Resp Care
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a pervasive and expensive nosocomial infection that is largely related to instrumentation of the airway with an endotracheal tube (ETT), followed by microaspiration of contaminated secretions. VAP prevention will probably be most effective via a multifaceted approach, which includes meticulous attention to basic infection-control methods during patient care, proper patient positioning, oral hygiene, and removal of the ETT as soon as indicated. ⋯ Most importantly, cost-effectiveness data are lacking for modified ETTs designed to prevent VAP. It is critical that future studies of ETTs designed to prevent VAP be adequately powered to demonstrate efficacy on important patient outcomes and safety, in addition to cost-effectiveness.
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This paper reviews the history of aerosol therapy; discusses patient, drug, and device factors that can influence the success of aerosol therapy; and identifies trends that will drive the science of aerosol therapy in the future. Aerosol medication is generally less expensive, works more rapidly, and produces fewer side effects than the same drug given systemically. Aerosol therapy has been used for thousands of years by steaming and burning plant material. ⋯ As technology improves, a greater variety of novel medications are being developed for aerosol delivery, including for therapy of pulmonary hypertension, as vaccines, for decreasing dyspnea, to treat airway inflammation, for migraine headache, for nicotine and drug addiction, and ultimately for gene therapy. Common reasons for therapeutic failure of aerosol medications include the use of inactive or depleted medications, inappropriate use of the aerosol device, and, most importantly, poor adherence to prescribed therapy. The respiratory therapist plays a key role in patient education, device selection, and outcomes assessment.
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A large gap exists between the completion of clinical research demonstrating the benefit of new treatment interventions and improved patient outcomes resulting from implementation of these interventions as part of routine clinical practice. This gap clearly affects patient safety and quality of care. Knowledge translation is important for addressing this gap, but evaluation of the most appropriate and effective knowledge translation methods is still ongoing. Through describing one model for knowledge translation and an example of its implementation, insights can be gained into systematic methods for advancing the implementation of evidence-based interventions to improve safety, quality, and patient outcomes.
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Review Meta Analysis
Prevalence of serious bleeding events and intracranial hemorrhage in patients receiving activated protein C: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Activated protein C reduces 28-day mortality in patients with severe sepsis, but its anticoagulant properties entail a risk of bleeding. ⋯ Activated protein C is associated with significant risk of bleeding, so strict inclusion and exclusion criteria should be set prior to administering activated protein C.
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Though people are generally averse to change, change and innovation are critically important in respiratory care to maintain scientific and clinical progress. This paper reviews the issue of change in respiratory care. I summarize several available models of organizational and personal change (ie, those of Kotter and of Silversin and Kornacki, and the Intentional Change Theory of Boyatzis), review the characteristics of change-avid respiratory therapy departments, offer an example of a change effort in respiratory care (implementation of respiratory care protocols) and then analyze this change effort as it took place at one institution, the Cleveland Clinic, using these models. ⋯ Further analysis of features of change-avid respiratory therapy departments indicates 11 highly desired features, of which four that especially characterize change-avid departments include: having an up-to-date leadership team; employee involvement in change; celebrating wins; and an overall sense of progressiveness in the department. This analysis suggests that understanding and embracing change is important. To anchor change in our profession, greater attention should be given to developing a pipeline of respiratory care clinicians who, by virtue of their advanced training, have the skills to innovate in respiratory care in various ways.