essential role in preventing the deterioration of a patient's condition and in improving patient outcomes. This hermeneutic phenomenological study conducted close observations and in-depth interviews with 11 intensive care nurses. The nurses' experience ranged from 7 to 28 years in the intensive care unit. Data were collected at two intensive care units in two Norwegian university hospitals. The analysis was performed using the reflective methods of van Manen. An overarching theme of 'sensitive situational attention' was identified, in which the nurses were sensitive in relation to a patient and understood the significance of a given situation. This theme was further unfolded in four subthemes: (1) being sensitive and emotionally present, (2) being systematic and concentrating, (3) being physically close to the bedside and (4) being trained and familiar with the routines. Nurses understand each patient's situation and foresee clinical eventualities through a sensitive and attentive way of thinking and working. This requires nurses to be present at the bedside with both their senses (sight, hearing, smell and touch) and emotions and to work in a concentrated and systematic manner. Knowledge about the unique patient exists in interplay with past experiences and medical knowledge, which are essential for nurses to understand the situation. Clinical practice should develop routines that enable nurses to be present at the bedside and to work in a concentrated and systematic manner. Furthermore, providing safe care requires nurses to be sensitive and attentive to each patient's unique situation. © 2016 British Association of

  14. Acute Cardiovascular Care Association Position Paper on Intensive Cardiovascular Care Units

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonnefoy-Cudraz, Eric; Bueno, Hector; Casella, Gianni

    2018-01-01

    , the recommended management structure, the optimal number of staff, the need for specially trained cardiologists and cardiovascular nurses, the desired equipment and architecture, and the interaction with other departments in the hospital and other intensive cardiovascular care units in the region...

  15. Mothers’ perceptions of family centred care in neonatal intensive care units

    OpenAIRE

    Finlayson, Kenneth William; Dixon, Annie; Smith, Chris; Dykes, Fiona Clare; Flacking, Renee

    2014-01-01

    Objective\\ud \\ud To explore mothers’ perceptions of family centred care (FCC) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in England.\\ud Design\\ud \\ud The qualitative experiences of 12 mothers from three NICUs in the UK were elicited using individual interviews. A thematic network analysis was conducted on the transcribed interviews\\ud Main outcome measures\\ud \\ud A central global theme supported by a number of organizing themes were developed reflecting the views of the mothers and their experi...

  16. Sensitizing health-care workers and trainees to create a nondiscriminatory health-care environment for surgical care of HIV-Infected patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deeptiman James

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Occupational risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV transmission creates barriers in the surgical health care of patients with HIV infection. Poor awareness, prevalent misconceptions, and associated stigma lead to discrimination against HIV-infected patients. This study was carried out to assess effectiveness of a “HIV awareness program” (HAP to educate and motivate health-care workers to provide equitable and ethical health care to HIV-infected patients. Methodology: An interventional study was conducted at a secondary level mission hospital in Central India from April 2014 to August 2015. Change in knowledge, awareness, and attitude following a multimedia “HAP” was analyzed with a “pre- and posttest design.” Seventy-four staffs and trainees participated in the program. Z-test and t-test were used to check the statistical significance of the data. Results: The mean pretest score was 19.31 (standard deviation [SD]: 6.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 17.923–20.697 and the mean posttest score was 30.84 (SD: 4.8, 95% CI: 29.714–31.966. This difference was statistically significant at the 5% level with P < 0.001. Conclusions: “HAP” was effective in changing the knowledge, awareness, and attitude of the staffs and trainees of the secondary hospital toward surgical care of HIV-infected patients.

  17. Evaluation of DICE, a terminological system for intensive care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Keizer, N. F.; Abu-Hanna, A.; Cornet, R.

    2000-01-01

    Evaluative research and the introduction of the Patient Data Management System to support care have increased the need for structured and standardized registration of diagnostic information in Dutch intensive cares (IC). To this end a terminological system to describe diagnoses is needed. A

  18. Role of oral care to prevent VAP in mechanically ventilated Intensive Care Unit patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Gupta

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP is the most common nosocomial infection in Intensive Care Unit. One major factor causing VAP is the aspiration of oral colonization because of poor oral care practices. We feel the role of simple measure like oral care is neglected, despite the ample evidence of it being instrumental in preventing VAP.

  19. High resistance rate against 15 different antibiotics in aerobic gram-negative bacteria isolates of cardiology intensive care unit patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Küçükates E

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Aerobic gram negative bacteria were isolated and examined microbiologically from various clinical samples of 602 patients hospitalized between January 1997 and December 2000 in surgical and coronary intensive care units (ICUs. A total of 827 isolates were obtained from 602 patients. The majority of microorganisms were isolated from the respiratory tract (50.3% and blood (39.9%. Pseudomonas spp. were the most frequently isolated gram negative species (32.7%, followed by Acinetobacter spp. (24.0% and Klebsiella pneumoniae (19.4%. High resistance rates to all antibiotics studied were observed. Imipenem and meropenem were the most effective antibiotics against gram negatives.

  20. Diagnosis of state visits to patients held in intensive care units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa Del Socorro Morales-Aguila

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The visit is the space where it is possible to relate the patient, family and health personnel. To diagnose the situation of the visits to patients imprisoned in units of intensive care of Institutions Prestadoras of Health (IPS. Study descriptive, cross; the population was five intensive care units, the intrinsic sample consisted of 34 participants. respondents agreed visiting hours morning and afternoon 53%; the residence time of family members during the half-hour visit was 30%; the number of people allowed is three relatives 70%; information about the patient's progress is provided by the medical specialist 65%; 18% weakness was evident in the application of informed consent procedures make. These results serve to generate changes in the future with the attention paid to the families of critically ill patients, based on the recommendations of the American Association of Intensive Care more flexible patient visits focused on family relationship, in order to minimize anxiety produced by the gravity of their situation and environment of the Unit of Intensive care.

  1. [Reimbursement of intensive care services in the German DRG system : Current problems and possible solutions].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riessen, R; Hermes, C; Bodmann, K-F; Janssens, U; Markewitz, A

    2018-02-01

    The reimbursement of intensive care and nursing services in the German health system is based on the diagnosis-related groups (G-DRG) system. Due to the lack of a central hospital planning, the G‑DRG system has become the most important influence on the development of the German health system. Compared to other countries, intensive care in Germany is characterized by a high number of intensive care beds, a low nurse-to-patient ratio, no official definition of the level of care, and a minimal available data set from intensive care units (ICUs). Under the given circumstances, a shortage of qualified intensive care nurses and physicians is currently the largest threat for intensive care in Germany. To address these deficiencies, we suggest the following measures: (1) Integration of ICUs into the levels of care which are currently developed for emergency centers at hospitals. (2) Mandatory collection of structured data sets from all ICUs including quality criteria. (3) A reform of intensive care and nursing reimbursement under consideration of adequate staffing in the individual ICU. (4) Actions to improve ICU staffing and qualification.

  2. A Technical Evaluation of Wireless Connectivity from Patient Monitors to an Anesthesia Information Management System During Intensive Care Unit Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simpao, Allan F; Galvez, Jorge A; England, W Randall; Wartman, Elicia C; Scott, James H; Hamid, Michael M; Rehman, Mohamed A; Epstein, Richard H

    2016-02-01

    Surgical procedures performed at the bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were documented using paper anesthesia records in contrast to the operating rooms, where an anesthesia information management system (AIMS) was used for all cases. This was largely because of logistical problems related to connecting cables between the bedside monitors and our portable AIMS workstations. We implemented an AIMS for documentation in the NICU using wireless adapters to transmit data from bedside monitoring equipment to a portable AIMS workstation. Testing of the wireless AIMS during simulation in the presence of an electrosurgical generator showed no evidence of interference with data transmission. Thirty NICU surgical procedures were documented via the wireless AIMS. Two wireless cases exhibited brief periods of data loss; one case had an extended data gap because of adapter power failure. In comparison, in a control group of 30 surgical cases in which wired connections were used, there were no data gaps. The wireless AIMS provided a simple, unobtrusive, portable alternative to paper records for documenting anesthesia records during NICU bedside procedures.

  3. Assessment of surgical and obstetrical care at 10 district hospitals in Ghana using on-site interviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdullah, Fizan; Choo, Shelly; Hesse, Afua A J; Abantanga, Francis; Sory, Elias; Osen, Hayley; Ng, Julie; McCord, Colin W; Cherian, Meena; Fleischer-Djoleto, Charles; Perry, Henry

    2011-12-01

    For most of the population in Africa, district hospitals represent the first level of access for emergency and essential surgical services. The present study documents the number and availability of surgical and obstetrical care providers as well as the types of surgical and obstetrical procedures being performed at 10 first-referral district hospitals in Ghana. After institutional review board and governmental approval, a study team composed of Ghanaian and American surgeons performed on-site surveys at 10 district hospitals in 10 different regions of Ghana in August 2009. Face-to-face interviews were conducted documenting the numbers and availability of surgical and obstetrical personnel as well as gathering data relating to the number and types of procedures being performed at the facilities. A total of 68 surgical and obstetrical providers were interviewed. Surgical and obstetrical care providers consisted of Medical Officers (8.5%), nurse anesthetists (6%), theatre nurses (33%), midwives (50.7%), and others (4.5%). Major surgical cases represented 37% of overall case volumes with cesarean section as the most common type of major surgical procedure performed. The most common minor surgical procedures performed were suturing of lacerations or episiotomies. The present study demonstrates that there is a substantial shortage of adequately trained surgeons who can perform surgical and obstetrical procedures at first-referral facilities. Addressing human resource needs and further defining practice constraints at the district hospital level are important facets of future planning and policy implementation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. 'Intensive care unit survivorship' - a constructivist grounded theory of surviving critical illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kean, Susanne; Salisbury, Lisa G; Rattray, Janice; Walsh, Timothy S; Huby, Guro; Ramsay, Pamela

    2017-10-01

    To theorise intensive care unit survivorship after a critical illness based on longitudinal qualitative data. Increasingly, patients survive episodes of critical illness. However, the short- and long-term impact of critical illness includes physical, psychological, social and economic challenges long after hospital discharge. An appreciation is emerging that care needs to extend beyond critical illness to enable patients to reclaim their lives postdischarge with the term 'survivorship' being increasingly used in this context. What constitutes critical illness survivorship has, to date, not been theoretically explored. Longitudinal qualitative and constructivist grounded theory. Interviews (n = 46) with 17 participants were conducted at four time points: (1) before discharge from hospital, (2) four to six weeks postdischarge, (3) six months and (4) 12 months postdischarge across two adult intensive care unit setting. Individual face-to-face interviews. Data analysis followed the principles of Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory. 'Intensive care unit survivorship' emerged as the core category and was theorised using concepts such as status passages, liminality and temporality to understand the various transitions participants made postcritical illness. Intensive care unit survivorship describes the unscheduled status passage of falling critically ill and being taken to the threshold of life and the journey to a life postcritical illness. Surviving critical illness goes beyond recovery; surviving means 'moving on' to life postcritical illness. 'Moving on' incorporates a redefinition of self that incorporates any lingering intensive care unit legacies and being in control of one's life again. For healthcare professionals and policymakers, it is important to realise that recovery and transitioning through to survivorship happen within an individual's time frame, not a schedule imposed by the healthcare system. Currently, there are no care pathways or policies in

  5. Performance and burnout in intensive care units

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keijsers, GJ; Schaufeli, WB; LeBlanc, P; Zwerts, C; Miranda, DR

    1995-01-01

    The relationship between three different performance measures and burnout was explored in 20 Dutch Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) proved to be significantly related to nurses' perceptions of performance as well as to objectively assessed unit

  6. Surgical Process Improvement: Impact of a Standardized Care Model With Electronic Decision Support to Improve Compliance With SCIP Inf-9.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, David J; Thompson, Jeffrey E; Suri, Rakesh; Prinsen, Sharon K

    2014-01-01

    The absence of standardization in surgical care process, exemplified in a "solution shop" model, can lead to unwarranted variation, increased cost, and reduced quality. A comprehensive effort was undertaken to improve quality of care around indwelling bladder catheter use following surgery by creating a "focused factory" model within the cardiac surgical practice. Baseline compliance with Surgical Care Improvement Inf-9, removal of urinary catheter by the end of surgical postoperative day 2, was determined. Comparison of baseline data to postintervention results showed clinically important reductions in the duration of indwelling bladder catheters as well as marked reduction in practice variation. Following the intervention, Surgical Care Improvement Inf-9 guidelines were met in 97% of patients. Although clinical quality improvement was notable, the process to accomplish this-identification of patients suitable for standardized pathways, protocol application, and electronic systems to support the standardized practice model-has potentially greater relevance than the specific clinical results. © 2013 by the American College of Medical Quality.

  7. Antimicrobial usage in an intensive care unit: a prospective analysis.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Conrick-Martin, I

    2012-01-31

    Antimicrobial therapies in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) need to be appropriate in both their antimicrobial cover and duration. We performed a prospective observational study of admissions to our semi-closed ICU over a three-month period and recorded the indications for antimicrobial therapy, agents used, duration of use, changes in therapy and reasons for changes in therapy. A change in therapy was defined as the initiation or discontinuation of an antimicrobial agent. There were 51 patients admitted during the three-month study period and all received antimicrobial therapy. There were 135 changes in antimicrobial therapy. 89 (66%) were made by the ICU team and 32 (24%) were made by the primary team. Changes were made due to a deterioration or lack of clinical response in 41 (30%) cases, due to the completion of prescribed course in 36 (27%) cases, and in response to a sensitivity result in 25 (19%) cases. Prophylactic antibiotic courses (n=24) were of a duration greater than 24 hours in 15 (63%) instances. In conclusion, the majority of changes in antimicrobial therapy were not culture-based and the duration of surgical prophylaxis was in excess of current recommended guidelines.

  8. Invasive candidosis: contrasting the perceptions of infectious disease physicians and intensive care physicians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Schultz

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction We analyze how infectious disease physicians perceive and manage invasive candidosis in Brazil, in comparison to intensive care unit specialists. Methods A 38-question survey was administered to 56 participants. Questions involved clinicians' perceptions of the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis of invasive candidosis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The perception that candidemia not caused by Candida albicans occurs in less than 10% of patients is more commonly held by intensive care unit specialists (p=0.018. Infectious disease physicians almost always use antifungal drugs in the treatment of patients with candidemia, and antifungal drugs are not as frequently prescribed by intensive care unit specialists (p=0.006. Infectious disease physicians often do not use voriconazole when a patient's antifungal treatment has failed with fluconazole, which also differs from the behavior of intensive care unit specialists (p=0.019. Many intensive care unit specialists use fluconazole to treat candidemia in neutropenic patients previously exposed to fluconazole, in contrast to infectious disease physicians (p=0.024. Infectious disease physicians prefer echinocandins as a first choice in the treatment of unstable neutropenic patients more frequently than intensive care unit specialists (p=0.013. When candidemia is diagnosed, most infectious disease physicians perform fundoscopy (p=0.015, whereas intensive care unit specialists usually perform echocardiograms on all patients (p=0.054. Conclusions This study reveals a need to better educate physicians in Brazil regarding invasive candidosis. The appropriate management of this disease depends on more drug options being available in our country in addition to global coverage in private and public hospitals, thereby improving health care.

  9. Electronic health record use, intensity of hospital care, and patient outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blecker, Saul; Goldfeld, Keith; Park, Naeun; Shine, Daniel; Austrian, Jonathan S; Braithwaite, R Scott; Radford, Martha J; Gourevitch, Marc N

    2014-03-01

    Previous studies have suggested that weekend hospital care is inferior to weekday care and that this difference may be related to diminished care intensity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a metric for measuring intensity of hospital care based on use of the electronic health record was associated with patient-level outcomes. We performed a cohort study of hospitalizations at an academic medical center. Intensity of care was defined as the hourly number of provider accessions of the electronic health record, termed "electronic health record interactions." Hospitalizations were categorized on the basis of the mean difference in electronic health record interactions between the first Friday and the first Saturday of hospitalization. We used regression models to determine the association of these categories with patient outcomes after adjusting for covariates. Electronic health record interactions decreased from Friday to Saturday in 77% of the 9051 hospitalizations included in the study. Compared with hospitalizations with no change in Friday to Saturday electronic health record interactions, the relative lengths of stay for hospitalizations with a small, moderate, and large decrease in electronic health record interactions were 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.10), 1.11 (95% CI, 1.05-1.17), and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.15-1.35), respectively. Although a large decrease in electronic health record interactions was associated with in-hospital mortality, these findings were not significant after risk adjustment (odds ratio 1.74, 95% CI, 0.93-3.25). Intensity of inpatient care, measured by electronic health record interactions, significantly diminished from Friday to Saturday, and this decrease was associated with length of stay. Hospitals should consider monitoring and correcting temporal fluctuations in care intensity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Ethical challenges in neonatal intensive care nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strandås, Maria; Fredriksen, Sven-Tore D

    2015-12-01

    Neonatal nurses report a great deal of ethical challenges in their everyday work. Seemingly trivial everyday choices nurses make are no more value-neutral than life-and-death choices. Everyday ethical challenges should also be recognized as ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate which types of ethical challenges neonatal nurses experience in their day-to-day care for critically ill newborns. Data were collected through semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews. Phenomenological-hermeneutic analysis was applied to interpret the data. Six nurses from neonatal intensive care units at two Norwegian hospitals were interviewed on-site. The study is designed to comply with Ethical Guidelines for Nursing Research in the Nordic Countries and the Helsinki declaration. Findings suggest that nurses experience a diverse range of everyday ethical challenges related to challenging interactions with parents and colleagues, emotional strain, protecting the vulnerable infant, finding the balance between sensitivity and authority, ensuring continuity of treatment, and miscommunication and professional disagreement. A major finding in this study is how different agents involved in caring for the newborn experience their realities differently. When these realities collide, ethical challenges arise. Findings suggest that acting in the best interests of the child becomes more difficult in situations involving many agents with different perceptions of reality. The study presents new aspects which increases knowledge and understanding of the reality of nursing in a neonatal intensive care unit, while also demanding increased research in this field of care. © The Author(s) 2014.

