Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Nurses who work in a critical care area face many challenges within their daily role of caring for very sick patients in a stressful and high-tech environment. Underpinning their advanced skills should be a broad base of fundamental nursing skills that has been formulated from research-based evidence. ⋯ This paper considers why orally intubated patients are at particular risk of developing oral health problems, the use of oral assessment tools and the various techniques employed in oral cleansing. The consequences for the patient of poor oral care will also be discussed.
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This paper considers the ways in which the nursing handover involves a complex network of communication that impacts on nursing interactions. The critical ethnographic study upon which this paper is based involved a research group of six nurses who worked in one critical care unit. Data-collection methods involved professional journalling, participant observation, and individual and focus group interviews. ⋯ Nurses proceeded then to the bedside handover, where the intention changed from one that involved a broad overview of patients, to one that concentrated on a patient's individual needs. Data analysis identified five practices for consideration: the global handover serving the needs of nurse coordinators; the examination; the tyranny of tidiness; the tyranny of busyness; and the need to create a sense of finality. In challenging nurses' understanding of these practices, they can become more sensitive to other nurses' needs, thus promoting the handover process as a site for collaborative and supportive communication.
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This study was designed to examine, describe and elucidate patients' experiences of the presence and visits of the nearest and their participation in the care process during their stay in the ICU. Five patients, three men and two women, were interviewed for about one hour each. A hermeneutic approach was used when the texts from the interviews were interpreted and analysed. ⋯ The threat can, however, be neutralized by the nearests' presence and visits. These represent fellowship, togetherness and participation and thus can help to maintain the patient's identity and individuality. By experiencing this, patients as individuals may be able to affirm themselves and their 'courage to be' will be given strength and support.