Articles: cations.
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Critical care nurse · Apr 2022
Effects of an Electronic Health Record Tool on Team Communication and Patient Mobility: A 2-Year Follow-up Study.
Intensive care unit early mobility programs improve patients' functional status and outcomes. An electronic health record-based communication tool improved interprofessional communication within an early mobility program. Long-term sustainability of this communication tool has not been evaluated. ⋯ Nonsignificant changes in patient outcomes may indicate sustainment of the effect of the communication tool's original implementation. Employing appropriate sustainment techniques is essential to maintain practice change. The electronic health record-based communication tool can improve interprofessional communication within an intensive care unit early mobility program, improving patient outcomes and staff teamwork.
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The new kidney allocation changes with elimination of donor service areas (DSAs) and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network regions were initiated to improve equity in organ allocation. The aim of this evaluation was to determine the operational, financial, and recipient-related effect of the new allocation system on a large rural transplantation program. ⋯ The new kidney allocation policy has led to an increase in KDPI of donors with longer cold ischemia time, leading to higher delayed graft function rates. This has resulted in increasing logistical and financial burdens on the system. Implementing large-scale changes in allocation based predominantly on predictive modeling needs to be intensely reassessed during a longer follow up.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Apr 2022
ReviewPerioperative acute kidney injury: impact and recent update.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in hospitalized patients and is a major risk factor for increased length of stay, morbidity, and mortality in postoperative patients. There are multiple barriers to reducing perioperative AKI - the etiology is multi-factorial and the diagnosis is fraught with issues. We review the recent literature on perioperative AKI and some considerations for anesthesiologists that examine the far-reaching effects of AKI on multiple organ systems. ⋯ Recent studies address the use of risk stratification models and biomarkers, more sensitive than creatinine, in the preoperative identification of patients at risk for AKI. Although exciting, these scores and models need validation. There is a need for research assessing whether early AKI detection improves outcomes. Enhanced recovery after surgery utilizing goal-directed fluid therapy has not been shown to make an appreciable difference in the incidence of AKI. Reducing perioperative AKI requires a multi-pronged and possibly disease-specific approach.