  11. Managing the overflow of intensive care patients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Rijsbergen, M.; Boucherie, Richardus J.; van Houdenhoven, M.; Litvak, Nelli

    2005-01-01

    Many hospitals in the Netherlands are confronted with capacity problems at their Intensive Care Units (ICUs) resulting in cancelling operations, overloading the staff with extra patients, or rejecting emergency patients. In practice, the last option is a common choice because juridically, as well as

  12. Obstetric patients' health-related quality of life before and after intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pia, Seppänen; Reijo, Sund; Tero, Ala-Kokko; Mervi, Roos; Jukka, Uotila; Mika, Helminen; Tarja, Suominen

    2018-03-23

    Intensive care admissions during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum period are relatively well investigated. However, very little is known about these obstetric patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) before and after critical care. The objective of this study was to assess obstetric patients' HRQoL before intensive care admission (baseline) and at 6 months after discharge (follow-up) DESIGN: This was a retrospective database study. In a 5-year period, the data of all women admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) during pregnancy, delivery, or up to 42 days postpartum were analysed. Four multidisciplinary ICUs of Finnish University hospitals participated. The HRQoL was assessed using the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) instrument with utility score (EQsum) and visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). A total of 283 obstetric patients were identified from the clinical information system. Of these, 99 (35%) completed the EQ-5D questionnaires both at baseline and follow-up, and 65 of them (23%) completed EQ-VAS. The comparison of patients' EQsum scores before intensive care admission and after discharge showed that patients' HRQoL remained good (0.970 vs 0.972) (max 1.0) or increased (0.788 vs 0.982) in 80.8% of the patients. Patients reported improved overall health on the EQ-VAS at 6 months follow-up (EQ-VAS mean, 71.86 vs 88.20; p ≤ 0.001) (max 100). However, 19.2% of the patients had lower HRQoL (EQsum mean 0.987 vs 0.798) at follow-up. Following intensive care, 15% of the patients had more pain/discomfort, and 11% expressed more depression/anxiety. Multiparous patients were more likely to suffer from worsened depression/anxiety (p = 0.024). In the majority of the obstetric patients, HRQoL at 6 months follow-up remained good or had increased from baseline. However, nearly one-fifth of the patients had impaired HRQoL after discharge. Thus, intensive care management should take in to consideration follow-up program after intensive care of ICU-admitted obstetric

  13. Pain still hurts : pain assessment and pain management in intensive care patients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S.J.G.M. Ahlers (Sabine)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractIntensive care patients are subject to many factors that may influence the patients’ state of comfort or distress. Pain is the main cause of distress experienced by many adult intensive care patients, which can be caused by different factors like underlying disease, prolonged immobility

  14. Analysis of Unplanned Intensive Care Unit Admissions in Postoperative Pediatric Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landry, Elizabeth K; Gabriel, Rodney A; Beutler, Sascha; Dutton, Richard P; Urman, Richard D

    2017-03-01

    Currently, there are only a few retrospective, single-institution studies that have addressed the prevalence and risk factors associated with unplanned admissions to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery. Based on the limited amount of studies, it appears that airway and respiratory complications put a child at increased risk for unplanned ICU admission. A more extensive and diverse analysis of unplanned postoperative admissions to the ICU is needed to address risk factors that have yet to be revealed by the current literature. To establish a rate of unplanned postoperative ICU admissions in pediatric patients using a large, multi-institution data set and to further characterize the associated risk factors. Data from the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry were analyzed. We recorded the overall risk of unplanned postoperative ICU admission in patients younger than 18 years and performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify the associated patient, surgical, and anesthetic-related characteristics. Of the 324 818 cases analyzed, 211 reported an unexpected ICU admission. There was an increased likelihood of unplanned postoperative ICU in infants (age anesthesia were also associated with unplanned ICU admissions. This study establishes a rate of unplanned ICU admission following surgery in the heterogeneous pediatric population. This is the first study to utilize such a large data set encompassing a wide range of practice environments to identify risk factors leading to unplanned postoperative ICU admissions. Our study revealed that patient, surgical, and anesthetic complexity each contributed to an increased number of unplanned ICU admissions in the pediatric population.

  15. Editor's Choice - Acute Cardiovascular Care Association Position Paper on Intensive Cardiovascular Care Units: An update on their definition, structure, organisation and function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnefoy-Cudraz, Eric; Bueno, Hector; Casella, Gianni; De Maria, Elia; Fitzsimons, Donna; Halvorsen, Sigrun; Hassager, Christian; Iakobishvili, Zaza; Magdy, Ahmed; Marandi, Toomas; Mimoso, Jorge; Parkhomenko, Alexander; Price, Susana; Rokyta, Richard; Roubille, Francois; Serpytis, Pranas; Shimony, Avi; Stepinska, Janina; Tint, Diana; Trendafilova, Elina; Tubaro, Marco; Vrints, Christiaan; Walker, David; Zahger, Doron; Zima, Endre; Zukermann, Robert; Lettino, Maddalena

    2018-02-01

    Acute cardiovascular care has progressed considerably since the last position paper was published 10 years ago. It is now a well-defined, complex field with demanding multidisciplinary teamworking. The Acute Cardiovascular Care Association has provided this update of the 2005 position paper on acute cardiovascular care organisation, using a multinational working group. The patient population has changed, and intensive cardiovascular care units now manage a large range of conditions from those simply requiring specialised monitoring, to critical cardiovascular diseases with associated multi-organ failure. To describe better intensive cardiovascular care units case mix, acuity of care has been divided into three levels, and then defining intensive cardiovascular care unit functional organisation. For each level of intensive cardiovascular care unit, this document presents the aims of the units, the recommended management structure, the optimal number of staff, the need for specially trained cardiologists and cardiovascular nurses, the desired equipment and architecture, and the interaction with other departments in the hospital and other intensive cardiovascular care units in the region/area. This update emphasises cardiologist training, referring to the recently updated Acute Cardiovascular Care Association core curriculum on acute cardiovascular care. The training of nurses in acute cardiovascular care is additionally addressed. Intensive cardiovascular care unit expertise is not limited to within the unit's geographical boundaries, extending to different specialties and subspecialties of cardiology and other specialties in order to optimally manage the wide scope of acute cardiovascular conditions in frequently highly complex patients. This position paper therefore addresses the need for the inclusion of acute cardiac care and intensive cardiovascular care units within a hospital network, linking university medical centres, large community hospitals, and smaller

  16. The need for pharmaceutical care in an intensive care unit at a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Interventions to assess therapy ... and trauma intensive care unit (ICU) at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. ... of programme success, such as improving the quality of service by .... saving and extra quality assurance opportunity for the unit.[11].

  17. Nurses' autonomy in end-of-life situations in intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paganini, Maria Cristina; Bousso, Regina Szylit

    2015-11-01

    The intensive care unit environment focuses on interventions and support therapies that prolong life. The exercise by nurses of their autonomy impacts on perception of the role they assume in the multidisciplinary team and on their function in the intensive care unit context. There is much international research relating to nurses' involvement in end-of-life situations; however, there is a paucity of research in this area in Brazil. In the Brazilian medical scenario, life support limitation generated a certain reluctance of a legal nature, which has now become unjustifiable with the publication of a resolution by the Federal Medical Council. In Brazil, the lack of medical commitments to end-of-life care is evident. To understand the process by which nurses exercise autonomy in making end-of-life decisions in intensive care units. Symbolic Interactionism and Corbin and Strauss theory methodology were used for this study. Data were collected through single audio-recorded qualitative interviews with 14 critical care nurses. The comparative analysis of the data has permitted the understanding of the meaning of nurse's experience in exercising autonomy relating to end-of-life decision-making. Institutional ethics approval was obtained for data collection. Participants gave informed consent. All data were anonymized. The results revealed that nurses experience the need to exercise autonomy in intensive care units on a daily basis. Their experience expressed by the process of increase opportunities to exercise autonomy is conditioned by the pressure of the intensive care unit environment, in which nurses can grow, feel empowered, and exercise their autonomy or else can continuously depend on the decisions made by other professionals. Nurses exercise their autonomy through care. They work to create new spaces at the same time that they acquire new knowledge and make decisions. Because of the complexity of the end-of-life situation, nurses must adopt a proactive attitude

  18. Moving on in life after intensive care--partners' experience of group communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlberg, Mona; Bäckman, Carl; Jones, Christina; Walther, Sten; Hollman Frisman, Gunilla

    2015-09-01

    Partners have a burdensome time during and after their partners' intensive care period. They may appear to be coping well outwardly but inside feel vulnerable and lost. Evaluated interventions for partners on this aspect are limited. The aim of this study was to describe the experience of participating in group communication with other partners of former intensive care patients. The study has a descriptive intervention-based design where group communication for partners of former, surviving intensive care unit (ICU) patients was evaluated. A strategic selection was made of adult partners to former adult intensive care patients (n = 15), 5 men and 10 women, aged 37-89 years. Two group communication sessions lasting 2 h were held at monthly intervals with three to five partners. The partners later wrote, in a notebook, about their feelings of participating in group communications. To deepen the understanding of the impact of the sessions, six of the partners were interviewed. Content analysis was used to analyse the notebooks and the interviews. Three categories were identified: (1) Emotional impact, the partners felt togetherness and experienced worries and gratitude, (2) Confirmation, consciousness through insight and reflection and (3) The meeting design, group constellation and recommendation to participate in group communication. Partners of an intensive care patient are on a journey, constantly trying to adapt to the new situation and find new strategies to ever-changing circumstances. Group communications contributed to togetherness and confirmation. To share experiences with others is one way for partners to be able to move forward in life. Group communication with other patients' partners eases the process of going through the burden of being a partner to an intensive care patient. Group communications needs to be further developed and evaluated to obtain consensus and evidence for the best practice. © 2015 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

  19. Patient- and family-centred care in the intensive care unit: a challenge in the daily practice of healthcare professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Mol, Margo Mc; Boeter, Trudi Gw; Verharen, Lisbeth; Kompanje, Erwin Jo; Bakker, Jan; Nijkamp, Marjan D

    2017-10-01

    To evaluate the impact of supportive interventions perceived by both the intensive care unit patients' relatives and the healthcare providers, such as deferred intake interviews for providing information and discussing the emotional impacts, encouragement to keep a diary, and the introduction of weekly psychosocial rounds, on the perceptions of relatives of patients in the intensive care unit. Patient- and family-centred care is gaining interest, with a shift from provider-centric norms to care arranged around patients' and relatives individual beliefs and needs. This is expected to have a positive influence on the quality of care. Communication is one of the most important factors impacting the perceived quality of care in the intensive care unit from the perspective of patients' relatives. New interventions have been introduced to help the patients' relatives to meet their communication needs. A time-trend quantitative design. Two convenience samples of relatives were included (in 2012 and 2013) in four different intensive care units from a large university medical centre in the Netherlands. Survey data from 211 relatives (75% net response rate in 2012) and 123 relatives (66% net response rate in 2013) were used for the analysis. The second measurement showed significant improvements regarding informational aspects of care, clarification of roles in participatory caretaking and shared decision-making. The results suggest that the additional support offered to patients' relatives increased perceived quality of care, particularly with respect to informational needs. However, patient- and family-centred care still requires a change in the mindset of healthcare professionals. This new point of view should overcome perceived barriers and foster a culture of partnership with patients' relatives in the intensive care unit. Training in providing psychosocial support for the needs of relatives leads to a stronger perception of patient-centredness. © 2016 John Wiley

  20. Use of active noise cancellation devices in caregivers in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhtar, S; Weigle, C G; Cheng, E Y; Toohill, R; Berens, R J

    2000-04-01

    Recent development of noise cancellation devices may offer relief from noise in the intensive care unit environment. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of noise cancellation devices on subjective hearing assessment by caregivers in the intensive care units. Randomized, double-blind. Adult medical intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care unit of a teaching hospital. Caregivers of patients, including nurses, parents, respiratory therapists, and nursing assistants from a medical intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care, were enrolled in the study. Each participant was asked to wear the headphones, functional or nonfunctional noise cancellation devices, for a minimum of 30 mins. Subjective ambient noise level was assessed on a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) before and during headphone use by each participant. Headphone comfort and the preference of the caregiver to wear the headphone were also evaluated on a 10-point VAS. Simultaneously, objective measurement of noise was done with a sound level meter using the decibel-A scale and at each of nine octave bands at each bedspace. The functional headphones significantly reduced the subjective assessment of noise by 2 (out of 10) VAS points (p noise profiles, based on decibel-A and octave band assessments. Noise cancellation devices improve subjective assessment of noise in caretakers. The benefit of these devices on hearing loss needs further evaluation in caregivers and critically ill patients.

  1. [The coma awakening unit, between intensive care and rehabilitation].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mimouni, Arnaud

    2015-01-01

    After intensive care and before classic neurological rehabilitation is possible, patients in an altered state of consciousness are cared for at early stages in so-called coma awakening units. The care involves, on the one hand, the complex support of the patient's awakening from coma as a neurological and existential process, and on the other, support for their families. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  2. Infection control in the intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osman, Mohamed F; Askari, Reza

    2014-12-01

    It is critical for health care personnel to recognize and appreciate the detrimental impact of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections. The economic, clinical, and social expenses to patients and hospitals are overwhelming. To limit the incidence of ICU-acquired infections, aggressive infection control measures must be implemented and enforced. Researchers and national committees have developed and continue to develop evidence-based guidelines to control ICU infections. A multifaceted approach, including infection prevention committees, antimicrobial stewardship programs, daily reassessments-intervention bundles, identifying and minimizing risk factors, and continuing staff education programs, is essential. Infection control in the ICU is an evolving area of critical care research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Sleep of 1- and 2-year-old children in intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corser, N C

    1996-01-01

    Physiologic and psychologic changes associated with sleep disturbance decrease the ability of a critically ill child to adapt to hospitalization and thus hamper recovery. Research demonstrates that intensive care settings interfere with sleep of adults, but little is known about the impact of these settings on children's sleep. An exploratory field study was conducted to describe the sleep-wake patterns of 1- and 2-year-old children in intensive care, identify intensive care environmental stimuli associated with sleep and waking states, compare the intensive care sleep-wake pattern to the pre-illness sleep-wake pattern, and determine the time required for children to return to their pre-illness sleep-wake pattern. Twelve children aged 13 to 35 months composed the sample for the study. Pre-illness and postdischarge sleep patterns, sleep patterns during a 12-hour night in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and external and internal environmental stimuli were measured. Prior to hospitalization, subjects demonstrated sleep similar to that documented in healthy children. Children in the PICU experienced a significant loss of sleep, frequent awakenings, and a virtual rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation. External environmental stimuli of light, noise, and caregiver activity were negatively correlated with sleep state. Pain and treatment with benzodiazepines were associated with sleep acquisition. Sleep changes persisted after discharge from the PICU and the hospital. Total sleep time recovered more rapidly than nighttime awakening. Parents perceived that their child's sleep remained different longer than total sleep time and night awakening values demonstrated.

  4. The perceived quality of interprofessional teamwork in an intensive care unit: A single centre intervention study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van den Bulcke, Bo; Vyt, Andre; Vanheule, Stijn; Hoste, Eric; Decruyenaere, Johan; Benoit, Dominique

    2016-05-01

    This article describes a study that evaluated the quality of teamwork in a surgical intensive care unit and assessed whether teamwork could be improved significantly through a tailor-made intervention. The quality of teamwork prior to and after the intervention was assessed using the Interprofessional Practice and Education Quality Scales (IPEQS) using the PROSE online diagnostics and documenting system, which assesses three domains of teamwork: organisational factors, care processes, and team members' attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore, team members evaluated strengths and weaknesses of the teamwork through open-ended questions. Information gathered by means of the open questions was used to design a tailor-made 12-week intervention consisting of (1) optimising the existing weekly interdisciplinary meetings with collaborative decision-making and clear communication of goal-oriented actions, including the psychosocial aspects of care; and (2) organising and supporting the effective exchange of information over time between all professions involved. It was found that the intervention had a significant impact on organisational factors and care processes related to interprofessional teamwork for the total group and within all subgroups, despite baseline differences between the subgroups in interprofessional teamwork. In conclusion, teamwork, and more particularly the organisational aspects of interprofessional collaboration and processes of care, can be improved by a tailor-made intervention that takes into account the professional needs of healthcare workers.

  5. Family members' lived experience in the intensive care unit: a phemenological study.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McKiernan, Margaret

    2012-01-31

    AIM: To describe the lived experience of family members of patients in the intensive care unit. BACKGROUND: Admission of a critically ill relative to an intensive care unit causes anxiety and stress to family members. Nursing care is initially focused on maintaining the physiological stability of the patient and less on the needs and concerns of family members. Understanding how families make sense of this experience may help nurses focus on the delivery of family centred care. METHODOLOGY: A phenomenological method was used to describe the lived experiences of family members of patients in an intensive care unit. In-depth interviews were conducted with six family members and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the data: the need to know, making sense of it all, being there with them and caring and support. Family members needed honest information about the patient\\'s progress and outcome to make the situation more bearable for them. Making sense of the situation was a continuous process which involved tracking and evaluating care given. Being with their relative sustained their family bond and was a way to demonstrate love and support. Caring reassurance provided by the nurses enabled a sense of security. Support was needed by family members to assist them in coping. CONCLUSION: The research provided an insight into how family members viewed the impact of the admission and how they subsequently found ways of dealing with the situation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Using a holistic approach to nursing assessment and care delivery in intensive care necessitates that nurses interact with and care for family members of patients. Development of a philosophy of family centred care is necessary, with formal assessment of families to take place soon after admission and an appropriate plan of care drawn up at this time.

  6. Clinical profile of dermatological emergencies and intensive care unit admissions in a tertiary care center - an Indian perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samudrala, Suvarna; Dandakeri, Sukumar; Bhat, Ramesh M

    2018-05-01

    Although dermatology is largely considered as an outpatient specialty, dermatological conditions comprise 5-8% of cases presenting to the emergency department. The need for a dermatological intensive care unit is widely acknowledged due to the increasing incidence of acute skin failure. Very few studies have been done to characterize the common conditions seen in the emergency department and intensive care units. We undertook this study to analyze the spectrum of dermatological conditions presenting to the emergency department and the clinical profile of patients admitted to the intensive care unit. A prospective study was conducted for 9 months. Patients requiring primary dermatological consultation in the emergency department and patients admitted in the dermatology intensive care unit were examined, and their clinical variables were statistically analyzed. A total of 248 cases were seen in the emergency department, out of which 72 (29.1%) cases were admitted and 176 (70.9%) were treated in the emergency department on an outpatient basis. The most common condition seen in non-admitted patients was acute urticaria (28.9%). The most common cause for admission in patients presenting to the emergency department was erythroderma (23.6%). Sixty-two patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, the most common diagnosis being erythroderma (40.3%). This prospective study aimed to provide an insight into the types of cases evaluated in the emergency department by dermatologists in a large tertiary care hospital in coastal Karnataka in South India. © 2018 The International Society of Dermatology.

  7. Save the patient a trip. Outcome difference between conservatively treated patients with traumatic brain injury in a nonspecialized intensive care unit vs a specialized neurosurgical intensive care unit in the Sultanate of Oman.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Kashmiri, Ammar M; Al-Shaqsi, Sultan Z; Al-Kharusi, Adil S; Al-Tamimi, Laila A

    2015-06-01

    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) continues to be the main cause of death among trauma patients. Accurate diagnosis and timely surgical interventions are critical steps in reducing the mortality from this disease. For patients who have no surgically reversible head injury pathology, the decision to transfer to a dedicated neurosurgical unit is usually controversial. To compare the outcome of patients with severe TBI treated conservatively in a specialized neurosurgical intensive care unit (ICU) and those treated conservatively at a general ICU in the Sultanate of Oman. Retrospective cohort study. This is a retrospective study of patients with severe TBI admitted to Khoula Hospital ICU (specialized neurosurgical ICU) and Nizwa Hospital ICU (general ICU) in Oman in 2013. Surgically treated patients were excluded. Data extracted included demographics, injury details, interventions, and outcomes. The outcome variables included mortality, length of stay, length of ICU days, and ventilated days. There were 100 patients with severe TBI treated conservatively at Khoula Hospital compared with 74 patients at Nizwa Hospital. Basic demographics were similar between the 2 groups. No significant difference was found in mortality, length of stay, ICU days, and ventilation days. There is no difference in outcome between patients with TBI treated conservatively in a specialized neurosurgical ICU and those treated in a general nonspecialized ICU in Oman in 2013. Therefore, unless neurosurgical intervention is warranted or expected, patients with TBI may be managed in a general ICU, saving the risk and expense of a transfer to a specialized neurosurgical ICU. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Meaning of caring in pediatric intensive care unit from the perspective of parents: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattsson, Janet Yvonne; Arman, Maria; Castren, Maaret; Forsner, Maria

    2014-12-01

    When children are critically ill, parents still strive to be present and participate in the care of their child. Pediatric intensive care differs from other realms of pediatric care as the nature of care is technically advanced and rather obstructing than encouraging parental involvement or closeness, either physically or emotionally, with the critically ill child. The aim of this study was to elucidate the meaning of caring in the pediatric intensive care unit from the perspective of parents. The design of this study followed Benner's interpretive phenomenological method. Eleven parents of seven children participated in observations and interviews. The following aspects of caring were illustrated in the themes arising from the findings: being a bridge to the child on the edge, building a sheltered atmosphere, meeting the child's needs, and adapting the environment for family life. The overall impression is that the phenomenon of caring is experienced exclusively when it is directed toward the exposed child. The conclusion drawn is that caring is present when providing expert physical care combined with fulfilling emotional needs and supporting continuing daily parental care for the child in an inviting environment. © The Author(s) 2013.

