Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · May 2015
Mitigating nonurgent interruptions during high-severity intensive care unit tasks using a task-severity awareness tool: A quasi-controlled observational study.
In a previous study of interruptions to intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, we found that other personnel tend to regulate their interruptions based on nurses' tasks. However, nurses' tasks are not always immediately visible to an interrupter. This article evaluates a task-severity awareness tool (TAT) designed for nurses to inform others when they are performing high-severity tasks. When a nurse engages the tool within an ICU room, a "do not disturb please!" message is displayed outside the room. ⋯ Task-severity awareness tool proved to be effective in mitigating unnecessary interruptions to critical tasks. Future research should assess its long-term effectiveness.
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Journal of critical care · May 2015
The MACOCHA score is feasible to predict intubation failure of nonanesthesiologist intensive care unit trainees.
Endotracheal intubation (ET) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients is regarded as more challenging than elective intubations in the operating room. Despite challenging conditions in ICU, trainees are often the initial operators performing ET. Because nonanesthesiologist intensivists with limited experience in ET run most of the nonsurgical ICUs, it is of exceptional importance to identify patients with predictable difficult ET in advance to prepare for a difficult airway scenario and thus avoid severe complications. ⋯ Our findings are a further step to implement the MACOCHA score into the standard admission procedure of an ICU to identify early those patients in whom additional support is needed in case of ET and to improve patient safety.