American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Traumatic stress and moral injury may contribute to burnout, but their relationship to institutional betrayal and moral resilience is poorly understood, leaving risk and protective factors understudied. ⋯ Moral resilience, especially response to difficult circumstances, may be protective in critical care environments, but system factors (eg, institutional betrayal) must also be addressed systemically rather than relying on individual-level interventions to address nurses' needs.
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During the first COVID-19 pandemic wave, non-intensive care unit (non-ICU) nurses were deployed to temporary ICUs to provide critical care for the patient surge. A rapid critical care training program was designed to prepare them to care for patients in either temporary or permanent ICUs. ⋯ The rapid training program provided basic critical care knowledge for nurses in temporary ICUs, but experiences differed significantly between those deployed to temporary versus permanent ICUs. Although participants believed they provided safe care, nurses with no critical care experience cannot be expected to learn comprehensive critical care from expedited instruction; more formal clinical support is needed for nurses in temporary ICUs. Rapid critical care training can meet emergency needs for nurses capable of providing critical care.
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While in the intensive care unit, critically ill patients experience a myriad of distressing symptoms and stimuli leading to discomfort, a negative emotional and/ or physical state that arises in response to noxious stimuli. Appropriate management of these symptoms requires a distinct assessment of discomfort-causing experiences. ⋯ Intensive care unit patients in this study reported mild to moderate discomfort. Additional research is needed to design and test interventions based on assessment of specific discomfort-promoting stimuli to provide effective symptom management.