  9. Maintenance standards, care and control of the radiation protection material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brasesco, L.

    2004-01-01

    The present protocol in Radiology, Tomography, surgical block and intensive care unit in the Britanic Hospital from Uruguay.Between their topics find care procedures in protective clothes, periodic and control methods, material record,and staff assigned

  10. Integrating classification trees with local logistic regression in Intensive Care prognosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abu-Hanna, Ameen; de Keizer, Nicolette

    2003-01-01

    Health care effectiveness and efficiency are under constant scrutiny especially when treatment is quite costly as in the Intensive Care (IC). Currently there are various international quality of care programs for the evaluation of IC. At the heart of such quality of care programs lie prognostic

  11. Fathers' Stress in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Noergaard, Betty; Ammentorp, Jette; Garne, Ester

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) tend to focus attention on the mothers and the newborn infants. Thus, fathers may find it difficult to establish an optimal father-child relationship and their stress may increase and persist during hospitalization...... and expect fathers to be involved, and support them to establish a father-child relationship, although they might become more stressed. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: More adequate outcome measures are needed to determine the effect of interventions on paternal stress.This is an open-access article distributed....... PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of a more father-friendly NICU on paternal stress and their participation in childcare. METHODS: A quasiexperimental design was conducted on Danish-speaking fathers of newborn infants 28 or more weeks' gestational age. The Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care...

  12. Respiratory virology and microbiology in intensive care units

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østby, Anne-Cathrine; Gubbels, Sophie; Baake, Gerben

    2013-01-01

    Our aim was to determine the frequency of 12 common respiratory viruses in patients admitted to intensive care units with respiratory symptoms, evaluate the clinical characteristics and to compare the results to routine microbiological diagnostics. Throat swabs from 122 intensive care-patients >18...... years with acute respiratory symptoms were collected upon admission and analysed with multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction, for 12 community respiratory viruses. Blood and respiratory tract specimens were analysed for bacteria and fungi upon clinicians' request. Clinical and paraclinical data...... were collected. Viruses were detected in 19 (16%) of the 122 study patients. Five virus-positive patients (26%) had possible clinically relevant bacteria or fungi co-detected. Patients with exacerbation in COPD were associated with a viral infection (p = 0.02). Other comorbidities, clinical...

  13. Performance of strip-based glucose meters and cassette-based blood gas analyzer for monitoring glucose levels in a surgical intensive care setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claerhout, Helena; De Prins, Martine; Mesotten, Dieter; Van den Berghe, Greet; Mathieu, Chantal; Van Eldere, Johan; Vanstapel, Florent

    2016-01-01

    We verified the analytical performance of strip-based handheld glucose meters (GM) for prescription use, in a comparative split-sample protocol using blood gas samples from a surgical intensive care unit (ICU). Freestyle Precision Pro (Abbott), StatStrip Connectivity Meter (Nova), ACCU-CHEK Inform II (Roche) were evaluated for recovery/linearity, imprecision/repeatability. The GMs and the ABL90 (Radiometer) blood gas analyzer (BGA) were tested for relative accuracy vs. the comparator hexokinase glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (HK/G6PDH) assay on a Cobas c702 analyzer (Roche). Recovery of spiked glucose was linear up to 19.3 mmol/L (347 mg/dL) with a slope of 0.91-0.94 for all GMs. Repeatability estimated by pooling duplicate measurements on samples below (n=9), in (n=51) or above (n=80) the 4.2-5.9 mM (74-106 mg/dL) range were for Freestyle Precision Pro: 4.2%, 4.0%, 3.6%; StatStrip Connectivity Meter: 4.0%, 4.3%, 4.5%; and ACCU-CHEK Inform II: 1.4%, 2.5%, 3.5%. GMs were in agreement with the comparator method. The BGA outperformed the GMs, with a MARD of 3.9% compared to 6.5%, 5.8% and 4.4% for the FreeStyle, StatStrip and ACCU-CHEK, respectively. Zero % of the BGA results deviated more than the FDA 10% criterion as compared to 9.4%, 3.7% and 2.2% for the FreeStyle, StatStrip and ACCU-CHEK, respectively. For all GMs, icodextrin did not interfere. Variation in the putative influence factors hematocrit and O2 tension could not explain observed differences with the comparator method. GMs quantified blood glucose in whole blood at about the 10% total error criterion, proposed by the FDA for prescription use.

  14. Extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii outbreak cross-transmitted in an intensive care unit and respiratory intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Jin'e; Han, Shaoshan; Wu, Wenjing; Wang, Xue; Xu, Jiru; Han, Lei

    2016-11-01

    Extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDRAB) is a great threat in intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of this study was to describe an XDRAB outbreak which was cross-transmitted in the ICU and respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) in a tertiary care hospital from January-March 2013. Patient and environmental surveillances were performed. Isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. Genotypes were analyzed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A series of enhanced strategies were implemented to control the outbreak. A total of 11 patients were infected by XDRAB strains during this outbreak. Three patients in the ICU were found positive for XDRAB at the onset of the outbreak. Thereafter, infections were detected in 6 patients in the RICU, followed by reappearance of this strain in the ICU in 2 patients. All A baumannii strains isolated from patients and the environment were extensively drug resistant. MLST revealed them as ST368. After 3 rounds of environmental screening and cleaning, the laminar flow system connecting the ICU and RICU was found as the source of transmission. Successful control of this outbreak was achieved through multifaceted intervention measures. This study suggested the importance of thorough surveillance and disinfection of the environment, including concealed devices, in preventing the transmission of an outbreak. Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Clinical Competence and Its Related Factors of Nurses in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jila Mirlashari

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Clinical competence of nurses working in the neonatal intensive care units together with advancements in medical science and technology increased the survival rate of newborns that need specialized care. To ensure the quality of care and provide the safety of patients, evaluating the clinical competence of nurses seems necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical competence of nurses in the neonatal intensive care units. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 117 nurses working in the neonatal intensive care units of the hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected by census method. The research tool was Development of Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses questionnaire which completed by self-assessment. The mean clinical competence scores of participants categorized into 3 levels: weak: 273. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 13 using the Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test and Chi-square test. Results: The highest levels of competence were related to critical thinking and research attitude and interpersonal relationships, and the lowest level was related to training and mentoring. There was a direct statistically significant relationship between marital status, employment status, level of interest in working in the neonatal intensive-care units and the clinical competence of nurses. Conclusion: Since the clinical competence of nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units is vital, some variables such as interest in the nursing profession, employment status, the neonatal intensive theoretical and practical training courses and the amount of overtime working hours should be taken into consideration.

  16. Views of parents and health-care providers regarding parental presence at bedside rounds in a neonatal intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grzyb, M J; Coo, H; Rühland, L; Dow, K

    2014-02-01

    To examine the views of parents and health-care providers regarding parental presence during neonatal intensive care rounds. Cross-sectional survey of parents whose children were admitted to a tertiary-care neonatal intensive care unit (n=81). Medical trainees (n=67) and nurses (n=28) were also surveyed. The majority of parents reported that attending rounds reduced their anxiety and increased their confidence in the health-care team. Nurses were more likely than medical trainees to support parental presence at rounds (P=0.02). About three-quarters of medical trainees and nurses thought discussion is inhibited and 69% of trainees felt teaching is decreased when parents attend rounds. Most parents who attended rounds found the experience beneficial, but medical trainees' views were mixed. The positive impact on parents, and the learning opportunities created in family-centered care and communication when parents are present on rounds, should be highlighted for trainees and other neonatal intensive care personnel.

  17. Surgical adverse outcomes and patients' evaluation of quality of care: inherent risk or reduced quality of care?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marang-van de Mheen, Perla J; van Duijn-Bakker, Nanny; Kievit, Job

    2007-12-01

    Previous research has shown that sicker patients are less satisfied with their healthcare, but specific effects of adverse health outcomes have not been investigated. The present study aimed to assess whether patients who experience adverse outcomes, in hospital or after discharge, differ in their evaluation of quality of care compared with patients without adverse outcomes. In hospital adverse outcomes were prospectively recorded by surgeons and surgical residents as part of routine care. Four weeks after discharge, patients were interviewed by telephone about the occurrence of post-discharge adverse outcomes, and their overall evaluation of quality of hospital care and specific suggestions for improvements in the healthcare provided. Of 2145 surgical patients admitted to the Leiden University Medical Center in 2003, 1876 (88%) agreed to be interviewed. Overall evaluation was less favourable by patients who experienced post-discharge adverse outcomes only (average 19% lower). These patients were also more often dissatisfied (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.24 to 3.31) than patients without adverse outcomes, and they more often suggested that improvements were needed in medical care (OR 2.07, 1.45 to 2.95) and that patients were discharged too early (OR 3.26, 1.72 to 6.20). The effect of in hospital adverse outcomes alone was not statistically significant. Patients with both in hospital and post-discharge adverse outcomes also found the quality of care to be lower (on average 33% lower) than patients without adverse outcomes. Post-discharge adverse outcomes negatively influence patients' overall evaluation of quality of care and are perceived as being discharged too early, suggesting that patients need better information at discharge.

  18. Using the Statecharts paradigm for simulation of patient flow in surgical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobolev, Boris; Harel, David; Vasilakis, Christos; Levy, Adrian

    2008-03-01

    Computer simulation of patient flow has been used extensively to assess the impacts of changes in the management of surgical care. However, little research is available on the utility of existing modeling techniques. The purpose of this paper is to examine the capacity of Statecharts, a system of graphical specification, for constructing a discrete-event simulation model of the perioperative process. The Statecharts specification paradigm was originally developed for representing reactive systems by extending the formalism of finite-state machines through notions of hierarchy, parallelism, and event broadcasting. Hierarchy permits subordination between states so that one state may contain other states. Parallelism permits more than one state to be active at any given time. Broadcasting of events allows one state to detect changes in another state. In the context of the peri-operative process, hierarchy provides the means to describe steps within activities and to cluster related activities, parallelism provides the means to specify concurrent activities, and event broadcasting provides the means to trigger a series of actions in one activity according to transitions that occur in another activity. Combined with hierarchy and parallelism, event broadcasting offers a convenient way to describe the interaction of concurrent activities. We applied the Statecharts formalism to describe the progress of individual patients through surgical care as a series of asynchronous updates in patient records generated in reaction to events produced by parallel finite-state machines representing concurrent clinical and managerial activities. We conclude that Statecharts capture successfully the behavioral aspects of surgical care delivery by specifying permissible chronology of events, conditions, and actions.

  19. New Atlanta Classification of acute pancreatitis in intensive care unit: Complications and prognosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pintado, María-Consuelo; Trascasa, María; Arenillas, Cristina; de Zárate, Yaiza Ortiz; Pardo, Ana; Blandino Ortiz, Aaron; de Pablo, Raúl

    2016-05-01

    The updated Atlanta Classification of acute pancreatitis (AP) in adults defined three levels of severity according to the presence of local and/or systemic complications and presence and length of organ failure. No study focused on complications and mortality of patients with moderately severe AP admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). The main aim of this study is to describe the complications developed and outcomes of these patients and compare them to those with severe AP. Prospective, observational study. We included patients with acute moderately severe or severe AP admitted in a medical-surgical ICU during 5years. We collected demographic data, admission criteria, pancreatitis etiology, severity of illness, presence of organ failure, local and systemic complications, ICU length of stay, and mortality. Fifty-six patients were included: 12 with moderately severe AP and 44 with severe. All patients developed some kind of complications without differences on complications rate between moderately severe or severe AP. All the patients present non-infectious systemic complications, mainly acute respiratory failure and hemodynamic failure. 82.1% had an infectious complication, mainly non-pancreatic infection (66.7% on moderately severe AP vs. 79.5% on severe, p=0.0443). None of the patients with moderately severe AP died during their intensive care unit stay vs. 29.5% with severe AP (p=0.049). Moderately severe AP has a high rate of complications with similar rates to patients with severe AP admitted to ICU. However, their ICU mortality remains very low, which supports the existence of this new group of pancreatitis according to their severity. Copyright © 2016 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. European neonatal intensive care nursing research priorities: an e-Delphi study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wielenga, Joke M; Tume, Lyvonne N; Latour, Jos M; van den Hoogen, Agnes

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed to identify and prioritise neonatal intensive care nursing research topics across Europe using an e-Delphi technique. An e-Delphi technique with three questionnaire rounds was performed. Qualitative responses of round one were analysed by content analysis and research statements were generated to be ranged on importance on a scale of 1-6 (not important to most important). Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in 17 European countries. NICU clinical nurses, managers, educators and researchers (n=75). None. A list of 43 research statements in eight domains. The six highest ranking statements (≥5.0 mean score) were related to prevention and reduction of pain (mean 5.49; SD 1.07), medication errors (mean 5.20; SD 1.13), end-of-life care (mean 5.05; SD 1.18), needs of parents and family (mean 5.04; SD 1.23), implementing evidence into nursing practice (mean 5.02; SD 1.03), and pain assessment (mean 5.02; SD 1.11). The research domains were prioritised and ranked: (1) pain and stress; (2) family centred care; (3) clinical nursing care practices; (4) quality and safety; (5) ethics; (6) respiratory and ventilation; (7) infection and inflammation; and (8) professional issues in neonatal intensive care nursing. The results of this study might support developing a nursing research strategy for the nursing section of the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care. In addition, this may promote more European researcher collaboratives for neonatal nursing research. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  1. Intensive and critical care medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aochi, Osamu; Amaha, Keisuke; Takeshita, Hiroshi

    1990-01-01

    Eight papers in this volume are in INIS scope, respectively dealing with the scientific use of the chest radiograph in intensive care unit, xenon computed tomography cerebral blood flow in diagnosis and management of symptomatic vasospasm and severe head injury, therapeutic relevance of MRI in acute head trauma, computerized tomography in the diagnosis of cerebral air embolism, thallium 201 myocardial perfusion during weaning from mechanical ventilation, thoracic computed tomography for ICU patients, and the effect of xenon inhalation upon internal carotid artery blood flow in awake monkeys. (H.W.). refs.; figs.; tabs

  2. Computerized nursing process in the Intensive Care Unit: ergonomics and usability

    OpenAIRE

    Almeida,Sônia Regina Wagner de; Sasso,Grace Teresinha Marcon Dal; Barra,Daniela Couto Carvalho

    2016-01-01

    Abstract OBJECTIVE Analyzing the ergonomics and usability criteria of the Computerized Nursing Process based on the International Classification for Nursing Practice in the Intensive Care Unit according to International Organization for Standardization(ISO). METHOD A quantitative, quasi-experimental, before-and-after study with a sample of 16 participants performed in an Intensive Care Unit. Data collection was performed through the application of five simulated clinical cases and an evalua...

  3. Obstetric intensive care admissions at a tertiary hospital in Limpopo ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    mortality of between 1 and 5%,[2,12] while others have reported .... ICU, and the need for a critical care specialist should be considered. ... Madan I, Jain NJ, Grotegut C, Nelson D, Dandolu V. Characteristics of obstetric intensive care.

  4. [The German DRG system 2003-2010 from the perspective of intensive care medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franz, Dominik; Bunzemeier, Holger; Roeder, Norbert; Reinecke, Holger

    2010-01-01

    Intensive care medicine is extremely heterogeneous, expensive and can only be partially planned and controlled. A correct and fair representation of intensive care medicine in the G-DRG system is an essential requirement for the use as a pricing system. From the perspective of intensive care medicine, pertinent changes of the DRG structure and differentiation of relevant parameters have been established within the G-DRG systems 2003-2010. Analysis of relevant diagnoses, medical procedures, co-payment structures and G-DRGs in the versions 2003-2010 based on the publications of the German DRG Institute (InEK) and the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI). Since the first G-DRG system version 2003, numerous measures improved quality of case allocation of intensive care medicine. Highly relevant to the system version 2010 are duration of mechanical ventilation, the intensive care treatment complex and complicating constellations. The number of G-DRGs relevant to intensive medical care increased from n = 3 (2003) to n = 58 (2010). For standard cases, quality of case allocation and G-DRG reimbursement are adequate in 2010. The G-DRG system gained complexity again. High demands are made on correct and complete coding of complex cases. Nevertheless, further adjustments of the G-DRG system especially for cases with extremely high costs are necessary. Where the G-DRG system is unable to cover extremely high-cost cases, reimbursement solutions beyond the G-DRG structure should be taken into account.

  5. Effect of nursing care hours on the outcomes of Intensive Care assistance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana do Altíssimo Nogueira

    Full Text Available To correlate the average number of nursing care hours dedicated to Intensive Care Unit (ICU patients with nursing care indicators.Transverse, descriptive study conducted between 2011 and 2013. Data were obtained from the electronic records system and from the nursing staff daily schedule. Generalized Linear Models were used for analysis.A total of 1,717 patients were included in the study. The average NAS (Nursing Activities Score value was 54.87. The average ratio between the number of nursing care hours provided to the patient and the number of nursing care hours required by the patient (hours ratio was 0.87. Analysis of the correlation between nursing care indicators and the hours ratio showed that the indicators phlebitis and ventilator-associated pneumonia significantly correlated with hours ratio; that is, the higher the hours ratio, the lower the incidence of phlebitis and ventilator-associated pneumonia.The number of nursing care hours directly impacts patient outcomes, which makes adjustment of nurse staffing levels essential.

  6. Infections in the Unit of intensive cares of the Hospital Oncologico SOLCA Quito

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cano, Fernando

    2005-01-01

    Epidemiologic, comparative study of patients that entered to the Unit of Intensive Cares of the Quito Oncological Hospital SOLCA from January August 2005. There were determined the incidences of infections according to diagnostic, type of patient clinical, surgical or pediatric. The statistics tests used where percentages, Ji square, average, standard deviation and descriptive analysis. The clinical histories of all the patients of ICU were revised, the sheet of gathering data was filled. The Microbiology Service. A number of 331 patients entered to the unit including post surgical, clinical with different diagnostic; and pediatric surgical or clinical. Of these 19,63% (n: 64) were infected or were infected during their hospitalization. For the analysis they were contained in surgical 21% (13), clinical 71% (46) and pediatrics 8% (5). Their average age was of 51,33 years D S 21,9; the predominant sex was the feminine 60,9% (n:35). The demurrage average was of 7 days. The surgical patients where classified according to the surgery type in abdominal, thoracic, neurosurgery and other (head and neck or traumatology), significance didn't exist relating them with the surgery type, surgical time and infectious focus; the mortality in these patients was of 21,4% (n:3). The clinical patients where chose in relation with the association or not of chemotherapy and the presence of the infectious focus founding a 39,14% (n:18) of infection in those patients that didn't receive chemotherapy and 60,86% (n:28) with infectious focuses in the patients that received chemotherapy; the mortality in these patients were of 32,6%. In the pediatrics patients with infectious focuses severe, antibiotic extensive therapy didn't settle down direct relationship with the infection. The mortality was of 60%. The more frequent pathogens where Escherichia Coli with 19,2% Candida Albicans and other candida 14,6%, Staphylococcus aureus 8,2% , epidermidis 6,4%, Klebsiella pneumoniae 8,2%, oxytoca 2

  7. Mothers of Pre-Term Infants in Neonate Intensive Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Margaret

    2007-01-01

    In this study, eight mothers of pre-term infants under the care of nursing staff and neonatologists in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Children's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, were observed and interviewed about their birth experience and their images of themselves as mothers during their stay. Patterns and themes in the…

  8. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses Working in an Open Ward: Stress and Work Satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavoie-Tremblay, Mélanie; Feeley, Nancy; Lavigne, Geneviève L; Genest, Christine; Robins, Stéphanie; Fréchette, Julie

    2016-01-01

    There is some research on the impact of open-ward unit design on the health of babies and the stress experienced by parents and nurses in neonatal intensive care units. However, few studies have explored the factors associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction among nurses practicing in open-ward neonatal intensive care units. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors are associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction among nurses practicing in an open-ward neonatal intensive care unit. A cross-sectional correlational design was used in this study. Participants were nurses employed in a 34-bed open-ward neonatal intensive care unit in a major university-affiliated hospital in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. A total of 94 nurses were eligible, and 86 completed questionnaires (91% response rate). Descriptive statistics were computed to describe the participants' characteristics. To identify factors associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction, correlational analysis and multiple regression analyses were performed with the Nurse Stress Scale and the Global Work Satisfaction scores as the dependent variables. Different factors predict neonatal intensive care unit nurses' stress and job satisfaction, including support, family-centered care, performance obstacles, work schedule, education, and employment status. In order to provide neonatal intensive care units nurses with a supportive environment, managers can provide direct social support to nurses and influence the culture around teamwork.

