Critical care nurse
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Critical care nurse · Dec 2014
ReviewIntroduction to complementary, alternative, and traditional therapies.
The use of complementary, alternative, and traditional therapies is increasing in the United States, and patients and their families are bringing these practices into the acute care setting. Acute and critical care nurses are in a unique and trusted position to advocate for their patients and to promote safe incorporation of complementary, alternative, and traditional therapies into the plan of care.
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Critical care nurse · Dec 2014
ReviewEnteral nutrition in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in adult critical care patients.
Prevention and healing of pressure ulcers in critically ill patients can be especially challenging because of the patients' burden of illness and degree of physiological compromise. Providing adequate nutrition may help halt the development or worsening of pressure ulcers. ⋯ Appropriate screenings for nutritional status and risk for pressure ulcers, early collaboration with a registered dietician, and administration of appropriate feeding formulations and micronutrient and macronutrient supplementation to promote wound healing are practical solutions to improve the nutritional status of critical care patients. Use of nutritional management and enteral feeding protocols may provide vital elements to augment nutrition and ultimately result in improved clinical outcomes.
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Critical care nurse · Dec 2014
Improving patients' readiness for coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Preoperative interventions improve outcomes for patients after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). ⋯ Implementation of interventions to optimize patients' "readiness for surgery" is associated with shorter intubation times and shorter hospital stays after CABG.
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Critical care nurse · Dec 2014
The adam williams initiative: collaborating with community resources to improve care for traumatic brain injury.
The Brain Trauma Foundation has developed treatment guidelines for the care of patients with acute traumatic brain injury. However, a method to provide broad acceptance and application of these guidelines has not been published. ⋯ Carefully cultivated relationships and relentless teamwork have contributed to successful implementation of the Brain Trauma Foundation's guidelines in US hospitals.