Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Feb 2010
Track, trigger and teamwork: communication of deterioration in acute medical and surgical wards.
The majority of hospitals in the United Kingdom (UK) use some form of track and trigger scoring system, such as early warning scores, to identify deteriorating patients; however, response by the multi-professional team is not always timely and problems with recognition of deterioration persist. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that clinicians need a better understanding of the value of track and trigger scoring systems in identifying trends in the patient's condition. Further, our data suggest that steps need to be taken in acute hospital wards to improve team members' understanding of each others' roles and capabilities.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Feb 2010
Factors influencing nurse sedation practices with mechanically ventilated patients: a U.S. national survey.
Mechanically ventilated patients commonly receive sedative medications. There is increasing evidence that sedative medications impact on patient outcomes. Nursing behaviour is a key determinant of sedation administration. The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence nurse sedation administration to mechanically ventilated patients. ⋯ Nurses' attitudes impact sedation administration practices. Modifying nurses' attitudes on sedation and the experience of mechanical ventilation may be necessary to change sedation practices with mechanically ventilated patients.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Feb 2010
Visits in an intensive care unit--an observational hermeneutic study.
The aim was to interpret the interplay between critically ill patients and their next of kin in an ICU and to disclose a deeper understanding of the visiting situation. ⋯ The physical environment became a hindrance to the interplay as it was designed for medical and technical use and thus did not promote healing. The professionals are important for interpreting the signals from both patients and next of kin, as well as for finding caring strategies, such as physical contact that promote interplay, which in turn strengthens connectedness.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Feb 2010
Multicultural family members' experiences with nurses and the intensive care context: a hermeneutic study.
The aim of this study was to illuminate the experiences of multicultural family members in intensive care units in hospitals, when a loved one was critically ill. An increasing migration from non-Western countries to Norway and potential double-stress for multicultural families experiencing critical illness are pre-understandings. ⋯ Family members with a non-Western ethnic background experienced several challenges within the complex ICU environment. Multicultural family members had distinct strategies to deal with the hospitalisation of a critically ill loved one. Interaction difficulties and cultural traditions were not influenced by the environment alone, however the challenges seemed to deal with universal human interaction independent of the context. Nurses need to be sensitive to the families' cultural customs in order to meet their expectations in a respectful way.