Nursing in critical care
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Nursing in critical care · Jan 2011
ReviewUsing the prone position for ventilated patients with respiratory failure: a review.
this review explored the evidence relating to prone positioning in ventilated patients diagnosed with respiratory failure, including acute lung injury (ALI) or adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ⋯ nurses have a central role to play in the continual assessment and management of this patient group, including the position they are nursed in, not only to ensure the best clinical outcomes but also to provide care and comfort to the patient and their family. It is therefore important that their nursing practice and interventions are informed by the best available evidence.
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the aim of this pilot study was to describe family members' satisfaction with the care provided in a Swedish intensive care unit (ICU) based on the following needs: assurance, information, proximity, support, and comfort, which are all included in the Critical Care Family Satisfaction Survey (CCFSS). ⋯ the results highlight the family members' need for regular information and the need to improve the environment in the waiting rooms for family members. The ICU staff's competence and their way of encountering the ill person and their family seem to be important for family members' satisfaction with the care.
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The intensive care unit (ICU) is a dynamic, complex and, at times, highly stressful work environment that involves ongoing exposure to the complexities of interprofessional team functioning. Failures of communication, considered examples of poor collaboration among health care professionals, are the leading cause of inadvertent harm across all health care settings. Evidence suggests effective interprofessional collaboration results in improved outcomes for critically ill patients. ⋯ Tools such as checklists, guidelines and protocols are advocated, by some, as ways for nurses to gain influence and autonomy in clinical decision-making. Protocols to guide ICU practices such as sedation and weaning reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation in some studies, while others have failed to demonstrate this advantage. Existing organizational strategies that facilitate effective collaboration between health care professionals may contribute to this lack of effect.
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To determine the current practice among critical care nurses in the UK with regard to airway management during cuff deflation and extubation. ⋯ The majority of UK critical care nurses either suction the trachea during cuff deflation and extubation of patients and/or simply ask the patient to cough. Further clinical trials are required to identify the most appropriate and safe technique for critically ill patients.