  9. Improving the Quality of Ward-based Surgical Care With a Human Factors Intervention Bundle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Maximilian J; Arora, Sonal; King, Dominic; Darzi, Ara

    2018-01-01

    This study aimed to explore the impact of a human factors intervention bundle on the quality of ward-based surgical care in a UK hospital. Improving the culture of a surgical team is a difficult task. Engagement with stakeholders before intervention is key. Studies have shown that appropriate supervision can enhance surgical ward safety. A pre-post intervention study was conducted. The intervention bundle consisted of twice-daily attending ward rounds, a "chief resident of the week" available at all times on the ward, an escalation of care protocol and team contact cards. Twenty-seven junior and senior surgeons completed validated questionnaires assessing supervision, escalation of care, and safety culture pre and post-intervention along with interviews to further explore the impact of the intervention. Patient outcomes pre and postintervention were also analyzed. Questionnaires revealed significant improvements in supervision postintervention (senior median pre 5 vs post 7, P = 0.002 and junior 4 vs 6, P = 0.039) and senior surgeon approachability (junior 5 vs 6, P = 0.047). Both groups agreed that they would feel safer as a patient in their hospital postintervention (senior 3 vs 4.5, P = 0.021 and junior 3 vs 4, P = 0.034). The interviews confirmed that the safety culture of the department had improved. There were no differences in inpatient mortality, cardiac arrest, reoperation, or readmission rates pre and postintervention. Improving supervision and introducing clear protocols can improve safety culture on the surgical ward. Future work should evaluate the effect these measures have on patient outcomes in multiple institutions.

  10. Recommendations on basic requirements for intensive care units: structural and organizational aspects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valentin, Andreas; Ferdinande, Patrick

    2011-10-01

    To provide guidance and recommendations for the planning or renovation of intensive care units (ICUs) with respect to the specific characteristics relevant to organizational and structural aspects of intensive care medicine. The Working Group on Quality Improvement (WGQI) of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) identified the basic requirements for ICUs by a comprehensive literature search and an iterative process with several rounds of consensus finding with the participation of 47 intensive care physicians from 23 countries. The starting point of this process was an ESICM recommendation published in 1997 with the need for an updated version. The document consists of operational guidelines and design recommendations for ICUs. In the first part it covers the definition and objectives of an ICU, functional criteria, activity criteria, and the management of equipment. The second part deals with recommendations with respect to the planning process, floorplan and connections, accommodation, fire safety, central services, and the necessary communication systems. This document provides a detailed framework for the planning or renovation of ICUs based on a multinational consensus within the ESICM.

  11. Intensive Care Unit Delirium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongsuk Kim

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Delirium is described as a manifestation of acute brain injury and recognized as one of the most common complications in intensive care unit (ICU patients. Although the causes of delirium vary widely among patients, delirium increases the risk of longer ICU and hospital length of stay, death, cost of care, and post-ICU cognitive impairment. Prevention and early detection are therefore crucial. However, the clinical approach toward delirium is not sufficiently aggressive, despite the condition’s high incidence and prevalence in the ICU setting. While the underlying pathophysiology of delirium is not fully understood, many risk factors have been suggested. As a way to improve delirium-related clinical outcome, high-risk patients can be identified. A valid and reliable bedside screening tool is also needed to detect the symptoms of delirium early. Delirium is commonly treated with medications, and haloperidol and atypical antipsychotics are commonly used as standard treatment options for ICU patients although their efficacy and safety have not been established. The approaches for the treatment of delirium should focus on identifying the underlying causes and reducing modifiable risk factors to promote early mobilization.

  12. [Quality assurance and quality management in intensive care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Notz, K; Dubb, R; Kaltwasser, A; Hermes, C; Pfeffer, S

    2015-11-01

    Treatment success in hospitals, particularly in intensive care units, is directly tied to quality of structure, process, and outcomes. Technological and medical advancements lead to ever more complex treatment situations with highly specialized tasks in intensive care nursing. Quality criteria that can be used to describe and correctly measure those highly complex multiprofessional situations have only been recently developed and put into practice.In this article, it will be shown how quality in multiprofessional teams can be definded and assessed in daily clinical practice. Core aspects are the choice of a nursing theory, quality assurance measures, and quality management. One possible option of quality assurance is the use of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Quality can ultimately only be achieved if professional groups think beyond their boundaries, minimize errors, and establish and live out instructions and SOPs.

  13. [Interest of psychiatric guidelines in managing agitation in intensive care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazignac, Coralie; Ricou, Bara; Dan, Liviu; Virgillito, Salvatore; Adam, Eric; Seyedi, Majid; Cicotti, Andrei; Azi, Amine; Damsa, Cristian

    2007-02-14

    This paper discusses the importance of psychiatric guidelines and the position of the psychiatrist in the management of agitation in the intensive care unit. The use of psychiatric validated scales to assess agitation seems to ameliorate the quality of care in psychiatry, but also in intensive care. Psychiatric experts' recommendations for managing agitation are given, which is useful to create an open discussion with the intensivists. The use of sedative medication to protect the patient, staff and to prevent an escalation of violence remains a personal choice for each practitioner, depending on individual patient needs and context. In the treatment of agitated patients, an equilibrium needs to be found between the subjective dimension and the available data from evidence based medicine.

  14. [Statistics of causes of death and analysis of risk factors in a surgical intensive care unit].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jianhua, Yao; Xingxing, Shi; Fen, Wang; Xijing, Zhang

    2015-11-01

    To summarize the causes of death and to analyze the risk factors in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). The relevant information of patients died in the SICU of Xijing Hospital of Fourth Military Medical University in past 15 years (from December 1999 to February 2015) was retrospectively analyzed. The gender, age, reason and date of hospitalization, date of transfer SICU, past medical history, whether or not admitted directly from emergency department or transferred from other department, operated or not, date of death, the main cause of death, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, the history of undergoing mechanical ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), or antifungal therapy, as well as the ratio of the patients with body temperature higher than 39 °C, white blood cell (WBC) count higher than 10 x 10⁹/L, platelet (PLT) count below 100 x 10⁹/L, albumin (Alb) below 35 g/L of two periods, namely from December 1999 to July 2007 (the first period), and from August 2007 to February 2015 (the second period) were compared. The above parameters were compared with those of 201 survivors in SICU, and the risk factors leading to death were analyzed by logistic regression. From December 1999 to February 2015, 4 317 patients were taken care of in the SICU. Among them, the number of death was 186, and the mortality rate was 4.3%. In the first time period (from December 1999 to July 2007), the total number of patients was 1 356, and the number of death were 109 (the mortality rate was 8.0%). In the second period, i.e. from August 2007 to February 2015, the number of SICU patients was 2,961, and 77 died (the mortality rate was 2.6%). The difference of mortality rate between the two periods was statistically significant (χ² = 66.707, P = 0.001 ). The death rate of patients transferred directly from emergency department in the first period was 79.8% (87/109), and it was lower in the second period (51.9%, 40/77, χ² = 16

  15. An Evaluation of Preparedness, Delivery and Impact of Surgical and Anesthesia Care in Madagascar: A Framework for a National Surgical Plan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruno, Emily; White, Michelle C; Baxter, Linden S; Ravelojaona, Vaonandianina Agnès; Rakotoarison, Hasiniaina Narindria; Andriamanjato, Hery Harimanitra; Close, Kristin L; Herbert, Alison; Raykar, Nakul; Saluja, Saurabh; Shrime, Mark G

    2017-05-01

    The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) described the lack of access to safe, affordable, timely surgical, and anesthesia care. It proposed a series of 6 indicators to measure surgery, accompanied by time-bound targets and a template for national surgical planning. To date, no sub-Saharan African country has completed and published a nationwide evaluation of its surgical system within this framework. Mercy Ships, in partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Madagascar Ministry of Health, collected data on the 6 indicators from 22 referral hospitals in 16 out of 22 regions of Madagascar. Data collection was by semi-structured interviews with ministerial, medical, laboratory, pharmacy, and administrative representatives in each region. Microsimulation modeling was used to calculate values for financial indicators. In Madagascar, 29% of the population can access a surgical facility within 2 h. Surgical workforce density is 0.78 providers per 100,000 and annual surgical volume is 135-191 procedures per 100,000 with a perioperative mortality rate of 2.5-3.3%. Patients requiring surgery have a 77.4-86.3 and 78.8-95.1% risk of incurring impoverishing and catastrophic expenditure, respectively. Of the six LCoGS indicator targets, Madagascar meets one, the reporting of perioperative mortality rate. Compared to the LCoGS targets, Madagascar has deficits in surgical access, workforce, volume, and the ability to offer financial risk protection to surgical patients. Its perioperative mortality rate, however, appears better than in comparable countries. The government is committed to improvement, and key stakeholder meetings to create a national surgical plan have begun.

  16. Environmental Design for Patient Families in Intensive Care Units

    OpenAIRE

    Mahbub Rashid

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to define the role of environmental design in improving family integration with patient care in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). It argues that it is necessary to understand family needs, experience and behavioral responses in ICUs to develop effective models for family integration. With its two components—the “healing culture” promoting effective relationships between caregivers and care seekers, and the “environmental design” supporting the healing culture—a “healin...

  17. [Factors affecting the recovery in the intensive care unit].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turkov, P N; Nikitin, V V; Antsupova, M A; Podkopaev, V N; Panfilova, R P; Ivanova, I N; Nesterova, L I

    2013-01-01

    Urgency of the problem is defined by economical, regulatory and legislative acts, regional social and moral factors. There is critical situation in Russian Pediatric Healthcare system. This situation is due to inadequate funding, high medical technologies inaccessibility for some Russian children, their adverse health state. The article presents a retrospective analysis of intensive therapy and resuscitation outcomes with technical equipment and work environment assessment in the intensive care unit of Tushinskaya city pediatric clinic for the period from 2007 to 2011. Anaesthetic and emergency care quality and safety depend on several factors: permanent equipment improvement, comprehensive analysis of every fatal case and full implementation of "Anti-epidemic (prophylactic) actions plan" and "Program of monitoring compliance with the sanitary norms".

  18. Psychopathology after cardiac surgery and intensive care treatment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kok, Lotte

    2018-01-01

    In this thesis, the occurrence of stress-related psychopathology after cardiac surgery and intensive care treatment is assessed. We primarily focused on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptomatology, but the effects of benzodiazepine administration, delirium, anxiety, and

  19. Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Update

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Deverick J.; Podgorny, Kelly; Berríos-Torres, Sandra I.; Bratzler, Dale W.; Dellinger, E. Patchen; Greene, Linda; Nyquist, Ann-Christine; Saiman, Lisa; Yokoe, Deborah S.; Maragakis, Lisa L.; Kaye, Keith S.

    2014-01-01

    PURPOSE Previously published guidelines are available that provide comprehensive recommendations for detecting and preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The intent of this document is to highlight practical recommendations in a concise format designed to assist acute care hospitals in implementing and prioritizing their surgical site infection (SSI) prevention efforts. This document updates “Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals,”1 published in 2008. This expert guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and is the product of a collaborative effort led by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise. The list of endorsing and supporting organizations is presented in the introduction to the 2014 updates.2 PMID:24799638

  20. Implementing a Mobility Program to Minimize Post-Intensive Care Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopkins, Ramona O; Mitchell, Lorie; Thomsen, George E; Schafer, Michele; Link, Maggie; Brown, Samuel M

    2016-01-01

    Immobility in the intensive care unit (ICU) is associated with neuromuscular weakness, post-intensive care syndrome, functional limitations, and high costs. Early mobility-based rehabilitation in the ICU is feasible and safe. Mobility-based rehabilitation varied widely across 5 ICUs in 1 health care system, suggesting a need for continuous training and evaluation to maintain a strong mobility-based rehabilitation program. Early mobility-based rehabilitation shortens ICU and hospital stays, reduces delirium, and increases muscle strength and the ability to ambulate. Long-term effects include increased ability for self-care, faster return to independent functioning, improved physical function, and reduced hospital readmission and death. Factors that influence early mobility-based rehabilitation include having an interdisciplinary team; strong unit leadership; access to physical, occupational, and respiratory therapists; a culture focused on patient safety and quality improvement; a champion of early mobility; and a focus on measuring performance and outcomes.

  1. Do critical care units play a role in the management of gynaecological oncology patients? The contribution of gynaecologic oncologist in running critical care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davidovic-Grigoraki, Miona; Thomakos, Nikolaos; Haidopoulos, Dimitrios; Vlahos, Giorgos; Rodolakis, Alexandros

    2017-03-01

    Routine post-operative care in high dependency unit (HDU), surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and intensive care unit (ICU) after high-risk gynaecological oncology surgical procedures may allow for greater recognition and correct management of post-operative complications, thereby reducing long-term morbidity and mortality. On the other hand, unnecessary admissions to these units lead to increased morbidity - nosocomial infections, increased length of hospital stay and higher hospital costs. Gynaecological oncology surgeons continue to look after their patient in the HDU/SICU and have the final role in decision-making on day-to-day basis, making it important to be well versed in critical care management and ensure the best care for their patients. Post-operative monitoring and the presence of comorbid illnesses are the most common reasons for admission to the HDU/SICU. Elderly and malnutritioned patients, as well as, bowel resection, blood loss or greater fluid resuscitation during the surgery have prolonged HDU/SICU stay. Patients with ovarian cancer have a worse survival outcome than the patients with other types of gynaecological cancer. Dependency care is a part of surgical management and it should be incorporated formally into gynaecologic oncology training programme. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. The mapping competences of the nurse Case/Care Manager in the context of Intensive Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfieri, Emanuela; Ferrini, Anna Chiara; Gianfrancesco, Francesca; Lise, Gianluca; Messana, Giovanni; Tirelli, Lorenzo; Lorenzo, Ana; Sarli, Leopoldo

    2017-03-15

    Since the recent introduction of the Case/Care Manager's professional figure, it is quite difficult to identify properly his/her own particular features, which could be mainly be found revising mainly in American studies. Therefore, the present study intended to identify the Case/Care Manager's skills and professional profile in an Intensive Care Unit experience, taking into consideration the staff's activities, perception and expectations towards the Case/Care Manager. In particular, it has been compared the experience of an Intensive Care Units where the Case/Care Manager's profile is operational to a different Unit where a Case/Care Manager is not yet in force. a Levati's model was used to map the Case/Care Manager's skills, involving each unit whole working staff, executives and caregivers through semi-structured interviews. It has been taken into consideration the Anaesthesia Unit and Emergency Unit of Cesena's healthcare organisation (AUSL of Romagna) and a Cardiology Intensive Care Unit of Piacenza's healthcare organisation, where the Case/Care Manager's profile has not been experimented yet. Firstly, it a data collection in each healthcare organization has been organised. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews to doctors, unit nurses, caregivers, nurses' coordinators and medical staff have been used to compare each healthcare system. The interviewees' described their expectations in relation to the Case/Care Manager working in a critical area. Then, every data collected during interviews has been organised to map a Case/Care Manager's essential professional profile to work in a critical area together with medical staff. Piacenza's O.U. critical area experience reported a major demand for patients' and patient's families' assistance. On the other hand, the very same aspects seem to have been better achieved in Cesena's O.U., where a Case/Care Manager's recent introduction has actually helped to overcome the void in organising systems. a Case/Care Manager

  3. Comparison of stress and burnout among anesthesia and surgical residents in a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandhi, K; Sahni, N; Padhy, S K; Mathew, P J

    2017-10-23

    The residents undergoing training at hospitals in our country face challenges in terms of infrastructure and high workload with undefined working hours. The aim of the study was to compare the stress and burnout levels in trainee doctors doing residency in surgical fields and anesthesia at a tertiary care academic center in North India. A comparative, observational study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India. After Ethics Committee approval, 200 residents (100 each from surgical branches and anesthesia) were required to fill a questionnaire with information about age, sex, year of residency, marital status, and the Perceived Stress Scale-10, and Burnout Clinical Subtype Questionnaire-12. Burnout and perceived stress were compared between residents of anesthesia and surgical specialties. Residents of both surgical and anesthesia branches scored high in perceived stress, namely 21 and 18, respectively. The score was significantly higher in surgical residents (P = 0.03) and increased progressively with the year of residency. The majority of residents (90% surgical, 80% anesthesia) felt that they were being overloaded with work. However, only 20%-30% of respondents felt that there was lack of development of individual skills and still fewer (<10%) reported giving up in view of difficulties. There is high level of stress and overload dimension of burnout among the residents of anesthesia and surgical branches at our tertiary care academic institution and the surgical residents score marginally higher than anesthesia residents.

  4. The influence of care interventions on the continuity of sleep of intensive care unit patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamze, Fernanda Luiza; de Souza, Cristiane Chaves; Chianca, Tânia Couto Machado

    2015-01-01

    to identify care interventions, performed by the health team, and their influence on the continuity of sleep of patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit. descriptive study with a sample of 12 patients. A filming technique was used for the data collection. The awakenings from sleep were measured using the actigraphy method. The analysis of the data was descriptive, processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. 529 care interventions were identified, grouped into 28 different types, of which 12 (42.8%) caused awakening from sleep for the patients. A mean of 44.1 interventions/patient/day was observed, with 1.8 interventions/patient/hour. The administration of oral medicine and food were the interventions that caused higher frequencies of awakenings in the patients. it was identified that the health care interventions can harm the sleep of ICU patients. It is recommended that health professionals rethink the planning of interventions according to the individual demand of the patients, with the diversification of schedules and introduction of new practices to improve the quality of sleep of Intensive Care Unit patients.

  5. A short form of the neonatal intensive care unit family needs inventory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisabete Alves

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: The identification of parental needs in Neonatal Intensive Care Units is essential to design and implement family-centered care. This article aims to validate the Neonatal Intensive Care Units Family Needs Inventory for the Portuguese population, and to propose a Short Form. METHODS: A linguistic adaptation of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units Family Needs Inventory, a self-report scale with 56-items, was performed. The instrument was administered to 211 parents of infants hospitalized in all level III Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the North of Portugal, 15-22 days after admission (July of 2013-June of 2014. The number of items needed to achieve reliability close to 0.8 was calculated using by the Spearman-Brown formula. The global goodness of fit of the scale was evaluated using the comparative fit index. Construct validity was assessed through association of each dimension score with socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis revealed two dimensions, one focused on parents' needs and another on the infant's needs. To compose the Short Form Inventory, items with ceiling effect were eliminated and 22 items were submitted to confirmatory analysis, which supported the existence of two dimensions (CFI = 0.925. The Short Form showed a high degree of reliability (alpha ≥ 0.76. Less educated and older parents more frequently attributed a significantly higher importance to parent-centered needs, while parents of multiples revealed a tendency to value infant-centered needs. CONCLUSIONS: The Short Form of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units Family Needs Inventory is a brief, simple, and valid instrument with a high degree of reliability. Further studies are needed to explore associations with practices of family-centered care.

  6. Distribution of isodose curves in urological surgical procedures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lanfredi, M.P.; Dias, J.H.; Ravazio, R.C.; Anés, M.; Bacelar, A.; Lykawka, R.

