Search Tag: ICUs
New Resource for Children
2016 30 Nov
An activity book for children visiting intensive care units (ICUs) has been published by ICUsteps, the UK intensive care patient and relative support charity. The resource comes with an information sheet for parents and carers to help them support the children, and can be downloaded from the ICUsteps website . Catherine White, Information Manager,... Read more
Prognostic Scores and Risk-Adjusted Mortality: What You Should Know
2016 25 Oct
Mark T. Keegan and Marcio Soares outline “What every intensivist should know about prognostic scoring systems and risk-adjusted mortality” in a recent article in Revista Brasileira de Terapia Intensiva . Scoring systems used in the ICU can be generic or disease-specific, with many uses. The two categories are organ failure scores and the severity-of-illness... Read more
Study: Measuring Respect for ICU Patients and Families
2016 04 Aug
A team from Johns Hopkins University has developed the “ICU-RESPECT” index to evaluate patient and family experiences of respect in the intensive care unit (ICU). The questionnaire was administered to patients and families in 5 ICUs, and showed high reliability and concurrent validity in ICU patients and families. The researchers describe it as a ... Read more
Intensive Care Infection Score Fast and Cost-Effective
2016 03 Aug
The intensive care infection score (ICIS) has potential as a biomarker for infection, according to a study published in critical care. is derived from 5 blood-cell derived parameters that characterise the innate immune response in routine blood samples. Patrick J van der Geest, Erasmus Medical Center, the Netherlands, and colleagues report on the... Read more
Implementing Early Mobilisation: Practical Tips
2016 04 Jul
While the evidence for the benefits of early mobilisation in the intensive care unit (ICU) is clear, practical guidance on tools and methods to translate evidence into practice is lacking. A recently published paper sets out a strategy for safe mobilisation by a multidisciplinary team that includes doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and support staff.... Read more
How to Implement Patient Blood Management Bundles
2016 28 Jun
Guidance on how to implement patient blood management (PBM) in a hospital is provided in an article just published in Transfusion Medicine Reviews . Corresponding author Prof. Dr. Patrick Meybohm (pictured), from the Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany... Read more
Study: Change Management in the ICU
2016 27 Jun
Relocating an ICU can involve not only a physical move but changes to work practices. Relocation should be planned with a systematic change management strategy, dedicated leadership, and a communication strategy, according to a study published in Australian Critical Care. Frances Fenghzhi Lin, RN, PhD, from the Centre for Health Practice Innovation,... Read more
New ICU Mortality Prediction Model for Low-Income Countries
2016 22 Jun
A model to predict ICU mortality has been designed for use in low-income countries. The development team say that its use of a few easily collected variables make it suitable for use in sites that care for critically ill patients in low-income countries. This is the first time since 1989 that a model has been developed or validated in a low-income... Read more
End-of-Life Care in the ICU: WFSICCM Task Force Report
2016 21 Jun
As the demographics of ICU admission change, intensive care unit (ICU) staff are increasingly faced with ethical, legal and cultural considerations relating to end-of-life (EOL) care, including withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. The World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine (WFSICCM) Task Force, chaired... Read more