Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2008
Intensive care delirium monitoring and standardised treatment: a complete survey of Dutch Intensive Care Units.
Delirium is a frequent and serious problem in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Several international guidelines recommend daily monitoring for ICU-delirium. The purpose of this article is to give an up-to-date overview of the current status of monitoring and treatment of ICU-delirium in the Netherlands. ⋯ Despite an international guideline, not more than 7% of ICUs in our study routinely evaluated the presence of delirium with a validated instrument. Fewer than one-third of Dutch ICUs use a protocol to treat ICU-delirium.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2008
Editorial Comment ReviewImproving rehabilitation following transfer from ICU.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2008
Comparative StudyReliability of the Sedation-Agitation Scale between nurses and doctors.
This study determined the inter-rater reliability of the Sedation-Agitation Scale (SAS) when used by staff in a tertiary level general intensive care unit (ICU). The study was designed to answer the question in the 'real world', with minimum patient exclusion criteria, do nurses and doctors rate ICU patient's sedation levels using the SAS similarly? A convenient sample of 35 nursing and seven medical staff and a randomly selected sample of 69 patients were used. A nurse and a doctor rated each patient simultaneously using the SAS, with a systematic five-stage arousal process. ⋯ This research indicates nurses and doctors rate patients' levels of sedation similarly using the SAS. It also provides support for the use of the instrument in general ICUs outside the USA. Research is now needed to determine the value of the SAS in guiding clinical decision-making related to sedation management.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2008
End of life decisions: nurses perceptions, feelings and experiences.
Decisions to withdraw treatment are made on a regular basis in intensive care units. While nurses play a central role in patient care, previous studies have found that they are not always involved in withdrawal decisions. ⋯ Nurses make an important contribution to end of life decisions and care. Guidelines recommend they have input into withdrawal decisions, therefore it is imperative that nurses are supported in this role and their responsibilities to continue to provide care during withdrawal.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2008
Re-visiting the ICU Experiences of follow-up visits to an ICU after discharge: a qualitative study.
The aim of this study is to describe how people who have been critically ill, and their close relatives experience a post-discharge, follow-up visit to the intensive care unit (ICU) that provided the care. There is a lack of studies from such a standpoint. The study design is qualitative. ⋯ People who had been critically ill and close relatives felt that returning together was valuable. Meeting the staff, with whom participants felt they had developed a relationship, made it possible for them to express their gratitude for the treatment and nursing care received, and to suggest improvements. The interviews revealed that the follow-up visit was seen as an important way of learning what had happened and why during the period of critical illness.