Critical care nurse
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Critical care nurse · Apr 2024
Integrating Palliative Care Screening in the Intensive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement Project.
Patients admitted to the intensive care unit have complex medical problems and increased rates of mortality and recurrent hospitalization for the following 10 years compared with patients without a history of critical illness. Delayed access to palliative care can result in untreated symptoms, lack of understanding of care preferences, and preventable admissions. Despite studies supporting palliative care screening, there is no standardized method to assess palliative care needs of patients admitted to critical care units. ⋯ The screening process can maximize the benefit of palliative care services with early patient identification, improved consultation efficiency, decreased critical care resource use, and reduced readmission rates.
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Critical care nurse · Apr 2024
Critical Care Alarm Fatigue and Monitor Customization: Alarm Frequencies and Context Factors.
Alarm fatigue among nurses working in the intensive care unit has garnered considerable attention as a national patient safety priority. A viable solution for reducing the frequency of alarms and unnecessary noise is intensive care unit alarm monitor customization. ⋯ Alarm frequencies proved an unreliable measure of nurse skills and practices in alarm customization. Documented changes in context factors provided strong anecdotal evidence of changed circumstances that clarified project results and underscored the critical importance of contemporaneous collection of context data. Designs and methods used in quality improvement projects must include reliable outcome measures to achieve meaningful results.
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Critical care nurse · Dec 2023
Using a Fluid Resuscitation Algorithm to Reduce the Incidence of Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in the Burn Intensive Care Unit.
Patients with large burns must be carefully resuscitated to balance adequate tissue perfusion with the risk of end-organ damage. One devastating complication of overresuscitation is abdominal compartment syndrome. Reducing the volume of fluids given during resuscitation may reduce the incidence of abdominal compartment syndrome and improve outcomes. ⋯ Despite a significant decrease in the amount of fluid administered, no significant difference was found in incidence of abdominal compartment syndrome or urine output. Matched prospective studies are needed to improve resuscitation care for patients with large burns.