Journal of critical care
-
Journal of critical care · Jun 2021
Critical care capacity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A citywide survey of public hospitals.
We evaluated critical care capacity in the 15 intensive care units (ICUs) in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to determine the current state of critical care in the city and inform capacity-building efforts. ⋯ There is burgeoning critical care capacity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with 103 ICU beds in public hospitals, and the WFSICCM criteria provide a useful framework for evaluating critical care capacity and identifying priorities for capacity building. All ICUs in public hospitals in Addis Ababa were able to provide basic support for patients with life-threatening organ failure but demonstrated marked heterogeneity in critical care capacity.
-
Journal of critical care · Jun 2021
ReviewDoes stress influence the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation? A narrative review of the literature.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation represents a major physical and psychological challenge for all involved health care workers because survival of the patients is closely related to the timely and accurate actions of rescuers. Consequently, rescuers may experience high levels of acute mental stress. Stress, in turn, may influence attentional resources and distractibility, which may affect the quality of resuscitation. ⋯ Finally, few interventional studies assessed whether interventions aiming at reducing levels of stress may have a beneficial effect on resuscitation performance, but results are variable. Although the mechanisms linking stress to performance of emergency teams are still not fully understood, factors such as individual experience and self-confidence of rescuers, gender composition and hierarchy within resuscitation teams may play an important role. This review provides a targeted overview of how stress can be defined and measured, how it may influence emergency situations such as a cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and which interventions have the potential to reduce overwhelming stress.
-
Journal of critical care · Jun 2021
ReviewEthical, legal, and communication challenges in managing goals-of-care discussions in chronically critically ill patients.
Clinicians should expect controversial goals of care discussions in the surgical intensive care from time to time. Differing opinions about the likelihood of meaningful recovery in patients with chronic critical illness often exist between intensive care unit providers of different disciplines. ⋯ Providers in the surgical intensive care unit should approach goals-of-care discussions in a structured and interprofessional manner. This best practice paper highlights medical, legal and ethical implications of changing goals of care from prioritizing cure to prioritizing comfort and provides tools that help physicians become effective leaders in the multi-disciplinary management of patients with challenging prognostication.
-
Journal of critical care · Jun 2021
Observational StudyIntestinal fatty acid binding protein as a predictor for intra-abdominal pressure-related complications in patients admitted to the intensive care unit; a prospective cohort study (I-Fabulous study).
Critically ill patients are at risk for intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and related complications such as organ failure, abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS), and death. This study aimed to determine the value of urinary and serum intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) levels as early marker for IAH-associated complications. ⋯ A relevant diagnostic value of I-FABP levels for identifying individual patients at risk for intra-abdominal pressure related complications could not be demonstrated.
-
Journal of critical care · Jun 2021
Lessons learned: Contribution to healthcare by medical students during COVID-19.
An overview of the experiences with deployment of undergraduate medical students in a Dutch university center during the COVID-19 pandemic is provided from organisational and educational perspectives. Medical students' and specialists' experiences during the first peak of COVID-19 underscore the preliminary suggestion that students can be given more enhanced (yet supervised) responsibility for patient care early in their practicums.