American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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To identify a cause for clinical deterioration, examine resuscitation efforts, and identify and correct system issues (thus improving outcomes) via a multidisciplinary code-review process soon after cardiopulmonary arrest. ⋯ A multidisciplinary code-review committee can identify deficiencies and lead to educational initiatives and improvements in care. When coupled with a hospital-wide "code blue" review process, these changes may benefit the institution as a whole.
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Association of Injury Factors, Not Body Mass Index, With Hospital Resource Usage in Trauma Patients.
Allocating resources appropriately requires knowing whether obese patients use more resources during a hospital stay than nonobese patients. ⋯ Associations between body mass index and outcomes have been noted when assessed as independent variables. However, when resource usage was assessed as a multifaceted outcome variable, injury factors (higher Injury Severity Score, lower scores on the Glasgow Coma Scale, more physiological complications) were associated with resource usage (increased length of stay in the intensive care unit and increased number of procedures). These findings provide clinicians a new perspective for evaluating the complex relationship between patient/injury characteristics and hospital resource usage.
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Observational Study
Delirium in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest Treated With Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia.
Mild therapeutic hypothermia is recommended for comatose patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest. However, the prevalence of delirium and its associated risk factors have not been assessed in survivors of cardiac arrest treated with therapeutic hypothermia. ⋯ All survivors of cardiac arrest treated with mild therapeutic hypothermia had at least 1 day of delirium. Age and time from initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation to return of spontaneous circulation were associated with prolonged delirium, whereas exposure to propofol was protective against delirium. These findings are limited to this unique cohort and may not be generalizable to different populations.
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Systems to meet the on-demand learning needs of nurses in intensive care units are not well studied beyond the traditional classroom models. ⋯ A secure, online, problem-based learning discussion format is a feasible point-of-care learning opportunity that can help overcome some of the traditional barriers to ongoing nursing education needs in a busy intensive care unit.
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Burnout syndrome (BOS) occurs in all types of health care professionals and is especially common in individuals who care for critically ill patients. The development of BOS is related to an imbalance of personal characteristics of the employee and work-related issues or other organizational factors. BOS is associated with many deleterious consequences, including increased rates of job turnover, reduced patient satisfaction, and decreased quality of care. ⋯ The present article reviews the diagnostic criteria, prevalence, causative factors, and consequences of BOS. It also discusses potential interventions that may be used to prevent and treat BOS. Finally, we urge multiple stakeholders to help mitigate the development of BOS in critical care health care professionals and diminish the harmful consequences of BOS, both for critical care health care professionals and for patients.