American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Many alcohol withdrawal scoring tools are used in hospitalized patients to assess the severity of alcohol withdrawal and guide treatment. The revised Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment (CIWA-Ar) and the modified Minnesota Detoxification Scale (mMINDS) are commonly used but have never been correlated. ⋯ The correlation between the CIWA-Ar and mMINDS tools is strong and appears to be most robust in patients with CIWA-Ar scores of 10 or less.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Collecting Nursing Research Data 24 Hours a Day: Challenges, Lessons, and Recommendations.
Research on many routine nursing interventions requires data collection around the clock each day (24/7). Strategies for implementing and coordinating a study 24/7 are not discussed in the literature, and best practices are needed. ⋯ A nursing clinical trial that requires interventions on a 24/7 basis can be done with thorough planning, staffing, and continuous quality improvement activities.
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Intensive care unit nurses experience moral distress when they feel unable to deliver ethically appropriate care to patients. Moral distress is associated with nurse burnout and patient care avoidance. ⋯ Poor ethical climate, unintegrated palliative care teams, and nurse empowerment are associated with increased moral distress. The findings highlight the need to promote palliative care education and palliative care teams that are well integrated into intensive care units.
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Disinfection of frequently touched surfaces in the hospital is critical for providing safe care. Because of their complex intricate surfaces, blood pressure cuffs and electrocardiographic telemetry leads may be harder than other equipment to disinfect. ⋯ Wipes with 0.5% hydrogen peroxide adequately disinfect blood pressure cuffs but not telemetry leads.