Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · May 1999
ReviewReducing the effects of acute pain in critically ill patients.
Unrelieved pain in critically ill patients can increase mortality, morbidity, length of stay, and use of resources. This article reviews the physiologic basis of acute pain and the pathophysiologic sequelae that may ensue when critically ill patients experience acute pain. The author recommends strategies critical care nurses and advanced practice nurses can use to provide effective analgesia and potentially improve patient outcomes.
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Nurses want to provide pain management for pediatric patients, but different approaches lead to inconsistent pain management. This article presents a pediatric pain management clinical pathways developed as a result of research in the pediatric intensive care unit and based on pain management research. Using this pathway can help nurses deliver consistent pain management to pediatric patients.
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Goodpasture's syndrome is an uncommon occurring disorder that causes hemorrhage in the basement membrane lining of the kidneys and the lungs. By recognizing early signs and symptoms of pulmonary-renal syndromes that may lead to a diagnosis of Goodpasture's syndrome, critical care and advanced practice nurses can play a key role in ensuring successful patient outcomes and preventing complications. Expert nursing care and emotional support is essential for the patient and family to cope with this usually fatal disease.
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Mar 1999
Case ReportsPatterns of parental stress in PICU emergency admission.
Emergency admission of a previously healthy child to a pediatric intensive care unit for a sudden critical illness or trauma is extremely stressful for the child and parents. Although nurses expect parents to be highly anxious, this study shows that parental anxiety levels are higher than expected, reaching near-panic levels initially. This article suggests ways nurses can adapt their family strategies to take into consideration parents' potential difficulties concentrating or even asking questions.
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This chart describes some clinical problems organ donors may face, how the nurse should intervene, and the rationale for the intervention. The recommendations were developed by Corrinne Morgan, RN, CCRN, CNRN, for the Delaware Valley, Pa., transplant program, which serves eastern Pennsylvania, southern, New Jersey, and Delaware.