Search Tag: ICUs

ICU Management

Volume-16-issue-4-2016-1

2016 30 Nov

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ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

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

ICU Management

Acute-kidney-injury-recommendations-published

2016 20 Jun

French intensive care and nephrology societies have published recommendations for AKI in the perioperative period and in intensive care units (ICUs). The document is published open access concurrently in Anaesthesia Critical Care & Pain Medicine and Annals of Intensive Care . The recommendations were developed by experts from the Société française...Read more

ICU Management

Thoracic-ultrasound-vital-in-the-icu

2016 20 Jun

Thoracic ultrasound (TUS) is vital for differential diagnosis in the ICU, and has many advantages, say the authors of a recently published review of the technique. The potential clinical applications of bedside thoracic ultrasound are explored in an article published in the World Journal of Radiology . The artifacts shown on ultrasound assist in...Read more

ICU Management

Esa2016-medication-errors-care-with-computerised-order-entry-systems-needed

2016 14 Jun

Computerised Order Entry (CPOE) Systems can improve the quality and safety of medication prescribing and reduce costs, according to Jozef Kesecioglu , Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at the Department of Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center, Utrecht, the Netherlands, speaking at Euroanaesthesia 2016 in London in May. Slow Adoption...Read more

ICU Management

Evidence-based-design-drives-new-finnish-icu

2016 11 Jun

An intensive and intermediate care unit due to open in 2018 at Seinäjoki Central Hospital in Finland is the result of extensive evidence-based design research and virtual modelling. The facility with 24 single patient rooms will be the first ICU with single patient rooms in Finland. Design The EVICURES project included research carried out by...Read more

ICU Management

Esa2016-safety-in-anaesthesiology-and-intensive-care-a-key-theme

2016 02 Jun

Safety of both patients and doctors was a key theme of Euroanaesthesia 2016, meeting in London. The Sir Robert Macintosh lecture, named after the first professor of anaesthetics outside the United States, was delivered by Sven Erik Gisvold (pictured), Professor of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, from St Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. Departments...Read more

ICU Management

Study-higher-prevalence-of-obesity-in-icu

2016 27 May

An audit from an Australian ICU found that around three-quarters of patients were overweight or obese, around 12 percent higher than the percentage in the general population. The findings have implications for training and healthcare costs, say the authors. The article is in press in Intensive and Critical Care Nursing . Diane M. Dennis from the...Read more

ICU Management

Closer-collaboration-between-nurses-and-physicians-may-minimise-vap-risk

2016 17 May

Greater collaboration between ICU nursing and medicine could help to minimise ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), according to a study that will be presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 International Conference in San Francisco on 17 May. Previous research has shown that a better nurse work environment and a closed ICU doctor staffing...Read more

ICU Management

Study-alarm-fatigue-in-an-icu

2016 14 Apr

Alarm fatigue in ICUs is a well-known issue; the U.S. Joint Commission’s national patient safety goals include reducing harm associated with clinical alarm systems (Goal 6 ). Cardiac monitors in particular trigger a high number of alarms compared to other ICU devices with alarms, such as infusion pumps and ventilators. A project in Texas by Azizeh...Read more

ICU Management

Pennsylvania-icu-awarded-design-citation

2016 28 Mar

The Trauma Surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center has been awarded the ICU Design Citation. The prestigious award — co-sponsored by the American Assocation of Critical-Care Nurses  with the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Committee on Architecture for Health of the American Institute of Architects recognises...Read more

ICU Management

Dedicated-resuscitation-unit-improves-transfer-times-for-critically-ill-patients

2016 01 Mar

A critical care resuscitation unit (CCRU) at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) has significantly improved transfer times for non-trauma critically ill patients, according to a study in press in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons . Speaking to ICU Management & Practice , co-author Lewis Rubinson, MD, PhD, Associate...Read more

ICU Management

5-steps-towards-icu-care-for-the-21st-century

2016 23 Feb

The intensive care unit (ICU) is an organisational intervention in itself , gathering the sickest patients in a single space, with care from a multidisciplinary team. Debate continues on the optimal organisation  and staffing of the ICU. However, the changing healthcare landscape means that it is unlikely there will be enough healthcare staff to meet...Read more

ICU Management

Social-media-enabling-tele-icu-services-in-syria

2016 15 Feb

Free social media apps, such as WhatsApp and Viber, have enabled U.S. clinicians to provide tele-ICU services to critical care nurses in Syria. “Social media applications that many people in the West regard as something frivolous that teenagers use can be easily adapted for creating a life-saving international network that can deliver care where it...Read more

ICU Management

Esicm-2015-ready-for-your-close-up-public-data-disclosure

2015 13 Oct

Intensivists need to prepare for compulsory reporting of public data, says Andrew Rhodes, London. It’s happened in surgery ( see UK example ), and it’s coming to intensive care, in the UK and the Netherlands. Rhodes was speaking at the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine annual congress in Berlin, 3-7 October.   Florence Nightingale had it...Read more

ICU Management

Esicm-2014-learning-happens-even-during-crises

2014 15 Oct

The image of residents taking part in rounds to hone their clinical skills is a familiar one. In the context of intensive care, and frequent medical crises, how can this learning take place? The tension between the dual responsibility of patient care and optimal learning is felt in many medical disciplines, but learning interactions have rarely been...Read more

ICU Management

Esicm-2014-can-protocols-for-antibiotic-use-save-money

2014 15 Oct

A study presented by Dr. Hugo Calderón at the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) congress in Barcelona this month looked at whether implementing a protocol for antibiotic use affected patient mortality and admission costs. This followed reorganisation of the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Hospital de Faro in Portugal, when the number...Read more

ICU Management

Esicm-2014-what-do-icus-in-research-networks-have-in-common

2014 15 Oct

Most published large critical care studies are conducted through national or international critical care research networks. But what are the characteristics of ICUs belonging to these networks? The Health Services Research and Outcomes (HSRO) section of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) set out to answer this question. Typically...Read more

ICU Management

Assessing-and-improving-communication-and-patient-handovers-in-the-icu

2014 24 Sep

Authors Paul Barach , MD, MPH Guest Professor University of Oslo, Norway Gautham K. Suresh , MD, MS Associate Professor of Pediatrics a nd Community & Family Medicine Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, New Hampshire...Read more