Pediatr Crit Care Me
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The objectives of this review are to describe the education and critical thinking skills that characterize pediatric critical care nursing and how these skills impact patient care and outcomes in pediatric cardiac critical care. ⋯ Pediatric cardiac critical care nurses manage complex and vulnerable patients requiring various levels of support. Effective care of these patients requires knowledge about the complex anatomy and physiology associated with congenital and acquired heart disease, as well as the effects of mechanical ventilation, mechanical circulatory support, and vasoactive medications. Strong physical examination skills, accurate interpretation of hemodynamic and laboratory data, active participation in bedside rounds, excellent communication skills, meticulous care of invasive monitoring catheters and tubes, and compassionate support of families are among the skills that distinguish a cardiac critical care nurse.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2016
Observational StudyMultisite Tissue Oxygenation Monitoring Indicates Organ-Specific Flow Distribution and Oxygen Delivery Related to Low Cardiac Output in Preterm Infants With Clinical Sepsis.
Cardiac output may be compromised in preterm infants with sepsis. Whether low cardiac output is associated with low tissue oxygen supply in these patients is unclear. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between cardiac output, assessed by echocardiography, and tissue oxygenation, measured with multisite near-infrared spectroscopy, in a cohort of preterm infants with clinical sepsis. ⋯ Right ventricular output corrected for patent foramen ovale and left ventricular output corrected for ductus arteriosus flow, indicators of systemic blood flow in preterm infants with shunts, were negatively associated with intestinal fractional tissue oxygen extraction, but not with renal and cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction. These findings suggest that during low output states due to clinical sepsis intestinal perfusion is most at risk.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2016
The Current State of the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Kidney Injury by Pediatric Critical Care Physicians.
Increasingly prevalent in pediatric intensive care, acute kidney injury imparts significant short- and long-term consequences. Despite advances in acute kidney injury research, clinical outcomes are worsening. We surveyed pediatric critical care physicians to describe the current state of acute kidney injury diagnosis and management in critically ill children. ⋯ Half of PICU attending physicians surveyed are not using recent acute kidney injury guidelines or diagnostic criteria in their practice. There is a positive association between awareness and clinical use of acute kidney injury guidelines. Serum creatinine and urine output are still the primary diagnostics; novel biomarkers are frequently unavailable.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2016
Children and Young Adults Who Received Tracheostomies or Were Initiated on Long-Term Ventilation in PICUs.
To characterize patients who received tracheostomies for airway compromise or were initiated on long-term ventilation for chronic respiratory failure in PICUs and to examine variation in the incidence of initiation, patient characteristics, and modalities across sites. ⋯ Although the PICU incidence of initiation of tracheostomies and long-term ventilation was relatively uncommon, it suggests that thousands of children and young adults receive these interventions each year in North American PICUs. The majority of them have conditions and comorbidities that impose on-going care needs, beyond those required by artificial airways and long-term ventilation themselves.