American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Confusion about how to assess for intolerance to feedings often results in unnecessary feeding interruptions. ⋯ Practice among the 2298 critical care nurses varied widely. Many of the survey respondents are practicing in ways that can unnecessarily diminish the delivery of calories to patients. Protocols based on current enteral nutrition guidelines must be developed and implemented in practice settings.
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Comparative Study
Implications of objective vs subjective delirium assessment in surgical intensive care patients.
Delirium is an independent predictor of increased length of stay, mortality, and treatment costs in critical care patients. Its incidence may be underestimated or overestimated if delirium is assessed by using subjective clinical impression alone rather than an objective instrument. ⋯ Use of objective criteria helped detect delirium in more patients and also identified patients mistakenly thought to have delirium who actually did not meet objective criteria for diagnosis of the condition.