Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN
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Unplanned extubation is a complication of endotracheal intubation that occurs despite close patient monitoring in the intensive care unit. The authors describe one method of analyzing unplanned extubations that critical care nurses can use to determine the quality of care provided. This method uses a data collection tool that focuses on incidence of unplanned extubation, structure, process and outcome as indicators of quality of care. This article will help you identify patient characteristics that determine if a particular patient population is at greater risk for unplanned extubations.
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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Nov 1993
Review Case ReportsPressure support ventilation: reducing the work of breathing during weaning.
Pressure support ventilation decreases the work of breathing by providing the patient with positive airway pressure during the inspiratory phase. The use of this type of ventilatory support is likely to increase over the next few years for patients, especially during the weaning period. By understanding how pressure support ventilation works and what patient parameters need to be monitored, the critical care nurse can help patients decrease respiratory muscle fatigue during weaning and thus decrease the weaning time for these patients.
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Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Syndrome Type II are both exfoliative skin diseases with complications similar to burn patients. The critical care nurse's responsibility is to recognize the disease processes early and assure aggressive nursing care is provided to prevent the serious respiratory, gastrointestinal, sepsis, renal, and pain complications.
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This article focuses on the process of preparing research abstracts for submission to scientific meetings of professional organizations. Perspectives on the process of specifying an abstract's focus, choosing a scientific meeting, selecting the type of presentation, developing an abstract, and writing an abstract in its form are presented.
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Self-scheduling is a staffing method that delegates the control and the responsibility for generating a schedule to the staff nurses. This article focuses on what motivated the staff of a combined Cardiovascular Surgical Intensive Care and Stepdown Unit to implement self-scheduling and the improved job satisfaction that resulted.