    2017-01-01

    During urological surgical procedures with fluoroscopy, the doses of the care team may be significant. However, the knowledge of the occupational exposure of these professionals is still very incipient in the national surgical centers. The objective of the study is to determine the isodose curves of the urological surgical procedures, in order to estimate the exposure of the personnel involved. The equipment used was a Arco-C BV Philips Bracelet. Patients with thicknesses of 20 and 28 cm were simulated using acrylic plates. The dose rates were measured with RaySafe i2 Unfors dosimeters positioned in a 50 x 50 cm mesh at three different heights of the floor: 95, 125 and 165 centimeters respectively corresponding to the gonadal, thoracic and crystalline regions of a typical adult . The isodose curves applied to the distribution of the surgical team suggest that the exposures are in the following descending order of intensity: primary physician, auxiliary physician, scrub nurse, anesthetist and nurse

  7. Factors associated with admission to the intensive care unit in patients undergoing nephrectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.D. Carrillo-Córdova

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: At present, there is no known risk factor analysis in patients undergoing nephrectomy secondary to lithiasis that favor their entry into the intensive care unit. There is no consensus in methods that report post-surgical complications. As a consequence, the reported incidence of complications in renal surgery ranges from 2% to 54%, regardless of the surgical approach. Methodology: A total of 58 patients with diagnosis of renal exclusion confirmed by renal scintigraphy, and lithiasis, were submitted to simple nephrectomy by a group of expert surgeons. A total of 58 patients were evaluated. Descriptive statistics were measured for the demographic variables. Inferential statistics were evaluated in quantitative variables using the Student's T test, with a p < 0.005. Chi square test was used for the qualitative variables. Results: When the multivariate analysis was carried out between the variables: age, weight, height, diabetes mellitus, systemic hypertension, smoking, abscess and transfusion, it was not possible to identify correlation between these and the development of complications or admission to the intensive care unit. However, when assessing by logistic regression the relationship between transfusing a patient and developing complications, a positive relationship was found with a p = 0.003, and an OR 13.45 CI [2.4–72]. Patients who suffered complications required a longer stay in the intensive care unit (p = 0.002. Conclusions: It was observed that patients with comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and anemia are more likely to require handling per unit of intensive care, even greater in those requiring transsurgical transfusion. Because there are not enough studies that relate the different risk factors that require intensive care unit management, a risk classification or transsurgical transfusion indications in these patients cannot yet be mentioned. Resumen: Antecedentes: En la

  8. Medical surgical nurses describe missed nursing care tasks-Evaluating our work environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winsett, Rebecca P; Rottet, Kendra; Schmitt, Abby; Wathen, Ellen; Wilson, Debra

    2016-11-01

    The purpose of the study was to explore the nurse work environment by evaluating the self-report of missed nursing care and the reasons for the missed care. A convenience sample of medical surgical nurses from four hospitals was invited to complete the survey for this descriptive study. The sample included 168 nurses. The MISSCARE survey assessed the frequency and reason of 24 routine nursing care elements. The most frequently reported missed care was ambulation as ordered, medications given within a 30 minute window, and mouth care. Moderate or significant reasons reported for the missed care were: unexpected rise in volume/acuity, heavy admissions/discharges, inadequate assistants, inadequate staff, meds not available when needed, and urgent situations. Identifying missed nursing care and reasons for missed care provides an opportunity for exploring strategies to reduce interruptions, develop unit cohesiveness, improve the nurse work environment, and ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Peculiarities of intensive care at destructive pneumonias in children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Марина Александровна Макарова

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In spite of success in treatment and diagnostics attained last years the problem of an acute pneumonia remains actual, this fact is caused by the growing rate of prolonged clinical course and unfavorable clinical outcomes. The growth of antibiotic resistance of microflora is a substantial problem. In addition even the most vigorous modern antibacterial preparations are not effective without an adequate surgical sanitation of the nidus of infection.The aim of the work is to improve the therapy of destructive pneumonia in children that need an intensive care.Methods. 12 patients 9 month – 12 years old who underwent the treatment of heavy community-acquired pneumonia were under observation. There was carried out an X-ray examination at admission and in dynamics, microbiological examination of lavages from the respiratory tract, pleural exudate and blood, determination of laboratory indexes of intoxication (by Kalf-Kalif, Dashtayants, Lubimova and the level of the middle molecules. The statistical analysis was done using the program package "Microsoft Excel" and "StatSoft 6".Results. In the course of microbiological examination it was demonstrated the prevalence of gram-negative flora and its associations with gram-positive one, the purely gram-positive flora was detected only in 25 % of children. So there was proved an inefficiency of antibiotics that effect mainly on the gram-positive microorganisms. In addition the cephalosporins of the third generation were found insufficiently effective. Such preparations as carbapenems or protected penicillins were chosen in vitro and according to its clinical efficiency. Plasmapheresis and bronchoscopy are useful in the complex therapy. Thoracoscopy must be carried out if the conservative treatment is not effectiveConclusions. At present the gram-negative flora and its associations with gram-positive one prevails in etiological structure of the heavy community-acquired pneumonias that must be taken into

  10. Voluntary peer review as innovative tool for quality improvement in the intensive care unit--a retrospective descriptive cohort study in German intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumpf, Oliver; Bloos, Frank; Bause, Hanswerner; Brinkmann, Alexander; Deja, Maria; Marx, Gernot; Kaltwasser, Arnold; Dubb, Rolf; Muhl, Elke; Greim, Clemens-A; Weiler, Norbert; Chop, Ines; Jonitz, Günther; Schaefer, Henning; Felsenstein, Matthias; Liebeskind, Ursula; Leffmann, Carsten; Jungbluth, Annemarie; Waydhas, Christian; Pronovost, Peter; Spies, Claudia; Braun, Jan-Peter

    2014-01-01

    Quality improvement and safety in intensive care are rapidly evolving topics. However, there is no gold standard for assessing quality improvement in intensive care medicine yet. In 2007 a pilot project in German intensive care units (ICUs) started using voluntary peer reviews as an innovative tool for quality assessment and improvement. We describe the method of voluntary peer review and assessed its feasibility by evaluating anonymized peer review reports and analysed the thematic clusters highlighted in these reports. Retrospective data analysis from 22 anonymous reports of peer reviews. All ICUs - representing over 300 patient beds - had undergone voluntary peer review. Data were retrieved from reports of peers of the review teams and representatives of visited ICUs. Data were analysed with regard to number of topics addressed and results of assessment questionnaires. Reports of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT reports) of these ICUs are presented. External assessment of structure, process and outcome indicators revealed high percentages of adherence to predefined quality goals. In the SWOT reports 11 main thematic clusters were identified representative for common ICUs. 58.1% of mentioned topics covered personnel issues, team and communication issues as well as organisation and treatment standards. The most mentioned weaknesses were observed in the issues documentation/reporting, hygiene and ethics. We identified several unique patterns regarding quality in the ICU of which long-term personnel problems und lack of good reporting methods were most interesting Conclusion: Voluntary peer review could be established as a feasible and valuable tool for quality improvement. Peer reports addressed common areas of interest in intensive care medicine in more detail compared to other methods like measurement of quality indicators.

  11. [The results of delivering surgical care to the wounded and sick in military medical establishments and impending tasks].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briusov, P G; Efimenko, N A

    1997-07-01

    In article results of activity of the military surgeons on rendering of the surgical care to wounded and sick in 1996 are analyzed. During combat actions in Chechnya despite of severe forms of wounds and significant increase of combined battle traumas lethality among heavy wounded was reduced in 2 times. At common lethality rate in 1.3%, in hospitals from wounds 1.5% of wounded died, from traumas--0.7%, burns--2.9%, frostbitten--0.5%. As to peace time surgery, the analysis of main parameters of surgical work in military medical establishments, structure of diseases of servicemen, surgical activity, average terms of treatment, lethality after operations, defects in rendering of the surgical care is given. In conclusions the authors say about problems, that the military surgeons have today.

  12. Assessment of Delirium in Intensive Care Unit Patients: Educational Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Judith M; Van Aman, M Nancy; Schneiderhahn, Mary Elizabeth; Edelman, Robin; Ercole, Patrick M

    2017-05-01

    Delirium is an acute brain dysfunction associated with poor outcomes in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Critical care nurses play an important role in the prevention, detection, and management of delirium, but they must be able to accurately assess for it. The Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) instrument is a reliable and valid method to assess for delirium, but research reveals most nurses need practice to use it proficiently. A pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate the success of a multimodal educational strategy (i.e., online learning module coupled with standardized patient simulation experience) on critical care nurses' knowledge and confidence to assess and manage delirium using the CAM-ICU. Participants (N = 34) showed a significant increase (p education. No statistical change in knowledge of delirium existed following the education. A multimodal educational strategy, which included simulation, significantly added confidence in critical care nurses' performance using the CAM-ICU. J Contin Nurs Educ. 2017;48(5):239-244. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

  13. Quality indicators in intensive care medicine for Germany – third edition 2017

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kumpf, Oliver

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Quality improvement in medicine is depending on measurement of relevant quality indicators. The quality indicators for intensive care medicine of the German Interdisciplinary Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI from the year 2013 underwent a scheduled evaluation after three years. There were major changes in several indicators but also some indicators were changed only minimally. The focus on treatment processes like , , and , as well as the number of 10 indicators were not changed. Most topics remained except for which was introduced instead of . was added as an outcome indicator. These quality indicators are used in the peer review in intensive care, a method endorsed by the DIVI. A validity period of three years is planned for the quality indicators.

  14. A retrospective review of intensive care management of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Organophosphate (OP) compounds are used as insecticides. Given the widespread availability and use of these chemicals, OP poisoning is quite common following either accidental or intentional exposures. Immediate intensive care management can save lives in these patients. We aimed to investigate ...

  15. Mobile emergency (surgical hospital: Development and application in medical relief of “4.20” Lushan earthquake in Sichuan Province, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Bin

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In the 21st century, natural disasters and emergencies occur frequently worldwide, which leads to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives as well as the direct and indirect economic losses. China has a vast territory frequently struck by natural disasters. However, the reality is not optimistic. Poor organization and management during the rescue actions, the lack of large-scale, systematic medical rescue equipment were all great barriers to the outcomes. Mobile hospitals are expected to provide better health care. We were inspired by the concept of mobile hospital. Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, has set up trauma care system since 1988, in which prehospital care, intensive care, and in-hospital treatment is fully integrated. As a major advantage, such a system provided assurance of “golden hour” rescue treatment. Providing mobile intensive care and prehospital surgical service for severe trauma patients could reduce mortality significantly. Based on the civilian experiences in Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, the mobile emergency (surgical hospital was developed.

  16. Mortality after discharge from the intensive care unit during the early weekend period

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Obel, N; Schierbeck, J; Pedersen, L

    2007-01-01

    BACKGROUND: As a result of a shortage of intensive care capacity, patients may be discharged prematurely early during weekends which may lead to an increased mortality and risk of readmission to intensive care units (ICU). We examined whether discharge from the ICU during the first part...

  17. Expansion of the ten steps to successful breastfeeding into neonatal intensive care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nyqvist, Kerstin Hedberg; Häggkvist, Anna-Pia; Hansen, Mette Ness

    2012-01-01

    The World Health Organization/United Nations Children's Fund Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative: Revised, Updated, and Expanded for Integrated Care (2009) identifies the need for expanding the guidelines originally developed for maternity units to include neonatal intensive care. For this purpose...... and infants: 1. The staff attitude to the mother must focus on the individual mother and her situation. 2. The facility must provide family-centered care, supported by the environment. 3. The health care system must ensure continuity of care, that is, continuity of pre-, peri-, and postnatal care and post......; and for external assessment to decide whether neonatal intensive/intermediate care units meet the conditions required to be designated as Baby-Friendly. The documents will be finalized after consultation with the World Health Organization/United Nations Children's Fund, and the goal is to offer these documents...

  18. Role-based support for intensive care nursing : A designer's perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Melles, M.

    2011-01-01

    Design goals and design directions are formulated for the (digital) support of non-technical nursing tasks and skills in the intensive care unit (ICU), such as organizing work, evaluating care, coping with stress and dealing with poor team dynamics. A conceptual framework for ICU nursing was

  19. Living with Dying in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Nursing Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stayer, Debbie; Lockhart, Joan Such

    2016-07-01

    Despite reported challenges encountered by nurses who provide palliative care to children, few researchers have examined this phenomenon from the perspective of nurses who care for children with life-threatening illnesses in pediatric intensive care units. To describe and interpret the essence of the experiences of nurses in pediatric intensive care units who provide palliative care to children with life-threatening illnesses and the children's families. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted with 12 pediatric intensive care unit nurses in the northeastern United States. Face-to-face interviews and field notes were used to illuminate the experiences. Five major themes were detected: journey to death; a lifelong burden; and challenges delivering care, maintaining self, and crossing boundaries. These themes were illuminated by 12 subthemes: the emotional impact of the dying child, the emotional impact of the child's death, concurrent grieving, creating a peaceful ending, parental burden of care, maintaining hope for the family, pain, unclear communication by physicians, need to hear the voice of the child, remaining respectful of parental wishes, collegial camaraderie and support, and personal support. Providing palliative care to children with life-threatening illnesses was complex for the nurses. Findings revealed sometimes challenging intricacies involved in caring for dying children and the children's families. However, the nurses voiced professional satisfaction in providing palliative care and in support from colleagues. Although the nurses reported collegial camaraderie, future research is needed to identify additional supportive resources that may help staff process and cope with death and dying. ©2016 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

  20. Patient safety event reporting in critical care: a study of three intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Carolyn B; Krauss, Melissa J; Coopersmith, Craig M; Avidan, Michael; Nast, Patricia A; Kollef, Marin H; Dunagan, W Claiborne; Fraser, Victoria J

    2007-04-01

    To increase patient safety event reporting in three intensive care units (ICUs) using a new voluntary card-based event reporting system and to compare and evaluate observed differences in reporting among healthcare workers across ICUs. Prospective, single-center, interventional study. A medical ICU (19 beds), surgical ICU (24 beds), and cardiothoracic ICU (17 beds) at a 1,371-bed urban teaching hospital. Adult patients admitted to these three study ICUs. Use of a new, internally designed, card-based reporting program to solicit voluntary anonymous reporting of medical errors and patient safety concerns. During a 14-month period, 714 patient safety events were reported using a new card-based reporting system, reflecting a significant increase in reporting compared with pre-intervention Web-based reporting (20.4 reported events/1,000 patient days pre-intervention to 41.7 reported events/1,000 patient days postintervention; rate ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.79-2.34). Nurses submitted the majority of reports (nurses, 67.1%; physicians, 23.1%; other reporters, 9.5%); however, physicians experienced the greatest increase in reporting among their group (physicians, 43-fold; nurses, 1.7-fold; other reporters, 4.3-fold) relative to pre-intervention rates. There were significant differences in the reporting of harm by job description: 31.1% of reports from nurses, 36.2% from other staff, and 17.0% from physicians described events that did not reach/affect the patient (p = .001); and 33.9% of reports from physicians, 27.2% from nurses, and 13.0% from other staff described events that caused harm (p = .005). Overall reported patient safety events per 1,000 patient days differed by ICU (medical ICU = 55.5, cardiothoracic ICU = 25.3, surgical ICU = 40.2; p reporting system increased reporting significantly compared with pre-intervention Web-based reporting and revealed significant differences in reporting by healthcare worker and ICU. These differences may reveal

  1. The anxious production of beauty: Unruly bodies, surgical anxiety and invisible care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leem, So Yeon

    2016-02-01

    This study is based on ethnographic fieldwork at a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul, South Korea. Examining the three phases of plastic--consultation, operation and recovery--I show how surgeons work to shape not only patients' bodies but also expectations and satisfaction. Surgeons do so in part to assuage their own anxieties, which arise from the possibility of misaligned beauty standards and unforeseen anatomies, as well as the possible dissatisfaction of the patient. I offer the concept of 'surgical anxiety', which occurs in relation to inherently unruly patient bodies in which worries, fear, frustration, self-pity, cynicism, anger and even loneliness are symptomatic. The unpredictability and uncontrollability of patients' bodies, which generates anxiety for both patients and surgeons, work to constrain the power of plastic surgery and making it inherently vulnerable. This study also pays attention to the invisible work of taking care of surgical anxiety, as practised by female staff members, and surgeons' dependence on these workers. My focus on anxiety is a kind of remedy for the predominant concern with 'ambivalence' in constructivist science and technology studies; rather than continue to highlight the power differentials between experts/practitioners and lay people/patients, this study illuminates surgical anxiety as their shared vulnerability. Thus, this study proposes a new politics of care in technoscience and medicine, which begins with anxiety.

  2. Measuring the quality of therapeutic apheresis care in the pediatric intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sussmane, Jeffrey B; Torbati, Dan; Gitlow, Howard S

    2012-01-01

    Our goal was to measure the quality of care provided in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) during Therapeutic Apheresis (TA). We described the care as a step by step process. We designed a flow chart to carefully document each step of the process. We then defined each step with a unique clinical indictor (CI) that represented the exact task we felt provided quality care. These CIs were studied and modified for 1 year. We measured our performance in this process by the number of times we accomplished the CI vs. the total number of CIs that were to be performed. The degree of compliance, with these clinical indicators, was analyzed and used as a metric for quality by calculating how close the process is running exactly as planned or "in control." The Apheresis Process was in control (compliance) for 47% of the indicators, as measured in the aggregate for the first observational year. We then applied the theory of Total Quality Management (TQM) through our Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) model. We were able to improve the process and bring it into control by increasing the compliance to > 99.74%, in the aggregate, for the third and fourth quarter of the second year. We have implemented TQM to increase compliance, thus control, of a highly complex and multidisciplinary Pediatric Intensive Care therapy. We have shown a reproducible and scalable measure of quality for a complex clinical process in the PICU, without additional capital expenditure. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  3. Quality Improvement Process in a Large Intensive Care Unit: Structure and Outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, Anita J; Guzman, Jorge A

    2016-11-01

    Quality improvement in the health care setting is a complex process, and even more so in the critical care environment. The development of intensive care unit process measures and quality improvement strategies are associated with improved outcomes, but should be individualized to each medical center as structure and culture can differ from institution to institution. The purpose of this report is to describe the structure of quality improvement processes within a large medical intensive care unit while using examples of the study institution's successes and challenges in the areas of stat antibiotic administration, reduction in blood product waste, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and medication errors. © The Author(s) 2015.

  4. [Analysis of informed consent readibility in intensive care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez-Puerta, M R; Fernández-Fernández, R; Frías-Pareja, J C; Yuste-Ossorio, M E; Narbona-Galdó, S; Peñas-Maldonado, L

    2013-11-01

    To analyze the readability of informed consent documents (IC) used in an intensive care department and in the Andalusian Healthcare System (AHS). A descriptive study was carried out. The Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary Hospital, and the AHS. A review and analysis was made of the existing 14 IC models in the Intensive Care Unit and of another 14 IC models offered by the AHS, using the following readability scores: Flesch, Sentence complexity, LEGIN, Fernández-Huerta, Szigriszt and INFLESZ. Twenty-four IC (85.7%) failed to satisfy some of the indexes, while three (10.7%) did not satisfy any of them. Four documents (14.3%) satisfied all the indexes analyzed, and therefore are easy to understand. Flesch score: satisfied by one of the ICU IC (7.1%) and by three of the AHS documents (21.4%). Sentence complexity score: satisfied by 11 of the ICU IC (78.6%) and by 13 of the AHS documents (92.8%). Fernández-Huerta score: satisfied by four of the ICU IC (28.6%) and by 13 of the AHS documents (92.8%). Szigriszt score: satisfied by two of the ICU IC (14.3%) and by 11 of the AHS documents (64.3%). INFLESZ score: satisfied by two of the ICU IC (14.3%) and by 10 of the AHS documents (71.4%). The documents analyzed are generally difficult to read and understand by most people, and do not satisfy the basic purpose for which they were drafted. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  5. Is there a Role of Palliative Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in India?

