Nursing in critical care
-
Nursing in critical care · Sep 2017
Comparative Study Observational StudyReliability of blood test results in samples obtained using a 2-mL discard volume from the proximal lumen of a triple-lumen central venous catheter in the critically ill patient.
Intensive care patients require a high frequency of blood testing, which results in a significant amount of blood loss. When blood is obtained from a central venous catheter (CVC), a large volume is usually discarded to obtain an unaltered sample for testing. ⋯ The main benefit of the method proposed is reduced blood loss, improving the care of a critically ill patient.
-
Nursing in critical care · Sep 2017
Multicenter StudyKnowledge, attitude and practice of intensive care unit nurses about physical restraint.
Physical restraint is mainly used in intensive care units (ICUs) to prevent delirious or agitated patients from removing tubes and lines connected to them. However, inappropriate use of physical restraint could have many detrimental physical effects on the patient, such as nerve damage, asphyxiation or even death. ⋯ Conducting education programmes on physical restraint for ICU nurses and providing other preventive strategies are important in improving nurses' knowledge, attitude and practice.
-
Nursing in critical care · Sep 2017
Paediatric intensive care nurses' decision-making around gastric residual volume measurement.
Measuring gastric residual volume (GRV) to guide enteral feeding is a common nursing practice in intensive care units, yet little evidence supports this practice. In addition, this practice has been shown to potentially contribute to inadequate energy delivery in intensive care, which remains a problem in critically ill children. ⋯ This nursing practice is likely to be one of the factors that impair the delivery of enteral nutrition in critically ill children, and as such, its validity and usefulness needs to be challenged and studied in future research.
-
Nursing in critical care · Jul 2017
Sleep in the intensive care unit - nurses' documentation and patients' perspectives.
Inability to sleep is one of the most distressing factors for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Sleep is perceived as light and awakenings are numerous. Nurses' documentations of sleep are narrow, mainly concentrating on the quantity and general quality. Nurses should diversely evaluate, document and promote sleep to provide patient centered care. ⋯ Evaluation and documentation of patients' sleep must include patients' own perception to be comprehensive. Nurses' documentation should include all elements of nursing process.
-
Nursing in critical care · Jul 2017
ReviewPost-ICU symptoms, consequences, and follow-up: an integrative review.
To determine the symptoms seen in patients after discharge from an intensive care unit (ICU) and the follow-up programmes offered to help patients deal with the problems that arise after an ICU stay. ⋯ ICU staff as well as other professionals should prepare patients and relatives for the fact that they may need various types of help for many months after discharge from the ICU, and an overview of national and local opportunities for help should be offered.