American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of Delirium on Physical Function in Noncardiac Thoracic Surgery Patients.
The effect of delirium on physical function in patients undergoing noncardiac thoracic surgery has not been well described and may differ from that in other surgical populations. ⋯ Postoperative delirium was not associated with change in muscle strength. Follow-up studies using other muscle measures may be needed.
-
Dyspnea (breathing discomfort) is commonly experienced by critically ill patients and at this time is not routinely assessed and documented. Intensive care unit nurses at the study institution recently instituted routine assessment and documentation of dyspnea in all patients able to report using a numeric scale ranging from 0 to 10. ⋯ Our study shows that nurses understand the importance of routine dyspnea assessment and that the addition of a simple patient report scale can improve care delivery and does not add to the burden of work-flow.
-
Societal attitudes about end-of-life events are at odds with how, where, and when children die. In addition, parents' ideas about what constitutes a "good death" in a pediatric intensive care unit vary widely. ⋯ Conceptual knowledge of what constitutes a good death from a parent's perspective may allow pediatric nurses to care for dying children in a way that promotes parents' coping with bereavement and continued bonds and memories of the deceased child. The proposed conceptual model synthesizes characteristics of a good death into actionable attributes to guide bedside nursing care of the dying child.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Decreasing Delirium Through Music: A Randomized Pilot Trial.
Management of delirium in intensive care units is challenging because effective therapies are lacking. Music is a promising nonpharmacological intervention. ⋯ Music delivery is acceptable to patients and is feasible in intensive care units. Further research testing use of this promising intervention to reduce delirium is warranted.