Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2005
Comparative StudyDifferences in European critical care nursing practice: a pilot study.
The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if there are differences in nursing practice between critical care units across Europe, if these practices are related to the perceived level of incorporation of evidence into nursing practice and/or to regional differences. Nurses attending the nursing session of the bi-annual conference of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine were asked to fill out a two page questionnaire which addressed five areas of practice: physical care, pain management, monitoring, weaning and ethical issues. Some differences were found between regions although there were no differences in the perception of whether these protocols were evidence-based.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2005
A prospective study of adverse reactions to the weaning of opioids and benzodiazepines among critically ill children.
The aim of this study was to identify the optimal rates at which opioids and benzodiazepines should be weaned in order to prevent withdrawal reactions in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). This study follows an earlier investigation that developed a graphical analysis method for examining behavioral signs of withdrawal in relation to changes in opioid and benzodiazepine administration. ⋯ Adverse withdrawal reactions were prevented when the daily rate of weaning did not exceed: 20% for children receiving continuous infusions for 1-3 days; 13-20% for 4-7 days; 8-13% for 8-14 days; 8% for 15-21 days; and 2-4% for more than 21 days of infusions. The authors recommend that the rate of weaning of opioids and benzodiazepines in critically ill children be tailored to the length of time the child received continuous infusions of these agents.