Critical care nurse
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Critical care nurse · Jun 2018
ReviewNurse Project Consultant: Critical Care Nurses Move Beyond the Bedside to Affect Quality and Safety.
A nurse project consultant role empowered 3 critical care nurses to expand their scope of practice beyond the bedside and engage within complex health care delivery systems to reduce harms in the intensive care unit. As members of an interdisciplinary team, the nurse project consultants contributed their clinical expertise and systems knowledge to develop innovations that optimize care provided in the intensive care unit. ⋯ The nurse project consultants' responsibilities within a group of quality improvement initiatives are described and their challenges and lessons learned discussed. The nurse project consultant role is a new model of engaging critical care nurses as leaders in health care redesign.
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Critical care nurse · Jun 2018
Improvement of Nutritional Intake in Intensive Care Unit Patients via a Nurse-Led Enteral Nutrition Feeding Protocol.
Enteral nutrition in intensive care unit patients has important prognostic clinical value. Feeding protocols are recommended by clinical practice guidelines as a key strategy to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of enteral feedings. ⋯ Adherence to standardized guidelines with a written protocol for an early start and timely escalation of enteral feeding can improve nutritional intake among intensive care unit patients.
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Critical care nurse · Jun 2018
Making a Connection: Family Experiences With Bedside Rounds in the Intensive Care Unit.
The hospitalization of a family member in an intensive care unit can be stressful for the family. Family bedside rounds is a way for the care team to inform family members, answer questions, and involve them in care decisions. The experiences of family members with intensive care unit bedside rounds have been examined in few studies. ⋯ What health care providers say to patients' families matters. Families may need to be included in decision-making with honest, consistent, easy-to-understand information.