Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 2014
ReviewEnhancing critical thinking in clinical practice: implications for critical and acute care nurses.
The complexity of patients in the critical and acute care settings requires that nurses be skilled in early recognition and management of rapid changes in patient condition. The interpretation and response to these events can greatly impact patient outcomes. Nurses caring for these complex patients are expected to use astute critical thinking in their decision making. The purposes of this article were to explore the concept of critical thinking and provide practical strategies to enhance critical thinking in the critical and acute care environment.
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 2014
ReviewMechanical ventilation and the role of saline instillation in suctioning adult intensive care unit patients: an evidence-based practice review.
Saline instillation in suctioning mechanically ventilated patients remains a common practice in the intensive care unit (ICU). Many respiratory therapists and nurses are using saline with suctioning without an adequate knowledge of the current evidence-based research to guide this practice. ⋯ This study does not support the use of saline instillation when suctioning an artificial airway. Further clinical trials are crucial to effectively determine if saline instillation use with suctioning an artificial airway is deemed harmful, which can be strictly enforced as a mandatory clinical guideline for all hospitals to include in their standardized protocol to not use saline instillation with suctioning.
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 2014
ReviewOpen intensive care units: a global challenge for patients, relatives, and critical care teams.
The aims of this study were to describe the current status of intensive care unit (ICU) visiting hours policies internationally and to explore the influence of ICUs' open visiting policies on patients', visitors', and staff perceptions, as well as on patients' outcomes. ⋯ The percentages of open ICUs are very different among countries. It can be due to local factors, cultural differences, and lack of legislation or hospital policy. There is a need for more studies about the impact of open ICUs programs on patients' mortality, length of stay, infections' risk, and the mental health of patients and their relatives.