    OpenAIRE

    Dighe, Manjiri P; Muckaden, Maryann A; Manerkar, Swati A; Duraisamy, Balaji P

    2011-01-01

    Recent advances in medical care have improved the survival of newborn babies born with various problems. Despite this death in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an inevitable reality. For babies who are not going to "get better," the health care team still has a duty to alleviate the physical suffering of the baby and to support the family. Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to relieve the physical, psycho social, and spiritual suffering of patients and their families. P...

  6. Hubungan antara Sepsis Akibat Acinetobacter baumannii dan Mortalitas pada Pasien Anak dengan Penyakit Kritis di Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) RSUP Haji Adam Malik Medan, 2011-201

    OpenAIRE

    Sardini, Rima Novia

    2015-01-01

    Acinetobacter sp. is one of the major pathogenic bacteria which are endemic throughout the world. Acinetobacter baumannii’s infections are often involved in a variety of nosocomial infections in the urinary tract, surgical wound infection, infection of the blood vessels, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and meningitis in particular patients with a low immune system that are in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study aimed to determine the relationship of the number of primary disease...

  7. Clinical microbiology in the intensive care unit: Strategic and operational characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhattacharya S

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs. The application of the principles and the practice of Clinical Microbiology for ICU patients can significantly improve clinical outcome. The present article is aimed at summarising the strategic and operational characteristics of this unique field where medical microbiology attempts to venture into the domain of direct clinical care of critically ill patients. The close and strategic partnership between clinical microbiologists and intensive care specialists, which is essential for this model of patient care have been emphasized. The article includes discussions on a variety of common clinical-microbiological problems faced in the ICUs such as ventilator-associated pneumonia, blood stream infections, skin and soft tissue infection, UTI, infection control, besides antibiotic management.

  8. Intensive care survivors' experiences of ward-based care: Meleis' theory of nursing transitions and role development among critical care outreach services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsay, Pam; Huby, Guro; Thompson, Andrew; Walsh, Tim

    2014-03-01

    To explore the psychosocial needs of patients discharged from intensive care, the extent to which they are captured using existing theory on transitions in care and the potential role development of critical care outreach, follow-up and liaison services. Intensive care patients are at an increased risk of adverse events, deterioration or death following ward transfer. Nurse-led critical care outreach, follow-up or liaison services have been adopted internationally to prevent these potentially avoidable sequelae. The need to provide patients with psychosocial support during the transition to ward-based care has also been identified, but the evidence base for role development is currently limited. Twenty participants were invited to discuss their experiences of ward-based care as part of a broader study on recovery following prolonged critical illness. Psychosocial distress was a prominent feature of their accounts, prompting secondary data analysis using Meleis et al.'s mid-range theory on experiencing transitions. Participants described a sense of disconnection in relation to profound debilitation and dependency and were often distressed by a perceived lack of understanding, indifference or insensitivity among ward staff to their basic care needs. Negotiating the transition between dependence and independence was identified as a significant source of distress following ward transfer. Participants varied in the extent to which they were able to express their needs and negotiate recovery within professionally mediated boundaries. These data provide new insights into the putative origins of the psychosocial distress that patients experience following ward transfer. Meleis et al.'s work has resonance in terms of explicating intensive care patients' experiences of psychosocial distress throughout the transition to general ward-based care, such that the future role development of critical care outreach, follow-up and liaison services may be more theoretically informed

  9. Magnesium, calcium and phosphorus in the intensive care unit: Do ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Magnesium, calcium and phosphorus are important electrolytes involved in the regulation of homeostasis. However the utility in monitoring them in critically ill patients is still unclear. We therefore undertook a prospective, non-interventional, single center study in the intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital in ...

  10. Intensive care unit audit: invasive procedure surveillance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariama Amaral Michels

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Rationale and objective: currently, Healthcare-associated Infections (HAIs constitute a serious public health problem. It is estimated that for every ten hospitalized patients, one will have infection after admission, generating high costs resulting from increased length of hospitalization, additional diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. The intensive care unit (ICU, due to its characteristics, is one of the most complex units of the hospital environment, a result of the equipment, the available technology, the severity of inpatients and the invasive procedures the latter are submitted to. The aim of the study was to evaluate the adherence to specifi c HAI prevention measures in invasive ICU procedures. Methods: This study had a quantitative, descriptive and exploratory approach. Among the risk factors for HAIs are the presence of central venous access, indwelling vesical catheter and mechanical ventilation, and, therefore, the indicators were calculated for patients undergoing these invasive procedures, through a questionnaire standardized by the Hospital Infection Control Commission (HICC. Results: For every 1,000 patients, 15 had catheter-related bloodstream infection, 6.85 had urinary tract infection associated with indwelling catheter in the fi rst half of 2010. Conclusion: most HAIs cannot be prevented, for reasons inherent to invasive procedures and the patients. However, their incidence can be reduced and controlled. The implementation of preventive measures based on scientifi c evidence can reduce HAIs signifi cantly and sustainably, resulting in safer health care services and reduced costs. The main means of prevention include the cleaning of hands, use of epidemiological block measures, when necessary, and specifi c care for each infection site. KEYWORDS Nosocomial infection. Intensive care units.

  11. Design of the environment of care for safety of patients and personnel: does form follow function or vice versa in the intensive care unit?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartley, Judene; Streifel, Andrew J

    2010-08-01

    We review the context of the environment of care in the intensive care unit setting in relation to patient safety and quality, specifically addressing healthcare-associated infection issues and solutions involving interdisciplinary teams. Issues addressed include current and future architectural design and layout trends, construction trends affecting intensive care units, and prevention of construction-associated healthcare-associated infections related to airborne and waterborne risks and design solutions. Specific elements include single-occupancy, acuity-scalable intensive care unit rooms; environmental aspects of hand hygiene, such as water risks, sink design/location, human waste management, surface selection (floor covering, countertops, furniture, and equipment) and cleaning, antimicrobial-treated or similar materials, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, specialized rooms (airborne infection isolation and protective environments), and water system design and strategies for safe use of potable water and mitigation of water intrusion. Effective design and operational use of the intensive care unit environment of care must engage critical care personnel from initial planning and design through occupancy of the new/renovated intensive care unit as part of the infection control risk assessment team. The interdisciplinary infection control risk assessment team can address key environment of care design features to enhance the safety of intensive care unit patients, personnel, and visitors. This perspective will ensure the environment of care supports human factors and behavioral aspects of the interaction between the environment of care and its occupants.

  12. Nurses' care practices at the end of life in intensive care units in Bahrain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neill, Catherine S; Yaqoob, Maryam; Faraj, Sumaya; O'Neill, Carla L

    2017-12-01

    The process of dying in intensive care units is complex as the technological environment shapes clinical decisions. Decisions at the end of life require the involvement of patient, families and healthcare professionals. The degree of involvement can vary depending on the professional and social culture of the unit. Nurses have an important role to play in caring for dying patients and their families; however, their knowledge is not always sought. This study explored nurses' care practices at the end of life, with the objective of describing and identifying end of life care practices that nurses contribute to, with an emphasis on culture, religious experiences and professional identity. Research Design and context: Grounded theory was used. In all, 10 nurses from intensive care unit in two large hospitals in Bahrain were participated. Ethical Considerations: Approval to carry out the research was given by the Research Ethics Committee of the host institution, and the two hospitals. A core category, Death Avoidance Talk, was emerged. This was supported by two major categories: (1) order-oriented care and (2) signalling death and care shifting. Death talk was avoided by the nurses, doctors and family members. When a decision was made by the medical team that a patient was not to be resuscitated, the nurses took this as a sign that death was imminent. This led to a process of signalling death to family and of shifting care to family members. Despite the avoidance of death talk and nurses' lack of professional autonomy, they created awareness that death was imminent to family members and ensured that end of life care was given in a culturally sensitive manner and aligned to Islamic values.

  13. [Cross sectional study of structural quality of German intensive care units. A reevaluation of the DIVI register].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fölsch, C; Kofahl, N; Waydhas, C; Stiletto, R

    2013-09-01

    Effectiveness of intensive care treatment is essential to cope with increasing costs. The German national register of intensive care established by the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI) contains basic data on the structure of intensive care units in Germany. A repeat analysis of data of the DIVI register within 8 years provides information for the development of intensive care units under different economic circumstances. The recent data on the structure of intensive care units were obtained in 2008 and compared with the primary multicenter study from 2000. The hospitals selected were a representative sample for the whole of Germany. Data on the status of the hospital, staff and technical facilities, foundation of the hospital and the statistics of mechanically ventilated patients were analyzed. The technical facilities and the number of staff have improved from 2000 to 2008. A smaller availability of diagnostic procedures and staff remain in hospitals for basic treatment outside normal working hours. The average utilization of intensive care unit beds was not altered. The existence of intermediate care units did not significantly change the proportion of patients with artificial ventilation or ventilation times. The number of beds in intensive care units was unchanged as was the average number of beds in units and the number of patients treated. A relevant number of beds of intensive care units shifted towards hospitals with private foundation without changes in the overall numbers. The structure of the hospitals was comparable at both time points. The introduction of intermediate care units did not alter ventilation parameters of patients in 2008 compared with 2000. There is no obvious medical reason for the shift of intensive care beds towards private hospitals. The number of staff and patients varied considerably between the intensive care units. The average number of patients treated per bed was not different between the

  14. Prediction of chronic critical illness in a general intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sérgio H. Loss

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence, costs, and mortality associated with chronic critical illness (CCI, and to identify clinical predictors of CCI in a general intensive care unit. METHODS: This was a prospective observational cohort study. All patients receiving supportive treatment for over 20 days were considered chronically critically ill and eligible for the study. After applying the exclusion criteria, 453 patients were analyzed. RESULTS: There was an 11% incidence of CCI. Total length of hospital stay, costs, and mortality were significantly higher among patients with CCI. Mechanical ventilation, sepsis, Glasgow score < 15, inadequate calorie intake, and higher body mass index were independent predictors for cci in the multivariate logistic regression model. CONCLUSIONS: CCI affects a distinctive population in intensive care units with higher mortality, costs, and prolonged hospitalization. Factors identifiable at the time of admission or during the first week in the intensive care unit can be used to predict CCI.

  15. Computerized nursing process in the Intensive Care Unit: ergonomics and usability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sônia Regina Wagner de Almeida

    Full Text Available Abstract OBJECTIVE Analyzing the ergonomics and usability criteria of the Computerized Nursing Process based on the International Classification for Nursing Practice in the Intensive Care Unit according to International Organization for Standardization(ISO. METHOD A quantitative, quasi-experimental, before-and-after study with a sample of 16 participants performed in an Intensive Care Unit. Data collection was performed through the application of five simulated clinical cases and an evaluation instrument. Data analysis was performed by descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS The organization, content and technical criteria were considered "excellent", and the interface criteria were considered "very good", obtaining means of 4.54, 4.60, 4.64 and 4.39, respectively. The analyzed standards obtained means above 4.0, being considered "very good" by the participants. CONCLUSION The Computerized Nursing Processmet ergonomic and usability standards according to the standards set by ISO. This technology supports nurses' clinical decision-making by providing complete and up-to-date content for Nursing practice in the Intensive Care Unit.

  16. Antibiotic Policies in the Intensive Care Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nese Saltoglu

    2003-08-01

    Full Text Available The antimicrobial management of patients in the Intensive Care Units are complex. Antimicrobial resistance is an increasing problem. Effective strategies for the prevention of antimicrobial resistance in ICUs have focused on limiting the unnecessary use of antibiotics and increasing compliance with infection control practices. Antibiotic policies have been implemented to modify antibiotic use, including national or regional formulary manipulations, antibiotic restriction forms, care plans, antibiotic cycling and computer assigned antimicrobial therapy. Moreover, infectious diseases consultation is a simple way to limit antibiotic use in ICU units. To improve rational antimicrobial using a multidisiplinary approach is suggested. [Archives Medical Review Journal 2003; 12(4.000: 299-309

  17. Avaliação perioperatória de pacientes em unidade de terapia intensiva Perioperative assessment of the patients in intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stelma Regina Sodré Pontes

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Avaliar as condições pré-operatórias e o procedimento cirúrgico relacionando-os à morbidade e mortalidade de pacientes cirúrgicos em uma unidade de terapia intensiva geral de um hospital universitário. MÉTODOS: Foram estudados os prontuários de pacientes submetidos a procedimentos cirúrgicos de médio e grande porte, admitidos na unidade de terapia intensiva geral. Foram analisados: dados demográficos, quadro clínico, registros de antecedentes pessoais e exames laboratoriais pré-operatórios e de admissão na unidade de terapia intensiva, exames de imagem, relato operatório, boletim anestésico e antibioticoprofilaxia. Após a admissão, as variáveis estudadas foram: tempo de internação, tipo de suporte nutricional, utilização de tromboprofilaxia, necessidade de ventilação mecânica, descrição de complicações e mortalidade. RESULTADOS: Foram analisados 130 prontuários. A mortalidade foi 23,8% (31 pacientes; Apache II maior do que 40 foi observado em 57 pacientes submetidos à operação de grande porte (64%; a classificação ASA e" II foi observada em 16 pacientes que morreram (51,6%; o tempo de permanência na unidade de terapia intensiva variou de um a nove dias e foi observado em 70 pacientes submetidos à cirurgia de grande porte (78,5%; a utilização da ventilação mecânica por até cinco dias foi observada em 36 pacientes (27,7%; hipertensão arterial sistêmica foi observada em 47 pacientes (47,4%; a complicação mais frequente foi a sepse. CONCLUSÃO: a correta estratificação do paciente cirúrgico determina sua alta precoce e menor exposição a riscos aleatóriosOBJECTIVE: To evaluate the preoperative condition and the surgical procedure of surgical patients in a general intensive care unit of a university hospital, relating them to morbidity and mortality. METHODS: We studied the medical records of patients undergoing medium and large surgical procedures, admitted to the general intensive

  18. Families' experiences of intensive care unit quality of care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Hanne Irene; Gerritsen, Rik T; Koopmans, Matty

    2015-01-01

    PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to adapt and provide preliminary validation for questionnaires evaluating families' experiences of quality of care for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study took place in 2 European ICUs. Based on literature...... validity. RESULTS: A total of 110 family members participated. Response rate was 87%. For all questions, a median of 97% (94%-99%) was assessed as relevant, and a median of 98% (97%-100%), as understandable. Median ceiling effect was 41% (30%-47%). There was a median of 0% missing data (0%-1%). Test......-retest reliability showed a median weighted κ of 0.69 (0.53-0.83). Validation showed significant correlation between total scores and key questions. CONCLUSIONS: The questions were assessed as relevant and understandable, providing high face and content validity. Ceiling effects were comparable to similar...

  19. Early intensive rehabilitation after oral cancer treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bschorer, Maximilian; Schneider, Daniel; Hennig, Matthias; Frank, Bernd; Schön, Gerhard; Heiland, Max; Bschorer, Reinhard

    2018-06-01

    The treatment of oral cancer requires an effective rehabilitation strategy such as an early intensive rehabilitation (EIR) program. The medical records and data of 41 patients who participated in an EIR program and 20 control group patients were analyzed. These patients all underwent surgical resection of the primary tumor followed by microsurgical reconstruction using free flaps. The length of stay (LOS) at the acute care hospital was compared between the two groups. Four indexes were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the EIR program. EIR patients stayed an average of 11.6 fewer days at the acute care hospital. All indexes showed significant improvements (p < 0.001). The Barthel Index (BI) and the Early Intensive Rehabilitation Barthel Index (EIR-BI) improved by 36.0 and 103.6 points, respectively. At discharge, the Bogenhausener Dysphagia Score (BODS) had improved to a score of 11.0 compared to the 13.9 at admission. EIR patients had a Work Ability Index (WAI) score of 25.7. Length of stay at the acute care hospital can be reduced using early intensive rehabilitation if patients are transferred to an intensive rehabilitation clinic early. Copyright © 2018 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Racial differences in parental satisfaction with neonatal intensive care unit nursing care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, A E; D'Agostino, J A; Passarella, M; Lorch, S A

    2016-11-01

    Nurses provide parental support and education in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but it is unknown if satisfaction and expectations about nursing care differ between racial groups. A prospective cohort was constructed of families with a premature infant presenting to primary care between 1 January 2010 and 1 January 2013 (N=249, 52% white, 42% black). Responses to questions about satisfaction with the NICU were analyzed in ATLAS.ti using the standard qualitative methodology. One hundred and twenty (48%) parents commented on nursing. Fifty-seven percent of the comments were positive, with black parents more negative (58%) compared with white parents (33%). Black parents were most dissatisfied with how nurses supported them, wanting compassionate and respectful communication. White parents were most dissatisfied with inconsistent nursing care and lack of education about their child. Racial differences were found in satisfaction and expectations with neonatal nursing care. Accounting for these differences will improve parental engagement during the NICU stay.

  1. [FRC measurement in intensive care patients. A definition of standards].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wauer, H J; Lorenz, B A; Kox, W J

    1998-10-01

    Determination of Functional Residual Capacity (FRC) can be performed through washout methods, indicator gas dilution or bodyplethysmography. Some of these techniques have been adapted for use in intensive care patients whilst being mechanically ventilated. However, most measurement setups are bulky, cumbersome to use and their running costs are high. Hence FRC measurement has not become a routine method in intensive care although it offers considerable advantages in the management of ventilated patients such as the determination of "best PEEP", the detection of progressive alveolar collapse in the course of acute lung injury and during weaning from mechanical ventilation. Up to now most efforts to improve and simplify FRC measurement were made at the expense of accuracy. An ideal method ought to be accurate, easy to handle and cost-effective. It should supply not only FRC data but also information about intrapulmonary gas distribution and dead space. These demands can be met using modern data acquisition software. The pros and cons of all methods available for FRC measurement are discussed in view of their suitability for intensive care patients. A conventional nitrogen washout using emission spectroscopy for measurement of nitrogen concentration gives satisfying exact values for the determination of the parameters mentioned above. The measurement error can be lowered under 5% by special corrections for flow and nitrogen signal (delay and rise times, changes of gas viscosity). For flow measurement a normal pneumotachograph can be used. Using a laptop computer for data acquisition the bed-side monitor fulfills most of the demands in intensive care. It is then also possible to measure indices of intrapulmonary gas distribution such as Alveolar Mixing Efficiency and Lung Clearance Index.

  2. Ketamine for Analgosedation in the Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patanwala, Asad E; Martin, Jennifer R; Erstad, Brian L

    2017-07-01

    To evaluate the evidence for the use of intravenous ketamine for analgosedation in the intensive care unit. MEDLINE and EMBASE were queried from inception until July 2015. Search terms used included ketamine, intensive care, and critical care. The search retrieved 584 articles to be screened for inclusion. The intent was to include randomized controlled studies using sustained intravenous infusions (>24 hours) of ketamine in the critically ill patients. One trial evaluated opioid consumption as an outcome in postoperative critically ill patients who were randomized to ketamine or saline infusions. The mean cumulative morphine consumption at 48 hours was significantly lower in the ketamine group (58 ± 35 mg) compared to the morphine-only group (80 ± 37 mg; P ketamine in terms of cerebral hemodynamics in patients with traumatic brain injury, improved gastrointestinal motility, and decreased vasopressor requirements. The observational study and case reports suggest that ketamine is safe and effective and may have a role in patients who are refractory to other therapies. Ketamine use may decrease analgesic consumption in the intensive care unit. Additional trials are needed to further delineate the role of ketamine for analgosedation.

