American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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As older persons in the intensive care unit increasingly require long-term mechanical ventilation, accurate indications of readiness for weaning from ventilatory support are needed to avoid premature extubation. ⋯ Further study of weaning in older adults is warranted.
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Case Reports
Celebrating the 100th birthday of the electrocardiogram: lessons learned from research in cardiac monitoring.
The electrocardiogram continues to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias and acute myocardial ischemia. The treatment of arrhythmias in critical care units has become less aggressive during the past decade because research indicates that antiarrhythmic agents can be proarrhythmic, causing malignant ventricular arrhythmias such as torsade de pointes. However, during the same period, the treatment of acute myocardial ischemia has become more aggressive, with the goal of preventing or interrupting myocardial infarction by using new antithrombotic and antiplatelet agents and percutaneous coronary interventions. ⋯ Because the electrocardiographic lead must be facing the localized ischemic zone of the heart to depict the telltale signs of ST-segment deviation, the challenge is to find ways to monitor patients continuously for ischemia without using an excessive number of electrodes and lead wires. The current trend is to use reduced lead set configurations in which 5 or 6 electrodes, placed at convenient places on the chest, are used to construct a full 12-lead electrocardiogram. Nurse scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing are at the forefront in developing and assessing the diagnostic accuracy of these reduced lead set electrocardiograms.
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Care of cardiac surgery patients has changed substantially in the past decade, with an emphasis on streamlined procedures and shortened hospital stays. The few qualitative reports of patients' perspectives of this experience focus primarily on physical complications and discomforts during the immediate postoperative period. ⋯ Patients want nurses and doctors to provide a smooth transition to home, recognize the patients as individuals, prepare them honestly for their experiences with specific information, and manage pain and sleep.
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Lack of communication from healthcare providers contributes to the anxiety and distress reported by patients' families after a patient's death in the intensive care unit. ⋯ Uncertainty about the prognosis of the patient, decisions that families make before a terminal condition, what to expect during dying, and the extent of a patient s suffering pervade families' end-of-life experiences in the intensive care unit. Families' information about the patient is often lacking or inadequate. The best antidote for families' uncertainty is effective communication.