AACN clinical issues in critical care nursing
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Promoting the quiet and relaxation necessary for sleep in a busy, noisy critical care environment is a problem critical care nurses face daily. Descriptive studies have defined and increased understanding of this problem, but few interventional studies have been accomplished. Interventions that have demonstrated significant improvements in sleep quality in the critical care environment are an audiotape of the sounds of the ocean or rain, a masking signal, and a back massage.
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AACN Clin Issues Crit Care Nurs · May 1994
ReviewPain management in the critically ill: what do we know and how can we improve?
Pain management in the critically ill is a challenge and a problem of great concern for critical care nurses. The authors review research on pain in the areas of pain assessment, nurses' knowledge and attitudes, pharmacologic interventions, and nonpharmacologic interventions for the management of pain. Although the research base is not completely developed in the critically ill population, implications for practice are provided, based upon the findings in populations akin to the critically ill. Strategies are outlined for achieving improved pain control in critical care units through education, adoption of standards on pain management, and quality improvement activities.