Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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An exploration of the ethics, challenges and practical reality of treating family members. Hutchison & McConnell deploy models of virtue, utilitarianism, deontology and principlism in an accessible and applied way.
- Virtue ethics – behaving in the way we think is right; embodying courage.
- Utilitarianism – behaving so as to maximise the best outcomes for the greater number of people.
- Deontology – obeying the rules; following a duty to moral law.
- Principlism – balances beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy and justice.
They cautiously challenge the blanket prohibitions of many professional bodies against treating family members.
Well worth reading.
summary“Only by constantly questioning whether they are the correct person to deliver care can they hope to do right by both their relative and themselves.”
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Apr 2019
ReviewTime-efficient, goal-directed, and evidence-based teaching in the ICU.
Teaching in the stressful, high-acuity environment of the ICU is challenging. The intensivist-educator must use teaching strategies that are both effective and time-efficient, as well as evidence-based approaches to the ICU curriculum. This review provides an overview of pertinent educational theories and their implications on educational practices, a selection of effective teaching techniques, and a review on feedback. ⋯ Direct teaching should be goal-oriented, sequential, and adjusted to the level of the learner. The ICU curriculum should optimize cognitive load, reduce stress that is unrelated to the activity, include resilience training, and help trainees deal with stressful clinical situations better. Simulation is a powerful tool to promote technical and nontechnical skills. Providing feedback is essential and a skill that can be taught and enhanced with structure, prompts, and tools.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Apr 2019
ReviewIntensivist staffing and outcome in the ICU: daytime, nighttime, 24/7?
Many hospitals, particularly large academic centers, have begun to provide 24-h in-house intensive care attending coverage. Proposed advantages for this model include improved patient care, greater provider, nursing and patient satisfaction, better communication, and greater cost-effectiveness. This review will evaluate current evidence with respect to 24/7 coverage, including patient outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and impact on training/education. ⋯ Although some studies cite increased caregiver and patient satisfaction, outcome studies find no consistent effect on patient-centered outcomes such as mortality or length of stay. Downsides to in-house nighttime attending staffing include physician burnout, adverse effects on physician health, decreased trainee autonomy, and effects on trainee specialty choices because of undesirable lifestyle considerations. Tele-ICU and other novel approaches may allow for attending supervision without physical presence.
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Helicopter air ambulances are an integral component of modern trauma care, and are able to transport patients to facilities with greater capabilities, extract injured patients from hostile terrain, and speed transport to a trauma center. ⋯ HAA operations are safe and can improve patient care, but additional research is needed to improve our understanding of HAA operations and their effect on outcomes.
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Excessive noise has direct adverse physiological and psychological effects, and may also have indirect negative health consequences by reducing sleep quality and quantity. This review presents a synthesis of the epidemiology of noise in the ICU, and the potential interventions designed to attenuate noise and protect patients. ⋯ Noise levels in the ICU are consistently reported to reach levels likely to have both direct and indirect adverse health consequences for both patients and staff. Noise reduction, abating the transmission of noise and pharmacological modulation of the adverse neural effects of noise are all potentially beneficial strategies, although definitive evidence of improved patient-centered outcomes is lacking.