Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN
-
Relaxation and music therapy have shown promise as anxiety-reducing interventions for patients in critical care settings. The challenge for nurses is to incorporate these modalities of care into effective clinical strategies. This article describes one method of introducing relaxation therapy to the anxious patient within the context of the Dungan Model of Dynamic Integration.
-
Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Mar 1995
Case ReportsAn algorithm to distinguish the need for sedative, anxiolytic, and analgesic agents.
This article discusses the use of an algorithm developed by nurses at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic in Minneapolis, that can be used to distinguish the need for sedative, anxiolytic, and analgesic agents for patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU). Many problems associated with patient sedation and analgesia exist within the critical care environment. These problems include undersedating patients with neuromuscular blockade; rapidly tapering or abruptly discontinuing high-dosage sedation, which often results in withdrawal symptoms; over-use of high-dosage continuous intravenous infusions of short-acting benzodiazepines and analgesics; failure to recognize delirium; and resistance to modifying drug regimens when patient outcomes are not satisfactory.