American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Removal of urinary catheters depends on accurate noninvasive measurements of bladder volume. Patients with acute kidney injury often have low bladder volumes/ascites, possibly causing measurement inaccuracy. ⋯ Bladder volume can be measured accurately with bladder scanning or US, but abdominal fluid remains a confounding factor limiting accuracy of bladder scanning.
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A recent randomized trial of bereaved family members of patients who died in an intensive care unit identified symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress in recipients of semistructured condolence letters. ⋯ Inviting clinicians who cared for deceased patients to offer personalized, handwritten condolences to bereaved family members may cultivate sincere and individualized expressions of sympathy that bereaved families appreciate after the death of patients involved in the 3 Wishes Project.
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Major psychiatric disorders such as major depression and schizophrenia interfere with patients' life activities and ability to function. These disorders correlate with a higher prevalence of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. ⋯ Psychiatric patients' admission rate to the intensive care unit was significantly higher than their admission rate to other departments. Their intensive care unit stays were also longer, which may increase resource use.
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Conflicts in medical settings affect both team function and patient care, yet a standardized curriculum for conflict management in clinical teams does not exist. ⋯ The conflict management educational intervention improved the participants' knowledge and affected perceptions. Categorization of open-ended questions suggested that intensive care providers are interested in concrete information that will help with conflict resolution, and some participants understood that mindfulness and awareness would improve professional interactions or reduce conflict.