American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
-
Sepsis alerts commonly used for intensive care unit (ICU) patients can lead to alert fatigue because these patients generally meet 1 or more of the criteria for systemic inflammatory response syndrome. To identify ICU patients at greatest risk for sepsis-related consequences, an ICU-specific sepsis alert was implemented. ⋯ An ICU sepsis alert using modified systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria was effective for identifying sepsis in critically ill medical patients.
-
It remains poorly understood why only some hemodynamically unstable patients who receive aggressive treatment with vasopressor medications develop limb necrosis. ⋯ The findings of this study suggest that medication-specific factors, rather than patient and disease characteristics, should guide clinical management of necrosis in the setting of vasopressor administration.
-
Hyperoxemia, often overlooked in critically ill patients, is common and may have adverse consequences. ⋯ Hyperoxemia induced by oxygen therapy was common in critically ill patients and was linked to increased risk of hospital mortality. Health care professionals should be aware of this condition because of its potential risks and unnecessary costs.