American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Review Meta Analysis
Rotational bed therapy to prevent and treat respiratory complications: a review and meta-analysis.
Immobility is associated with complications involving many body systems. ⋯ Rotational therapy may be useful for preventing and treating respiratory complications in selected critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation.
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To review the literature on the limitations and consequences of packed red blood cell transfusions, with particular attention to critically ill patients. ⋯ According to the available data, transfusion of packed red blood cells should be reserved only for situations in which clear physiological indicators for transfusion are present.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia accounts for 47% of infections in patients in intensive care units. Adherence to the best nursing practices recommended in the 2003 guidelines for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should reduce the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia. ⋯ The guidelines for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are not consistently or uniformly implemented. Practices of nurses employed in hospitals with oral care protocols are more often congruent with the guidelines than are practices of nurses employed in hospitals without such protocols. Significant reductions in rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia may be achieved by broader implementation of oral care protocols.
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To examine critical care nurses' knowledge about the use of the ventilator bundle to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia. ⋯ Education sessions designed to inform nurses about the ventilator bundle and its use to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia have a significant effect on participants' knowledge and subsequent clinical practice.
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Differentiating occlusion of the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery (also called the circumflex artery) from occlusion of the right coronary artery is often difficult because either may be associated with a pattern of acute inferior myocardial infarction on the electrocardiogram. ⋯ ST-segment changes in the 18-lead electrocardiogram can be used to differentiate between occlusions of the circumflex artery and occlusions of the right coronary artery. Knowing which vessel is occluded before percutaneous coronary intervention can help in planning the procedure and recognizing when patients are at high risk for disturbances in conduction at the atrioventricular node.