Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 2012
ReviewPreoperative intra-aortic balloon pumping in high-risk cardiac surgery patients.
Intra-aortic balloon pumping increases myocardial oxygen supply and decreases myocardial oxygen demand by inflation and deflation of the balloon. This leads to increased perfusion of the coronary arteries during diastole. This technology has been used for critically ill cardiac patients for more than 30 years. ⋯ Preoperative benefits of this technology may yield positive outcomes in terms of hemodynamic effect, decreased length of stay in both the intensive care unit and the hospital, and the reduction of complications. However, the intra-aortic balloon pump must be used with a profound understanding of proper mechanism and function, monitoring, and observation for potential complications. This requires excellent critical care nursing management.
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 2012
Case ReportsDonation after cardiac death: ethical dilemmas and implications for advanced practice nurses.
Donation after cardiac death has always presented ethical concerns among health care providers. As advanced practice nurses and critical care nurses, it is our responsibility to ensure that health care providers and families are educated about the process and that we remain advocates for the potential donors. This article reviews the donation after cardiac death process, provides a donation after cardiac death hypothetical case report and its outcome, and addresses the ethical concerns associated with donation after cardiac death from both opponents' and proponents' points of view. It will also discuss the benefits of obtaining a palliative care consult and the roles of the advanced practice nurse in the care of the potential donor.
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 2012
Cultural and linguistic validation of the Italian version of the intensive care delirium screening checklist.
The purposes of this study were to identify the most suitable rating scale for the diagnosis of delirium in the Italian setting and to develop and validate an Italian version of a delirium screening checklist. The findings are reported.