  3. Postoperative hypoxia and length of intensive care unit stay after cardiac surgery: the underweight paradox?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Ranucci

    Full Text Available Cardiac operations with cardiopulmonary bypass can be associated with postoperative lung dysfunction. The present study investigates the incidence of postoperative hypoxia after cardiac surgery, its relationship with the length of intensive care unit stay, and the role of body mass index in determining postoperative hypoxia and intensive care unit length of stay.Single-center, retrospective study.University Hospital. Patients. Adult patients (N = 5,023 who underwent cardiac surgery with CPB.None.According to the body mass index, patients were attributed to six classes, and obesity was defined as a body mass index >30. POH was defined as a PaO2/FiO2 ratio <200 at the arrival in the intensive care unit. Postoperative hypoxia was detected in 1,536 patients (30.6%. Obesity was an independent risk factor for postoperative hypoxia (odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval 2.05-2.78, P = 0.001 and postoperative hypoxia was a determinant of intensive care unit length of stay. There is a significant inverse correlation between body mass index and PaO2/FiO2 ratio, with the risk of postoperative hypoxia increasing by 1.7 folds per each incremental body mass index class. The relationship between body mass index and intensive care unit length of stay is U-shaped, with longer intensive care unit stay in underweight patients and moderate-morbid obese patients.Obese patients are at higher risk for postoperative hypoxia, but this leads to a prolonged intensive care unit stay only for moderate-morbid obese patients. Obese patients are partially protected against the deleterious effects of hemodilution and transfusions. Underweight patients present the "paradox" of a better lung gas exchange but a longer intensive care unit stay. This is probably due to a higher severity of their cardiac disease.

  4. Molecular epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii in central intensive care unit in Kosova teaching hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lul Raka

    Full Text Available Infections caused by bacteria of genus Acinetobacter pose a significant health care challenge worldwide. Information on molecular epidemiological investigation of outbreaks caused by Acinetobacter species in Kosova is lacking. The present investigation was carried out to enlight molecular epidemiology of Acinetobacterbaumannii in the Central Intensive Care Unit (CICU of a University hospital in Kosova using pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE. During March - July 2006, A. baumannii was isolated from 30 patients, of whom 22 were infected and 8 were colonised. Twenty patients had ventilator-associated pneumonia, one patient had meningitis, and two had coinfection with bloodstream infection and surgical site infection. The most common diagnoses upon admission to the ICU were politrauma and cerebral hemorrhage. Bacterial isolates were most frequently recovered from endotracheal aspirate (86.7%. First isolation occurred, on average, on day 8 following admission (range 1-26 days. Genotype analysis of A. baumannii isolates identified nine distinct PFGE patterns, with predominance of PFGE clone E represented by isolates from 9 patients. Eight strains were resistant to carbapenems. The genetic relatedness of Acinetobacter baumannii was high, indicating cross-transmission within the ICU setting. These results emphasize the need for measures to prevent nosocomial transmission of A. baumannii in ICU.

  5. Systematic review of qualitative studies exploring parental experiences in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Maghaireh, Dua'a Fayiz; Abdullah, Khatijah Lim; Chan, Chong Mei; Piaw, Chua Yan; Al Kawafha, Mariam Mofleh

    2016-10-01

    To determine the feasibility and utility of a thematic analysis approach to synthesising qualitative evidence about parental experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit. Admission of infants to the neonatal intensive care unit is usually an unexpected event for parents who can cause them to experience psychosocial difficulties. A qualitative systematic review is the best method for exploring these parents' experiences regarding this type of admission. Systematic review. Qualitative studies in peer-reviewed journals aimed at understanding parental experiences regarding infant neonatal intensive care unit admission were identified in six electronic databases. Three reviewers selected relevant articles and assessed the quality of the methodological studies using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify the most common themes in the studies describing parental experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit. A total of eighty articles were identified; nine studies were included in this review. Four studies used semistructured interviews, three used interviews, one used self-reporting and one used both focus group and interview methodologies. Common themes across parents' experiences were the stress of hospitalisation, alteration in parenting roles and the impact of infant hospitalisation on psychological health. Having an infant hospitalised in the neonatal intensive care unit is a stressful experience for parents. This experience is the result of exposure to different stressors related to the infant's condition, an alteration in parenting roles or the neonatal intensive care unit environment and staffing. These parents suffered negative psychological effects, experienced an interrupted development of a healthy parent-infant attachment and/or felt parental role alteration. The study's findings are crucial for neonatal intensive care unit nurses to develop intervention strategies and programmes that help parents to

  6. The influence of care interventions on the continuity of sleep of intensive care unit patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernanda Luiza Hamze

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to identify care interventions, performed by the health team, and their influence on the continuity of sleep of patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit.Method: descriptive study with a sample of 12 patients. A filming technique was used for the data collection. The awakenings from sleep were measured using the actigraphy method. The analysis of the data was descriptive, processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software.Results: 529 care interventions were identified, grouped into 28 different types, of which 12 (42.8% caused awakening from sleep for the patients. A mean of 44.1 interventions/patient/day was observed, with 1.8 interventions/patient/hour. The administration of oral medicine and food were the interventions that caused higher frequencies of awakenings in the patients.Conclusion: it was identified that the health care interventions can harm the sleep of ICU patients. It is recommended that health professionals rethink the planning of interventions according to the individual demand of the patients, with the diversification of schedules and introduction of new practices to improve the quality of sleep of Intensive Care Unit patients.

  7. The continuous glucose monitoring sensor in neonatal intensive care

    OpenAIRE

    Beardsall, K; Ogilvy-Stuart, A; Ahluwalia, J; Thompson, M; Dunger, D

    2005-01-01

    Objective: To determine the feasibility of continuous glucose monitoring in the very low birthweight baby requiring intensive care, as these infants are known to be at high risk of abnormalities of glucose control.

  8. [Safety in intensive care medicine. Can we learn from aviation?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graf, J; Pump, S; Maas, W; Stüben, U

    2012-05-01

    Safety is of extraordinary value in commercial aviation. Therefore, sophisticated and complex systems have been developed to ensure safe operation. Within this system, the pilots are of specific concern: they form the human-machine interface and have a special responsibility in controlling and monitoring all aircraft systems. In order to prepare pilots for their challenging task, specific selection of suitable candidates is crucial. In addition, for every commercial pilot regulatory requirements demand a certain number of simulator training sessions and check flights to be completed at prespecified intervals. In contrast, career choice for intensive care medicine most likely depends on personal reasons rather than eligibility or aptitude. In intensive care medicine, auditing, licensing, or mandatory training are largely nonexistent. Although knowledge of risk management and safety culture in aviation can be transferred to the intensive care unit, the diversity of corporate culture and tradition of leadership and training will represent a barrier for the direct transfer of standards or procedures. To accomplish this challenging task, the analysis of appropriate fields of action with regard to structural requirements and the process of change are essential.

  9. Ineffective participation: reactions to absentee and incompetent nurse leadership in an intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rouse, Ruby A

    2009-05-01

    The aim of the present study was to analyse reactions to ineffective leader participation in an intensive care unit (ICU). Critical examination of leadership failures helps identify nurse manager behaviours to avoid. An online survey collected data from 51 interacting healthcare providers who work in an intensive care unit. Participants reported dissatisfaction with nurse leaders who were perceived as absent or ill prepared. Participants categorized intensive care unit productivity and morale as moderate to low. Multiple regression suggested the best predictor of perceived unit productivity was supervisor communication; the best predictor of employee morale was perceived leader mentoring. Intensive care unit nurses reported wanting active participation from their leaders and expressed dissatisfaction when supervisors were perceived as absent or incompetent. Ineffective leader participation significantly correlated with lower employee perceptions of productivity and morale. Senior managers should recruit and develop supervisors with effective participation skills. Organizations primarily concerned about productivity should focus on developing the communication skills of nurse leaders. Units mainly concerned with employee morale should emphasize mentorship and role modelling. Formal assessment of nurse leaders by all intensive care unit team members should also be used to proactively identify opportunities for improvement.

  10. Knowledge about complementary, alternative and integrative medicine (CAM) among registered health care providers in Swedish surgical care: a national survey among university hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjerså, Kristofer; Stener Victorin, Elisabet; Fagevik Olsén, Monika

    2012-04-12

    Previous studies show an increased interest and usage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the general population and among health care workers both internationally and nationally. CAM usage is also reported to be common among surgical patients. Earlier international studies have reported that a large amount of surgical patients use it prior to and after surgery. Recent publications indicate a weak knowledge about CAM among health care workers. However the current situation in Sweden is unknown. The aim of this study was therefore to explore perceived knowledge about CAM among registered healthcare professions in surgical departments at Swedish university hospitals. A questionnaire was distributed to 1757 registered physicians, nurses and physiotherapists in surgical wards at the seven university hospitals in Sweden from spring 2010 to spring 2011. The questionnaire included classification of 21 therapies into conventional, complementary, alternative and integrative, and whether patients were recommended these therapies. Questions concerning knowledge, research, and patient communication about CAM were also included. A total of 737 (42.0%) questionnaires were returned. Therapies classified as complementary; were massage, manual therapies, yoga and acupuncture. Alternative therapies; were herbal medicine, dietary supplements, homeopathy and healing. Classification to integrative therapy was low, and unfamiliar therapies were Bowen therapy, iridology and Rosen method. Therapies recommended by > 40% off the participants were massage and acupuncture. Knowledge and research about CAM was valued as minor or none at all by 95.7% respectively 99.2%. Importance of possessing knowledge about it was valued as important by 80.9%. It was believed by 61.2% that more research funding should be addressed to CAM research, 72.8% were interested in reading CAM-research results, and 27.8% would consider taking part in such research. Half of the participants (55.8%) were

  11. Knowledge about complementary, alternative and integrative medicine (CAM among registered health care providers in Swedish surgical care: a national survey among university hospitals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bjerså Kristofer

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous studies show an increased interest and usage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM in the general population and among health care workers both internationally and nationally. CAM usage is also reported to be common among surgical patients. Earlier international studies have reported that a large amount of surgical patients use it prior to and after surgery. Recent publications indicate a weak knowledge about CAM among health care workers. However the current situation in Sweden is unknown. The aim of this study was therefore to explore perceived knowledge about CAM among registered healthcare professions in surgical departments at Swedish university hospitals. Method A questionnaire was distributed to 1757 registered physicians, nurses and physiotherapists in surgical wards at the seven university hospitals in Sweden from spring 2010 to spring 2011. The questionnaire included classification of 21 therapies into conventional, complementary, alternative and integrative, and whether patients were recommended these therapies. Questions concerning knowledge, research, and patient communication about CAM were also included. Result A total of 737 (42.0% questionnaires were returned. Therapies classified as complementary; were massage, manual therapies, yoga and acupuncture. Alternative therapies; were herbal medicine, dietary supplements, homeopathy and healing. Classification to integrative therapy was low, and unfamiliar therapies were Bowen therapy, iridology and Rosen method. Therapies recommended by > 40% off the participants were massage and acupuncture. Knowledge and research about CAM was valued as minor or none at all by 95.7% respectively 99.2%. Importance of possessing knowledge about it was valued as important by 80.9%. It was believed by 61.2% that more research funding should be addressed to CAM research, 72.8% were interested in reading CAM-research results, and 27.8% would consider taking part in

  12. Surgical Site Infection Following Fixation of Acetabular Fractures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iqbal, Faizan; Younus, Sajid; Asmatullah; Zia, Osama Bin; Khan, Naveed

    2017-09-01

    Acetabular fractures are mainly caused by high energy trauma. Surgical fixation of these fractures requires extensive surgical exposure which increases the length of operation and blood loss as well. This may increase the risk of surgical site infection. Our aim is to evaluate the prevalence of surgical site infections and the risk factors associated with it so as to minimize its chances. A total of 261 patients who underwent acetabular fracture surgery were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups, with or without surgical site infection. Factors examined include patients' gender, age, body mass index (BMI), time between injury and surgery, operative time, estimated blood loss, number of packed red blood cell transfused, length of total intensive care unit (ICU) stay, fracture type, surgical approach, smoking status, patients' comorbids and associated injuries. Fourteen patients (5.4%) developed surgical site infection. Out of 14 infections, 4 were superficial and 10 were deep. The factors that were found to be associated with surgical site infection following acetabular fracture fixation were prolonged operation time, increased BMI, prolonged ICU stay, larger amount of packed red blood cell transfused and associated genitourinary and abdominal trauma. In our study, we conclude that measures should be undertaken to attenuate the chances of surgical site infection in this major surgery by considering the risk factors significantly associated with it.

  13. Radiation control in the intensive care unit for high intensity iridium-192 brain implants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sewchand, W.; Drzymala, R.E.; Amin, P.P.; Salcman, M.; Salazar, O.M.

    1987-01-01

    A bedside lead cubicle was designed to minimize the radiation exposure of intensive care unit staff during routine interstitial brain irradiation by removable, high intensity iridium-192. The cubicle shields the patient without restricting intensive care routines. The design specifications were confirmed by exposure measurements around the shield with an implanted anthropomorphic phantom simulating the patient situation. The cubicle reduces the exposure rate around an implant patient by as much as 90%, with the exposure level not exceeding 0.1 mR/hour/mg of radium-equivalent 192 Ir. Evaluation of data accumulated for the past 3 years has shown that the exposure levels of individual attending nurses are 0.12 to 0.36 mR/mg of radium-equivalent 192 Ir per 12-hour shift. The corresponding range for entire nursing teams varies between 0.18 and 0.26. A radiation control index (exposure per mg of radium-equivalent 192 Ir per nurse-hour) is thus defined for individual nurses and nursing teams; this index is a significant guide to the planning of nurse rotations for brain implant patients with various 192 Ir loads. The bedside shield reduces exposure from 192 Ir implants by a factor of about 20, as expected, and the exposure from the lower energy radioisotope iodine-125 is barely detectable

  14. Fighting antibiotic resistance in the intensive care unit using antibiotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plantinga, Nienke L; Wittekamp, Bastiaan H J; van Duijn, Pleun J; Bonten, Marc J M

    2015-01-01

    Antibiotic resistance is a global and increasing problem that is not counterbalanced by the development of new therapeutic agents. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance is especially high in intensive care units with frequently reported outbreaks of multidrug-resistant organisms. In addition to classical infection prevention protocols and surveillance programs, counterintuitive interventions, such as selective decontamination with antibiotics and antibiotic rotation have been applied and investigated to control the emergence of antibiotic resistance. This review provides an overview of selective oropharyngeal and digestive tract decontamination, decolonization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and antibiotic rotation as strategies to modulate antibiotic resistance in the intensive care unit.

  15. Nonspecialty Nurse Education: Evaluation of the Oncology Intensives Initiative, an Oncology Curriculum to Improve Patient Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagley, Kimberly A; Dunn, Sarah E; Chuang, Eliseu Y; Dorr, Victoria J; Thompson, Julie A; Smith, Sophia K

    2018-04-01

    A community hospital combined its medical and surgical patients with cancer on one unit, which resulted in nurses not trained in oncology caring for this patient population. The Oncology Intensives Initiative (ONCii) involved the (a) design and implementation of a daylong didactic boot camp class and a four-hour simulation session and (b) the examination of nurses' worries, attitudes, self-efficacy, and perception of interdisciplinary teamwork. A two-group, pre-/post-test design was implemented. Group 1 consisted of nurses who attended the didactic boot camp classes alone, whereas group 2 was comprised of nurses who attended the didactic boot camp classes and the simulation sessions. Results of data analysis showed a decrease in worries and an increase in positive attitudes toward chemotherapy administration in both groups, as well as an increase in self-efficacy among members of group 2.

  16. Data privacy considerations in Intensive Care Grids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luna, Jesus; Dikaiakos, Marios D; Kyprianou, Theodoros; Bilas, Angelos; Marazakis, Manolis

    2008-01-01

    Novel eHealth systems are being designed to provide a citizen-centered health system, however the even demanding need for computing and data resources has required the adoption of Grid technologies. In most of the cases, this novel Health Grid requires not only conveying patient's personal data through public networks, but also storing it into shared resources out of the hospital premises. These features introduce new security concerns, in particular related with privacy. In this paper we survey current legal and technological approaches that have been taken to protect a patient's personal data into eHealth systems, with a particular focus in Intensive Care Grids. However, thanks to a security analysis applied over the Intensive Care Grid system (ICGrid) we show that these security mechanisms are not enough to provide a comprehensive solution, mainly because the data-at-rest is still vulnerable to attacks coming from untrusted Storage Elements where an attacker may directly access them. To cope with these issues, we propose a new privacy-oriented protocol which uses a combination of encryption and fragmentation to improve data's assurance while keeping compatibility with current legislations and Health Grid security mechanisms.

  17. Evaluation of proposed casemix criteria as a basis for costing patients in the adult general intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, V G; Hibbert, C L; Edbrooke, D L

    1998-10-01

    This study analyses the relationship between the actual patient-related costs of care calculated for 145 patients admitted sequentially to an adult general intensive care unit and a number of factors obtained from a previously described consensus of opinion study. The factors identified in the study were suggested as potential descriptors for the casemix in an intensive care unit that could be used to predict the costs of care. Significant correlations between the costs of care and severity of illness, workload and length of stay were found but these failed to predict the costs of care with sufficient accuracy to be used in isolation to define isoresource groups in the intensive care unit. No associations between intensive care unit mortality, reason for admission and intensive and unit treatments and costs of care were found. Based on these results, it seems that casemix descriptors and isoresource groups for the intensive care unit that would allow costs to be predicted cannot be defined in terms of single factors.

  18. Design and Implementation of the Intensive Care Unit Quality Management Registry: Monitoring Quality and Cost of an Adult Intensive Care Unit in a Greek State Hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosmidis, Dimitrios; Koutsouki, Sotiria; Lampiri, Klairi; Nagy, Eva Ottilia; Papaioannou, Vasilios; Pneumatikos, Ioannis; Anastassopoulos, George

    2017-11-01

    Intensive care electronic registries have been instrumental in quality measurement, improvement, and assurance of intensive care. In this article, the development and pilot implementation of the Intensive Care Unit Quality Management Registry are described, with a particular focus on monitoring the quality and operational cost in an adult ICU at a northern Greek state hospital. A relational database was developed for a hospital ICU so that qualitative and financial data are recorded for further analysis needed for planning quality care improvement and enhanced efficiency. Key features of this database registry were low development cost, user friendliness, maximum data security, and interoperability in existing hospital information systems. The database included patient demographics, nursing and medical parameters, and quality and performance indicators as established in many national registries worldwide. Cost recording was based on a mixed approach: at patient level ("bottom-up" method) and at department level ("top-down" method). During the pilot phase of the database operation, regular monitoring of quality and cost data revealed several fields of quality excellence, while indicating room for improvement for others. Parallel recording and trending of multiple parameters showed that the database can be utilized for optimum ICU quality and cost management and also for further research purposes by nurses, physicians, and administrators.

  19. The association between spiritual well-being and burnout in intensive care unit nurses: A descriptive study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hyun Sook; Yeom, Hye-Ah

    2018-06-01

    To describe the spiritual well-being and burnout of intensive care unit nurses and examine the relationship between these factors. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The participants were 318 intensive care unit recruited from three university hospitals in South Korea. The survey questionnaire included demographic information, work-related characteristics and end-of-life care experience, along with the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and Burnout Questionnaire. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA with Scheffé test and a multiple regression analysis. The burnout level among intensive care unit nurses was 3.15 out of 5. A higher level of burnout was significantly associated with younger age, lower education level, single marital status, having no religion, less work experience and previous end-of-life care experience. Higher levels of spiritual well-being were associated with lower levels of burnout, even after controlling for the general characteristics in the regression model. Intensive care unit nurses experience a high level of burnout in general. Increased spiritual well-being might reduce burnout among intensive care unit nurses. Younger and less experienced nurses should receive more attention as a vulnerable group with lower spirituality and greater burnout in intensive care unit settings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Teamwork as a nursing competence at Intensive Care Units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Helena Henriques Camelo

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective. The aim in this study was to identify how Intensive Care Unit nurses perceive professional competences in thecare team. Methodology. Qualitative multiple case study with an exploratory focus. The sample consisted of 24 nurses from Intensive Care Units (ICU at two large hospitals. To collect the information, direct observation and - structured, non-structuredand participant - interviews were used. Results. Ninety-six percent of the participants were women, 79% were less than 40 years old, and 63% possessed less than five years of professional experience in ICU. Data analysis revealed three study categories: teamwork as a nursing management tool, improving teamwork, and interpersonal communication for teamwork. Conclusion. At the ICU where the nurses work, a teamwork strategy is observed, which demands cooperation and participation by other disciplines.

