Critical care nursing clinics of North America
-
Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Dec 2014
ReviewImplications and interventions related to obstructive sleep apnea.
Surgical patients with known or unknown obstructive sleep apnea are at increased risk for postoperative complications. By implementing evidence-based practices and a validated screening tool, the postoperative surgical patients at the authors' hospital have a decreased risk of postoperative complications, specifically oversedation. This article discusses the pathophysiology, prevalence, risk factors, care of the postsurgical patient, and use of the validated STOP-Bang questionnaire with obstructive sleep apnea as the focus.
-
Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Dec 2014
ReviewStroke care using a hub and spoke model with telemedicine.
Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. On average, someone has a stroke every 40 seconds. ⋯ Telemedicine has assisted in bridging this gap to provide effective stroke treatment. The purpose of this article is to describe how the implementation of a hub and spoke model using telemedicine has assisted in increasing patient access to neurology expertise and receiving evidence-based treatment of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, thereby improving patient outcomes.
-
Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Dec 2014
ReviewApplication of a Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program in critical care: the royal exchange.
This article discusses the history of the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) and how it is used to foster a culture of safety. CUSP involves interdisciplinary teamwork and empowers nurses at all levels to pioneer changes and develop leadership skills. A case study is presented to show how CUSP was used effectively in critical care to create a standardized handover of patients from the operating room to the intensive care unit.
-
Open access has become an important topic in critical care over the last 3 years. In the past, critical care had restricted access and set visitation guidelines to protect patients. ⋯ The ultimate goal is to provide care centered on patients and families and to create a healing environment to ensure safe passage of patients through their hospital stays. This outcome could lead to increased patient/family satisfaction.