Critical care nursing clinics of North America
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Sep 2005
ReviewAlcohol withdrawal syndrome: assessment and treatment with the use of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol-revised.
Alcoholism is a chronic, complex disease and addictive disorder. Sudden cessation of alcohol consumption can lead to alcohol withdrawal, an acute process with devastating and potentially life-threatening consequences. ⋯ The higher the patient's score, the greater the risk for experiencing serious withdrawal symptoms. Pharmacotherapy may be gauged to treat the symptoms according the score.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Sep 2005
ReviewObstructive sleep apnea and modifications in sedation.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a common problem affecting all ages, particularly in conjunction with other pre-existing conditions. Compounding the disorder with the added insult of surgery, anesthesia, analgesia, and sedation requires the medical team continuously to re-evaluate this particular patient population. Physicians and nurses have recognized an increase in morbidity and mortality in patients with obstructive sleep apnea when they are administered anesthesia in conjunction with sedation. There are few reports of sedation alone and obstructive sleep apnea; most studies have been in relation to anesthesia, surgery, patient-controlled analgesia, and sleep-disordered breathing.
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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.