  1. Determining the quality and effectiveness of surgical spine care: patient satisfaction is not a valid proxy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godil, Saniya S; Parker, Scott L; Zuckerman, Scott L; Mendenhall, Stephen K; Devin, Clinton J; Asher, Anthony L; McGirt, Matthew J

    2013-09-01

    Given the unsustainable costs of the US health-care system, health-care purchasers, payers, and hospital systems are adopting the concept of value-based purchasing by shifting care away from low-quality providers or hospitals. Legislation now allows public reporting of these quality rankings. True measures of quality, such as surgical morbidity and validated questionnaires of effectiveness, are burdensome and costly to collect. Hence, patients' satisfaction with care has emerged as a commonly used metric as a proxy for quality because of its feasibility of collection. However, patient satisfaction metrics have yet to be validated as a measure of overall quality of surgical spine care. We set out to determine whether patient satisfaction is a valid measure of safety and effectiveness of care in a prospective longitudinal spine registry. Prospective longitudinal cohort study. All patients undergoing elective spine surgery for degenerative conditions over a 6-month period at a single medical center. Patient-reported outcome instruments (numeric rating scale [NRS], Oswestry disability index [ODI], neck disability index [NDI], short-form 12-item survey [SF-12], Euro-Qol-5D [EQ-5D], Zung depression scale, and Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire [MSPQ] anxiety scale), return to work, patient satisfaction with outcome, and patient satisfaction with provider care. All patients undergoing elective spine surgery for degenerative conditions over a 6-month period at a single medical center were enrolled into a prospective longitudinal registry. Data collected on all patients included demographics, disease characteristics, treatment variables, readmissions/reoperations, and all 90-day surgical morbidity. Patient-reported outcome instruments (NRS, ODI, NDI, SF-12, EQ-5D, Zung depression scale, and MSPQ anxiety scale), return to work, patient satisfaction with outcome, and patient satisfaction with provider care were recorded at baseline and 3 months after treatment

  2. Quality of intensive care chest imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adam, G.; Wein, B.; Keulers, P.; Stargardt, A.; Guenther, R.W.

    1989-01-01

    The authors have evaluated the image quality of a stimulable phosphorous plate system in intensive care chest radiography. Four radiologists examined 308 chest radiographs (200 conventional, 108 digital) according to the following criteria: visibility of catheters, tubes (artificial objects), bronchi, central and peripheral vessels, diaphragm, trachea, and retrocardial lung parenchyma. Detectability of these structures was classified as good, poor, or impossible to see. In addition, optical density was measured in the region of liver, heart, and lung. Results were evaluated by Student and υ test

  3. [A scale for the assessment of the risk of pressure sores in paediatric intensive care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weigel, Virginie

    2014-01-01

    Pressure sores are a frequent complication in paediatric intensive care. A multi-disciplinary nursing team has drawn up an assessment scale for the risk of pressure sores and has put in place guidelines for caring for children in intensive care. Prevention actions are thereby adapted to each young patient.

  4. Status of neonatal intensive care units in India.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernandez A

    1993-04-01

    Full Text Available Neonatal mortality in India accounts for 50% of infant mortality, which has declined to 84/1000 live births. There is no prenatal care for over 50% of pregnant women, and over 80% deliver at home in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Those women who do deliver in health facilities are unable to receive intensive neonatal care when necessary. Level I and Level II neonatal care is unavailable in most health facilities in India, and in most developing countries. There is a need in India for Level III care units also. The establishment of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs in India and developing countries would require space and location, finances, equipment, staff, protocols of care, and infection control measures. Neonatal mortality could be reduced by initially adding NICUs at a few key hospitals. The recommendation is for 30 NICU beds per million population. Each bed would require 50 square feet per cradle and proper climate control. Funds would have to be diverted from adult care. The largest expenses would be in equipment purchase, maintenance, and repair. Trained technicians would be required to operate and monitor the sophisticated ventilators and incubators. The nurse-patient ratio should be 1:1 and 1:2 for other infants. Training mothers to work in the NICUs would help ease the problems of trained nursing staff shortages. Protocols need not be highly technical; they could include the substitution of radiant warmers and room heaters for expensive incubators, the provision of breast milk, and the reduction of invasive procedures such as venipuncture and intubation. Nocosomial infections should be reduced by vacuum cleaning and wet mopping with a disinfectant twice a day, changing disinfectants periodically, maintaining mops to avoid infection, decontamination of linen, daily changing of tubing, and cleaning and sterilizing oxygen hoods and resuscitation equipment, and maintaining an iatrogenic infection record book, which could be used to

  5. A care bundle for pressure ulcer treatment in intensive care units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiao-Lin Zuo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Pressure ulcers (PUs are localized injuries of the skin or underlying tissue caused by prolonged pressure, exposure to shear forces or friction. PUs represent a major concern for hospitalized patients and the health professionals responsible for their wellbeing. intensive care init (ICU patients are at high risk of PU development, and the development of PUs can significantly extend the length of time a patient must remain in the ICU. Patients with PUs experience significantly increased morbidity, mortality and financial burden. A significant amount of evidence has accumulated indicating that PU prevention is an essential component of patient care. However, standardized guidelines and protocols for PU prevention in ICUs have not been universally implemented. This review aims to describe and analyze an optimized PU prevention care bundle based on the best available evidence and existing national guidelines. We distilled the available information into five main topics important for PU prevention: Risk Assessment, Skin Assessment, Support Surfaces, Nutrition and Repositioning. Further larger scale studies are needed to clinically verify the effectiveness of the care bundle.

  6. Primary care careers among recent graduates of research-intensive private and public medical schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Phillip A; Xu, Shuai; Ayanian, John Z

    2013-06-01

    Despite a growing need for primary care physicians in the United States, the proportion of medical school graduates pursuing primary care careers has declined over the past decade. To assess the association of medical school research funding with graduates matching in family medicine residencies and practicing primary care. Observational study of United States medical schools. One hundred twenty-one allopathic medical schools. The primary outcomes included the proportion of each school's graduates from 1999 to 2001 who were primary care physicians in 2008, and the proportion of each school's graduates who entered family medicine residencies during 2007 through 2009. The 25 medical schools with the highest levels of research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2010 were designated as "research-intensive." Among research-intensive medical schools, the 16 private medical schools produced significantly fewer practicing primary care physicians (median 24.1% vs. 33.4%, p schools. In contrast, the nine research-intensive public medical schools produced comparable proportions of graduates pursuing primary care careers (median 36.1% vs. 36.3%, p = 0.87) and matching in family medicine residencies (median 7.4% vs. 10.0%, p = 0.37) relative to the other 66 public medical schools. To meet the health care needs of the US population, research-intensive private medical schools should play a more active role in promoting primary care careers for their students and graduates.

  7. [Innovations in continuing/permanent education methods for the intensive care nurses].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vázquez Guillamet, B; Guillamet Lloveras, A; Martínez Estalella, G; Pérez Ramírez, F

    2014-01-01

    Intensive care nursing is carried out in a dynamic environment characterized by the continuous incorporation of new technologies, approaches to care and a request for safety, participation and transparency by the public. Continuing/permanent intensive care nursing training in the acquisition of new competencies is key in this setting. In order to achieve this goal, simulation and problem based learning should be incorporated as essential methodologies to teach these skills. At the same time research should be done on which attitudes, competences, and knowledge are necessary to increase their intellectual knowledge. The core characteristics of ICU and its nursing should allow a deep change in their approach to continuing/permanent nursing education. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. y SEEIUC. All rights reserved.

  8. Reflecting on healthcare and self-care in the Intensive Care Unit: our story

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allan Peterkin

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Health care professionals working in Intensive Care Units (ICUs are exposed to high levels of stress-provoking stimuli. Some may unconsciously employ negative coping skill s which may contribute to burnout and negatively affect patient care. We chose to explore ways of facilitating and encouraging self-reflective practice in an effort to increase empathic traits and enhance communication. A narrative medicine series, which included six sessions that were focused on different narrative approaches, was organized for staff of an academic teaching hospital. Totally, 132 interdisciplinary ICU staff attended the sessions. They were generally open to exploring the selected approaches and discussing their reflections within the interdisciplinary environment. The narrative medicine series provided tools for health care professionals to enhance self-reflective skills utilizing a team-based learning approach. The anticipated outcomes were improved self-care, increased empathy and communication skills, enhanced team functioning, which all contribute to better patient care at the bedside.

  9. Certainty and uncertainty about end of life care nursing practices in New Zealand Intensive Care Units: a mixed methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coombs, Maureen; Fulbrook, Paul; Donovan, Sarah; Tester, Rachel; deVries, Kay

    2015-05-01

    With end-of-life (EOL) central to the nursing role in intensive care, few studies have been undertaken to explore EOL care in the context of New Zealand (NZ) intensive care nursing. To investigate NZ intensive care nurses' experiences of, and attitudes towards EOL care. Sequential mixed methods study using cross sectional survey with follow-on focus groups. NZ intensive care nurses (N=465) across four large tertiary intensive care units (ICUs) were contacted to complete a 43-item web-based survey. A follow-on focus group was conducted in each of the sites to explore specific aspects of the survey findings. 203 fully completed surveys were returned (response rate 44%) from the four ICUs. Over half of nurses surveyed (55%, n=111) disagreed that withholding and withdrawing life support treatment were ethically the same. 78% (n=159) of nurses stated that withholding treatment was ethically more acceptable than withdrawing it. Whilst nurses generally supported reducing inspired oxygen to air for ventilated patients at EOL (71%, n=139) this was also an area that demonstrated one of the highest levels of uncertainty (21%, n=41). Just under a quarter of respondents were also uncertain about the use of continued nutritional support, continued passive limb exercises and use of deep sedation during EOL. The 18 nurses who participated in follow-on focus groups detailed the supportive, culturally sensitive, collaborative environment that EOL was conducted in. However diverse opinions and understandings were held on the use of passive limb and use of fluids at EOL. Whilst results from this NZ study broadly align with European studies, uncertainty about specific areas of EOL practices highlight that further guidance for nurses is required. Copyright © 2015 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Retained surgical sponge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koyama, Masashi; Kurono, Kenji; Iida, Akihiko; Suzuki, Hirochika; Hara, Masaki; Mizutani, Hirokazu; Ohba, Satoru; Mizutani, Masaru; Nakajima, Yoichiro.

    1993-01-01

    The CT, US, and MRI findings of confirmed retained surgical sponges were reviewed. The CT examinations in eight lesions demonstrated round or oval masses with heterogeneous internal structures. The US examinations in 5 lesions demonstrated low echogenic masses with high echogenic internal structures, which suggested retained surgical sponges. MR imagings in three lesions showed slightly high intensity comparable to that of muscles on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted images, suggesting fluid collections of high protein concentration. (author)

  11. Perceptions of parents, nurses, and physicians on neonatal intensive care practices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Latour, Jos M.; Hazelzet, Jan A.; Duivenvoorden, Hugo J.; van Goudoever, Johannes B.

    2010-01-01

    To identify satisfaction with neonatal intensive care as viewed by parents and healthcare professionals and to explore similarities and differences between parents and healthcare professionals. A 3-round Delphi method to identify neonatal care issues (round 1) and to determine the importance of

  12. Is there a role of palliative care in the neonatal intensive care unit in India?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manjiri P Dighe

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent advances in medical care have improved the survival of newborn babies born with various problems. Despite this death in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU is an inevitable reality. For babies who are not going to "get better," the health care team still has a duty to alleviate the physical suffering of the baby and to support the family. Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to relieve the physical, psycho social, and spiritual suffering of patients and their families. Palliative care provision in the Indian NICU settings is almost nonexistent at present. In this paper we attempt to "build a case" for palliative care in the Indian NICU setting.

  13. Empowerment of parents in the neonatal intensive care unit by ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Parents of infants who are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) need to be empowered to improve bonding, attachment and care-giving skills. Neonatal nurses play a critical role in the empowerment of such parents, but often find it difficult due to a lack of clarity on how it has to be done. A qualitative contextual ...

  14. Healthcare information technology and medical-surgical nurses: the emergence of a new care partnership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, An'Nita; Fisher, Kathleen

    2012-03-01

    Healthcare information technology in US hospitals and ambulatory care centers continues to expand, and nurses are expected to effectively and efficiently utilize this technology. Researchers suggest that clinical information systems have expanded the realm of nursing to integrate technology as an element as important in nursing practice as the patient or population being served. This study sought to explore how medical surgical nurses make use of healthcare information technology in their current clinical practice and to examine the influence of healthcare information technology on nurses' clinical decision making. A total of eight medical surgical nurses participated in the study, four novice and four experienced. A conventional content analysis was utilized that allowed for a thematic interpretation of participant data. Five themes emerged: (1) healthcare information technology as a care coordination partner, (2) healthcare information technology as a change agent in the care delivery environment, (3) healthcare information technology-unable to meet all the needs, of all the people, all the time, (4) curiosity about healthcare information technology-what other bells and whistles exist, and (5) Big Brother is watching. The results of this study indicate that a new care partnership has emerged as the provision of nursing care is no longer supplied by a single practitioner but rather by a paired team, consisting of nurses and technology, working collaboratively in an interdependent relationship to achieve established goals.

  15. Environmental Design for Patient Families in Intensive Care Units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahbub Rashid

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to define the role of environmental design in improving family integration with patient care in Intensive Care Units (ICUs. It argues that it is necessary to understand family needs, experience and behavioral responses in ICUs to develop effective models for family integration. With its two components—the “healing culture” promoting effective relationships between caregivers and care seekers, and the “environmental design” supporting the healing culture—a “healing environment of care” can be an effective family integration model. This paper presents evidence showing how environmental design may affect families in ICUs, and proposes design recommendations for creating a healing environment of care promoting family integration in ICUs.

  16. Secular trends in mortality associated with new therapeutic strategies in surgical critical illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartl, Wolfgang H; Wolf, Hilde; Schneider, Christian P; Küchenhoff, Helmut; Jauch, Karl-Walter

    2007-10-01

    Since 1999 randomized controlled trials have shown that new therapeutic strategies, such as strict glycemic control, increased use of noninvasive ventilation and of lung-protective ventilation, and early goal-oriented shock therapy, may reduce mortality in selected groups of critically ill patients. Whether these benefits can be translated to a surgical clinical setting is unclear. We wanted to evaluate longitudinally the successive routine implementation of new therapeutic measures and its effect on postsurgical patients admitted to the intensive care unit. We performed a retrospective analysis on data collected prospectively from March 1, 1993 through February 28, 2005. A cohort of 1,802 consecutive cases requiring intensive care therapy for more than 4 days was analyzed. A significant decrease in mortality was observed in the last years of the study. With adjustment for relevant covariates, treatment after the implementation of new therapeutic strategies was identified as an independent factor linked with a reduced risk of death (odds ratio [OR] .518; 95% confidence interval [CI] .337-.796), whereas older age (OR 1.030; 95% CI 1.015-1.045), a high severity score on admission (OR 1.155; 95% CI 1.113-1.198) or during intensive care unit stay (OR 1.187; 95% CI 1.145-1.231), a high number of failing organs (OR 1.918; 95% CI 1.635-2.250), and peritonitis (OR 3.277; 95% CI 2.046-5.246) were independently associated with death. Implementing of a variety of new therapeutic measures into routine care of critically ill surgical patients was associated with improved survival after 2001.

  17. Investigation of nasal colonization of health care workers by ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    STORAGESEVER

    2009-10-19

    Oct 19, 2009 ... 2Department of Infection Diseases, Medicine Hospital, University of Gaziantep, Turkey. ... surgical intensive care units) (ICUs) and how certain risk factors .... cesses such as decontamination or extraction were not performed.

  18. Transfers from intensive care unit to hospital ward: a multicentre textual analysis of physician progress notes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Kyla N; Leigh, Jeanna Parsons; Kamran, Hasham; Bagshaw, Sean M; Fowler, Rob A; Dodek, Peter M; Turgeon, Alexis F; Forster, Alan J; Lamontagne, Francois; Soo, Andrea; Stelfox, Henry T

    2018-01-28

    Little is known about documentation during transitions of patient care between clinical specialties. Therefore, we examined the focus, structure and purpose of physician progress notes for patients transferred from the intensive care unit (ICU) to hospital ward to identify opportunities to improve communication breaks. This was a prospective cohort study in ten Canadian hospitals. We analyzed physician progress notes for consenting adult patients transferred from a medical-surgical ICU to hospital ward. The number, length, legibility and content of notes was counted and compared across care settings using mixed-effects linear regression models accounting for clustering within hospitals. Qualitative content analyses were conducted on a stratified random sample of 32 patients. A total of 447 patient medical records that included 7052 progress notes (mean 2.1 notes/patient/day 95% CI 1.9-2.3) were analyzed. Notes written by the ICU team were significantly longer than notes written by the ward team (mean lines of text 21 vs. 15, p notes; mean agreement of patient issues was 42% [95% CI 31-53%]. Qualitative analyses identified eight themes related to focus (central point - e.g., problem list), structure (organization, - e.g., note-taking style), and purpose (intention - e.g., documentation of patient course) of the notes that varied across clinical specialties and physician seniority. Important gaps and variations in written documentation during transitions of patient care between ICU and hospital ward physicians are common, and include discrepancies in documentation of patient information.

  19. Voluntary peer review as innovative tool for quality improvement in the intensive care unit – a retrospective descriptive cohort study in German intensive care units

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumpf, Oliver; Bloos, Frank; Bause, Hanswerner; Brinkmann, Alexander; Deja, Maria; Marx, Gernot; Kaltwasser, Arnold; Dubb, Rolf; Muhl, Elke; Greim, Clemens-A.; Weiler, Norbert; Chop, Ines; Jonitz, Günther; Schaefer, Henning; Felsenstein, Matthias; Liebeskind, Ursula; Leffmann, Carsten; Jungbluth, Annemarie; Waydhas, Christian; Pronovost, Peter; Spies, Claudia; Braun, Jan-Peter

    2014-01-01

    Introduction: Quality improvement and safety in intensive care are rapidly evolving topics. However, there is no gold standard for assessing quality improvement in intensive care medicine yet. In 2007 a pilot project in German intensive care units (ICUs) started using voluntary peer reviews as an innovative tool for quality assessment and improvement. We describe the method of voluntary peer review and assessed its feasibility by evaluating anonymized peer review reports and analysed the thematic clusters highlighted in these reports. Methods: Retrospective data analysis from 22 anonymous reports of peer reviews. All ICUs – representing over 300 patient beds – had undergone voluntary peer review. Data were retrieved from reports of peers of the review teams and representatives of visited ICUs. Data were analysed with regard to number of topics addressed and results of assessment questionnaires. Reports of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT reports) of these ICUs are presented. Results: External assessment of structure, process and outcome indicators revealed high percentages of adherence to predefined quality goals. In the SWOT reports 11 main thematic clusters were identified representative for common ICUs. 58.1% of mentioned topics covered personnel issues, team and communication issues as well as organisation and treatment standards. The most mentioned weaknesses were observed in the issues documentation/reporting, hygiene and ethics. We identified several unique patterns regarding quality in the ICU of which long-term personnel problems und lack of good reporting methods were most interesting Conclusion: Voluntary peer review could be established as a feasible and valuable tool for quality improvement. Peer reports addressed common areas of interest in intensive care medicine in more detail compared to other methods like measurement of quality indicators. PMID:25587245

  20. Determinants of stress for staff in a neonatal intensive care unit.

    OpenAIRE

    Astbury, J; Yu, V Y

    1982-01-01

    Components of stress for 22 paediatric consultants and 29 nursing sisters working in neonatal intensive care units were studied. Ten situations were rated for their intensity of stress and their frequency of occurrence. For intensity of stress, significantly more paediatric consultants rated the competing demands of personal life versus work as highly stressful, than did nursing sisters. For frequency of stress, significantly more paediatric consultants rated 4 situations as frequently occurr...