Search Tag: ICU
2017 22 Nov
A viable approach to meet pressing challenges As the demands of critical care medicine increase one viable option to meet needs is the addition of a nurse practitioner to the traditional structure of the critical care team. The purpose of this article is to convey our positive experience of physician and nurse practitioner integration...Read more
2017 22 Nov
The importance of multidisciplinary team working and communication Early mobility has been shown to be both safe and feasible within critical care populations. When introduced, early mobilisation programmes are associated with an improvement in short-term outcomes and long-term recovery in critical care patients. Despite this, point prevalence...Read more
2017 27 Sep
Among critically ill elderly patients in France, a programme to promote systematic intensive care unit (ICU) admission increased ICU use but did not reduce six-month mortality, according to results of the Intensive Care for Elderly-CUB-Réa 2 (ICE-CUB 2) trial published in JAMA to coincide with presentation at the 30th European Society of Intensive...Read more
2017 15 Sep
Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is an evidence-based, multimodal approach to optimising patient outcomes following surgery. The role of physiotherapy within ERAS and intensive care units (ICU) is important. Patients admitted to an ICU following elective major surgery may suffer from physical, psychological and cognitive problems, which can...Read more
2017 15 Sep
Reviews the latest evidence evaluating physical rehabilitation in the intensive care unit setting and future directions for the field. Survivors of critical illness frequently experience poor physical outcomes, including persistent impairments in muscle strength, exercise capacity and physical function (Pfoh et al. 2016; Herridge et al. 2011;...Read more
2017 15 Sep
Outlines some basic considerations for ICU providers interested in incorporating animals into care programmes. Animals are being introduced into hospital settings in ever-increasing numbers. Emerging literature suggests that incorporating trained animals to assist with medical care and rehabilitation therapies can promote patient engagement,...Read more
2017 07 Jun
When using the technical definition of burnout: "The reduction of a fuel to nothing", it clearly describes the state of being of the few people that I have met who are having a burnout. The problem is huge and almost every leader in healthcare agrees that this is a major problem (Swenson et al. 2016). Although many problems arise from using surveys...Read more
2017 28 May
Rounds in the intensive care unit (ICU) allow for scheduled discussions in which healthcare providers review clinical information and develop care plans for critically ill patients. Despite this straightforward concept, there is widespread variability in numerous components of rounds. While some of these differences are culturally rooted and, as such,...Read more
2017 22 May
Analysis of data from the large French CUB-REA database indicates that mortality from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was lower in high-volume ICUs than low and moderate volume ICUs. Notably, between 2000 and 2014, among 35 ICUs in the CUB-REA registry, ICU mortality decreased despite an increase in ARDS severity. The findings were presented...Read more
2017 15 May
Over time, I think we are going to recognise that we can’t continue to develop or introduce new technology. Because of cost we are going have to be satisfied with the technologies that we have. I think the future of intensive care will be smaller as people get healthier. They are going to be less likely to come into intensive care units and more likely...Read more
2017 09 May
Researchers in the U.S. have developed a multidisciplinary Neuro Early Mobilisation Protocol for complex patients in the neuroscience intensive care unit (NSICU). They said developing an evidence-based protocol with interprofessional stakeholders was essential for its successful implementation. Their work is published in the journal Intensive and Critical Care...Read more
2017 15 Apr
With rapid advancement in technology, it is expected that hospital structure and function are likely to change as well. Here are 10 possible changes that are envisioned for hospitals in developed countries as they continue to evolve: 1. Smaller and More Specialised Hospitals - Hospitals are expected to become smaller with fewer hospital beds....Read more
2017 16 Mar
The progress towards, and potential of, personalised/ precision medicine in intensive care is the theme for our cover story. We are making progress in moving away from therapies based on poorly characterised patient populations to more personalised treatment of critically ill patients, although true precision medicine, based on individual genes, environment...Read more
2017 16 Feb
Editor-in-Chief, ICU Management & Practice Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University of Brussels Our health is our most precious good and helping people whose health is damaged or at stake is the highest privilege on earth Management Tip: Make everybody happy… and make sure they...Read more
2017 14 Feb
A new methodology using administrative codes coupled to a SIRS screening protocol can help identify patients whose sepsis initially appears during their ICU stay, with up to 94 percent accuracy, according to a new study published in Journal of Critical Care. See Also : Surviving Sepsis Guidelines 2016 Update "We found that we could reliably...Read more
2017 24 Jan
A retrospective cohort study of 49,686 adults admitted to 94 ICUs in the UK between 2010 and 2013 found that a patient-intensivist ratio less than or greater than 7.5 was associated with higher hospital and ICU mortality. The study, by Hayley Gershengorn, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and colleagues was the first multicentre study to assess...Read more
2017 24 Jan
Physicians and the general public have significantly different views when it comes to deciding whether to withhold or withdraw treatment of terminally ill patients. However, a new study at Umeå University in Sweden suggests that the two groups tended to agree with regard to cancelling treatment or offering relief at the final stages of life. See Also:...Read more
2016 20 Dec
In the CICU setting, the presence of a dedicated cardiac intensivist has been shown to reduce mortality rates in patients with cardiovascular disease who require critical care. The findings are from a study by South Korean researchers and published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology. See Also : Challenges of Critical Care Cardiology...Read more
2016 30 Nov
To initiate, maintain and advance a quality improvement programme in your intensive care unit consumes large amounts of time and energy. There are many advantages for quality management in joining an intensive care registry; the most important is access to precisely defined data for comparative audit. Intensive Care Registries Joint...Read more
2016 30 Nov
Severe hypoxaemia and cardiovascular collapse, leading to cardiac arrest, cerebral anoxia and death, are the most frequent complications related to intubation in intensive care units (ICU), associated with difficulty of intubation. To prevent and limit the incidence of difficult intubation, specific risk factors for difficult intubation in the ICU...Read more
2016 30 Nov
This review article focuses on research-based advances in pain assessment practices in intensive care units (ICUs), and stresses clinician consideration of multimodal analgesic techniques for pain management in ICUs. Over the past 30 years, attention devoted to pain experienced by intensive care unit (ICU) patients has evolved from recognising...Read more
2016 30 Nov
As awareness has grown of the great distress intensive care patients may suffer, units have begun recruiting psychologists to their teams. Intensive care unit psychologists aim to assess and reduce distress for patients, families and staff, to improve outcomes. This paper summarises research on the psychological impact of critical illness, highlights...Read more
2016 30 Nov
We provide an overview of the various facets of pharmacist practice in the intensive care unit (ICU), the current extent to which pharmacists are present in the ICU, along with a discussion on barriers and lessons learned in garnering support for such a role. Caring for critically ill patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) is considered...Read more
2016 30 Nov
A course for aspiring and practising intensive care unit (ICU) leaders will take place in Brussels in January 2017. ICU Management & Practice spoke to some of the faculty, which includes Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Jean-Louis Vincent, to find out more. Who is the course for? This course will attract participants...Read more
2016 30 Nov
For years, 28-day survival was the holy grail of ICU physicians. As ICU survival continues to improve, a high proportion of these ICU survivors experience significant cognitive, psychological, and physically disabling side effects of their ICU stay. These consequences of critical illness, regardless of their admitting diagnosis, have a dramatic impact...Read more