Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2005
Multicenter StudyDaily cost of an intensive care unit day: the contribution of mechanical ventilation.
To quantify the mean daily cost of intensive care, identify key factors associated with increased cost, and determine the incremental cost of mechanical ventilation during a day in the intensive care unit. ⋯ Intensive care unit costs are highest during the first 2 days of admission, stabilizing at a lower level thereafter. Mechanical ventilation is associated with significantly higher daily costs for patients receiving treatment in the intensive care unit throughout their entire intensive care unit stay. Interventions that result in reduced intensive care unit length of stay and/or duration of mechanical ventilation could lead to substantial reductions in total inpatient cost.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2005
Multicenter StudyLarge-scale implementation of sedation and delirium monitoring in the intensive care unit: a report from two medical centers.
To implement sedation and delirium monitoring via a process-improvement project in accordance with Society of Critical Care Medicine guidelines and to evaluate the challenges of modifying intensive care unit (ICU) organizational practice styles. ⋯ With minimal training, the compliance of bedside nurses using sedation and delirium instruments was excellent. Agreement of data from bedside nurses and a reference-standard rater was very high for both the sedation scale and the delirium assessment over the duration of this process-improvement project.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2005
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyLimitation and withdrawal of intensive therapy at the end of life: practices in intensive care units in Mumbai, India.
To describe the practices in intensive care units in Mumbai hospitals regarding limitation and withdrawal of care at the end of life. ⋯ Therapy is limited in a significant proportion of intensive care unit patients. Significant differences in the practice of limitation of therapy exist between public and private hospitals. Lack of access to a limited number of intensive care unit beds, especially in the public hospital, may constitute implicit limitation of care.