Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 1997
ReviewAspects of pulmonary artery catheterization in critical care.
The concept of floating a balloon-tipped catheter into the pulmonary artery was first described in 1970 by Swan et al. Since then, many issues have surrounded the use of these catheters. Of particular concern for many physicians was the incidence of complications associated with use of the catheters. ⋯ Training nurses to use a PAC correctly has been highlighted in reducing the number of technical problems associated with the catheter, which in turn improves the accuracy of haemodynamic data obtained. Unfortunately, training programmes are few and far between, and this is an issue that must be addressed by critical care nurse managers. In this review of the literature regarding PACs and their use in the care of the critically ill patients, the role of the nurse is discussed with recommendations for practice.
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Paracetamol is a common cause of fatal self-poisoning in the UK every year. Despite this, it continues to be sold freely without medical supervision and can be found in quantity in most household medicine cabinets.