Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Oct 2015
Contributors to fatigue in patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support: A descriptive correlational study.
To describe levels of fatigue and explore clinical factors that might contribute to fatigue in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation. ⋯ Illness severity and more frequent sedative administration were related to higher fatigue ratings in these mechanically ventilated patients.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Oct 2015
Intensive care nurses' opinions and current practice in relation to delirium in the intensive care setting.
Delirium is a frequently encountered syndrome that negatively impacts on the well-being of the critically ill patient. Although international guidelines promote delirium monitoring, little is known regarding Irish intensive care (ICU) nurses' opinions and current practice in relation to delirium monitoring. ⋯ The findings provide further evidence of the theory practice gap that is likely to exist internationally in settings where best practice guidelines on the management of delirium in the ICU setting are not implemented.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2015
The experiences of ICU patients during follow-up sessions--a qualitative study.
Evidence supports the recommendation for follow-up session(s) for patients after discharge from an intensive care unit (ICU). The aim of these follow-up sessions is to allow patients to express and discuss their experiences and problems following their time in an ICU. To optimise the knowledge gained from the follow-up session experience, it is necessary to describe how patients experience these sessions. The aim of this study was to describe how ICU-patients, experience a follow-up session. ⋯ This study has highlighted the need for increasing collaboration between intensive care staff and staff in other units to provide support to this patient group in order to reduce their suffering post intensive care experience.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2015
ReviewStrategies for weaning from mechanical ventilation: a state of the art review.
Identification and adoption of strategies to promote timely and successful weaning from mechanical ventilation remain a research and quality improvement priority. The most important steps in the weaning process to prevent unnecessary prolongation of mechanical ventilation are timely recognition of both readiness to wean and readiness to extubate. ⋯ This review explores various other strategies that also may promote timely and successful weaning including bundling of spontaneous breathing trials with sedation and delirium monitoring/management as well as early mobility, the use of automated weaning systems and modes that improve patient-ventilator interaction, mechanical insufflation-exsufflation as a weaning adjunct, early extubation to non-invasive ventilation and high flow humidified oxygen. As most critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation will tolerate extubation with minimal weaning, identification of strategies to improve management of those patients experiencing difficult and prolonged weaning should be a priority for clinical practice, quality improvement initiatives and weaning research.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Aug 2015
Severity of delirium in the ICU is associated with short term cognitive impairment. A prospective cohort study.
To examine the hypothesis that severity of delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) is positively associated with cognitive impairment at the time of hospital discharge. ⋯ Our findings indicate that severity of delirium during ICU stay may be associated with cognitive impairment at the time of discharge from the hospital in ICU survivors.