Critical care nursing quarterly
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In today's critical care environment, we face a difficult but essential task. We must provide comprehensive, compassionate, complex, technological care without causing harm to our patients. To foster a patient-safe environment, we must examine care practices and processes to reduce the chance of error. ⋯ The article examines the evidence supporting the need to assess readiness for mobilization to reduce the risk of adverse events. Evidence-based tools and techniques to help clinicians prevent hemodynamic instability before, during, and after in-bed or out-of-bed mobilization are discussed. With safety serving as the overriding goal, we can overcome the barriers and succeed in creating and sustaining a culture of early progressive mobility programs within the intensive care unit.
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Critically ill patients are at high risk of malnutrition and lean body mass loss. Screening for malnutrition and performing detailed assessment of energy needs should be routine for patients admitted to intensive care units. Providing adequate calorie and protein provisions can attenuate muscle loss in many at-risk patients. ⋯ There is growing evidence for the potential immune-enhancing benefits of many micronutrients and vitamins in the critically ill, but more research is needed to determine which nutrients are most effective in which disease processes and what dosing regimens are safe and effective. Elderly, obese, and very young patients pose unique challenges for nutrition therapy and early mobility programs. Pairing early mobility programs with optimal nutrition therapy can help reduce morbidity, limit muscle loss, and speed recovery in intensive care unit patients.
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As advances in research and technology expand our ability to optimize the short-term outcomes in critical illness, survivors are often left with long-term functional impairments. The complications of bed rest can be nearly as devastating as the illness itself. Prolonged periods of immobility during the acute phase of illness have been linked to severe weakness, self-care deficits, poor quality of life, and mortality in patients up to 5 years after discharge from the intensive care unit. ⋯ Family engagement has been suggested to provide added opportunities for education and tangible knowledge about the patient's condition. Such an approach may be the fuel in motivating patients and families toward a meaningful recovery. Therefore, this article describes the process of incorporating family into an intensive care unit early, progressive, mobility protocol.
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Evidence to support improved outcomes with early ambulation is strong in medical literature. Yet, critically ill continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) patients remain tethered to their beds by devices delivering supportive therapy. The University of Michigan Adult CRRT Committee identified this deficiency and sought to change it. ⋯ After implementing our CRRT mobility standard, a preliminary study of 109 CRRT patients and a review of incident reports related to CRRT demonstrated no significant adverse patient events or falls and no access complications related to mobility. This deliberate intervention allows CRRT patients to safely engage in mobility activities to improve this population's outcomes. A simple mobility protocol and safety acronym partnered with strong clinical leadership has permitted the University of Michigan to add CRRT patients to the body of early mobility literature.