Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
-
Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2012
ReviewDelirium: a review of the nurses role in the intensive care unit.
This article aims to review current literature into the use of assessment tools for the diagnosis of delirium and the implications of care for the patient with delirium. ⋯ Nurses play a key role in identification of delirium using CAM-ICU, a valid and reliable tool and identifying modifiable risks to improve the delirious ICU patient's outcome.
-
Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2012
Multicenter StudySleep disturbances and sedation practices in the intensive care unit--a postal survey in the Netherlands.
Sleep disturbances are common in critically ill patients treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) with possible serious consequences. ⋯ The average critically ill patient has sleep disturbances, that is, is sleeping moderately well according to nurses' views and opinions, mostly due to a disturbed sleep-awake cycle, delirium and nursing interventions. Intensive care nurses perceive only a moderate feeling of autonomy and influence regarding the management of sleeping practices.
-
Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2012
Multicenter StudyMemories from intensive care unit persist for several years--a longitudinal prospective multi-centre study.
In connection with the care received in the intensive care unit (ICU), the patient can experience discomfort and frustration. Earlier studies have shown mechanical ventilation (MV) to be a factor that increases patients' delusional memories in the ICU. The patients who need MV after a physical trauma constitute a vulnerable group who so far has attracted little attention from a long-term perspective. ⋯ Five years after the trauma, the memories from the ICU were still the same and the HRQoL improved in only two out of eight dimensions. A smaller group of patients had remaining symptoms of psychological ill-health. MV in connection with trauma may result in continued reduced health in the long term.
-
Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2012
Comparative StudyAnaesthetists' perceptions of facilitative weaning strategies from mechanical ventilator in the intensive care unit (ICU): a qualitative interview study.
This study aimed to examine anaesthetists' perceptions of facilitative weaning from the mechanical ventilator in the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ Choice of strategy was flexible and individually adjustable. Introduction of evidence-based guidelines from ventilator weaning is necessary in the ICU. The guidelines should also cover the responsibilities of various professional groups. Regular evaluations of methods and strategies used in practice need to be implemented. This may facilitate decision-making strategies for ventilator weaning in practice at the ICU. Greater attention needs to focus on family members' experiences. The strategies should be an integral part of continuous staff training.
-
Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2012
The ICU patient room: views and meanings as experienced by the next of kin: a phenomenological hermeneutical study.
The rooms in Intensive Care Units are considered as high-tech environments and believed to affect recovery process and wellbeing of patients. Moreover, the design and interiors affect the interplay between the patient and the next of kin. ⋯ How intensive care patient rooms are designed, the place given to next of kin and the way they are received in the room are decisive for the support given to the loved one. Simple interventions can make the patient room a more healing environment.