Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Dec 2014
Sore throat in women after intubation with 6.5 or 7.0 mm endotracheal tube: a quantitative study.
Women experience more sore throats than men after endotracheal intubation. ⋯ Nurses specialising in the supervision of daily care specific to the intubated patient should note and alleviate sore throat as part of their nursing care.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Dec 2014
Team competence among nurses in an intensive care unit: the feasibility of in situ simulation and assessing non-technical skills.
Nursing competence affects quality of care in intensive care units (ICUs). Team competence is particularly important for preventing errors. This paper focuses on the feasibility of using an in situ simulation model to explore team competence in the ICU, and on using parts of the Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) taxonomy for assessing Non-Technical Skills (NTS) in nursing teams. ⋯ In situ simulation may be feasible for assessing competence in ICUs. The ANTS appears to be a promising foundation for developing a team assessment tool for ICUs.
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Many ICU patients struggle to recovery following critical illness and may be left with physical, cognitive and psychological problems, which have a negative impact on their quality of life. Gross muscle mass loss and weakness can take some months to recover after the patients' Intensive Care Unit (ICU) discharge, in addition critical illness polyneuropathies can further complicate physical recovery. Psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common and have an negative impact on the patients' ability to engage in rehabilitation after ICU discharge. ⋯ Research now suggests that there are interventions that can accelerate physical recovery and reduce the incidence of psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and PTSD. Cognitive rehabilitation, however, is still in its infancy. This review will look at the research into patients' recovery and what can be done to improve this where needed.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Oct 2014
Validation of the use of the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) with brain surgery patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit.
Many critically ill patients are unable to self-report their pain. In such situations, the use of valid behavioral pain scales is recommended. ⋯ The CPOT appears to be valid for the detection of pain in elective brain surgery patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Oct 2014
Delirium among critically ill adults: evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Italian 'Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit'.
To determine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU), a clinical assessment tool to detect delirium among Intensive Care Unit patients. ⋯ The Italian CAM-ICU was found to be a viable instrument by which to approach a standardised monitoring of delirium among Italian speaking ICU patients. The use of such tools may facilitate ICU physicians and nurses in detecting delirium, thus improving both quality and safety of care.