Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Alarm fatigue has been linked to patient morbidity and mortality in hospitals due to delayed or absent responses to monitor alarms. We sought to describe alarm rates at 5 freestanding children's hospitals during a single day and the types of alarms and proportions of patients monitored by using a point-prevalence, cross-sectional study design. ⋯ Across hospitals, onequarter of monitored beds were responsible for 71%, 61%, and 63% of alarms in medical-surgical, neonatal intensive care, and pediatric intensive care units, respectively. Future work focused on addressing nonactionable alarms in patients with the highest alarm counts may decrease alarm rates.
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Meta Analysis
Shorter Versus Longer Courses of Antibiotics for Infection in Hospitalized Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Infection is a leading cause of hospitalization with high morbidity and mortality, but there are limited data to guide the duration of antibiotic therapy. ⋯ Based on the available literature, shorter courses of antibiotics can be safely utilized in hospitalized patients with common infections, including pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and intra-abdominal infection, to achieve clinical and microbiologic resolution without adverse effects on mortality or recurrence.
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Medicine subspecialty consultation is becoming increasingly important in inpatient medicine. ⋯ The hospitalist-consultant interaction is viewed as important for both hospitalist learning and patient care. Multiple barriers and facilitating factors impact the interaction, many of which are amenable to intervention.
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Communication among those involved in a child's care during hospitalization can mitigate or exacerbate family stress and confusion. As part of a broader qualitative study, we present an in-depth understanding of communication issues experienced by families during their child's hospitalization and during the transition to home. ⋯ Participating caregivers identified various communication concerns and challenges during their child's hospitalization and transition home. Caregiver perspectives can inform strategies to improve experiences, ease challenges inherent to a teaching hospital, and determine which types of communication are most effective.