Critical care nursing clinics of North America
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Jun 2005
Excellence in evidence-based practice: organizational and unit exemplars.
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is a recognized leader in evidence-based practice. Creating organizational excellence in evidence-based practice takes leadership and a committed effort at all levels. ⋯ Practical approaches that have been effective in promoting development of an evidence-based practice program and project are outlined. An exemplar describing development and adoption of an evidence-based project to improve sedation management led to improvements in patient care processes and outcomes.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Jun 2005
Journey to the Beacon Award: the Georgetown University Hospital perspective.
The medical intensive care unit (MICU) at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D. C., was among the first four hospitals to be awarded the Beacon Award from the American Association of Critical- Care Nurses. The Beacon Award is given to those units that prove, through a 42-question application, how they excel and serve as a guiding light to other intensive care units. The MICU's "journey" to the award prompted an introspective look into the unit, its policies, and its methods of providing the highest quality patient care, in an environment that is supportive to the nursing staff.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Jun 2005
A step ahead: strategies for excellence in critical care nursing practice.
The adult intensive care unit (ICU) at Baystate Medical Center is a 24-bed medical-surgical-trauma ICU that provides high-quality care to critically ill patients. Collaboration and expertise among the nursing staff, intensivists, and interdisciplinary colleagues have contributed to its development into a Beacon Award-winning unit. Its primary goal is reflected in the unit's mission: "Care for our patients is guided by knowledge, motivated by compassion, and performed in collaboration with others." Common interests, values, and purposes have created an environment of communication that supports the delivery of exceptional critical care to patients and their families.
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This article features the Coronary Care Unit of The Methodist Hospital of Houston, Texas. This unit was one of the first Beacon Critical Care Units recognized by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. This article focuses on how to achieve this award. The Coronary Care Unit nursing infrastructure is described, and specific unit examples are included.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Jun 2005
Transport of the critically ill: the Northwest MedStar experience.
This article provides a description of Northwest MedStar, a fully integrated, self-sustained critical care transport program that provides transport services to over 70 hospitals and 350 emergency medical service agencies in the inland Northwest region of the United States. By providing transport and educational support to these agencies, Northwest MedStar assists in providing optimal emergency and critical care services for the patients in their communities.