Crit Care Resusc
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Persistent critical illness (PerCI) is associated with high mortality and discharge to institutional care. Little is known about factors involved in its progression, complications and cause of death. We aimed to identify such factors and the time when the original illness was no longer the reason for intensive care unit (ICU) stay. ⋯ PerCI likely results from complications acquired after ICU admission and mostly unrelated to the original illness; by Day 10, the original illness does not appear to be its cause, and new sepsis appears an important association.
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Observational Study
Perceived Discomfort in Patients admitted to Intensive Care (DETECT DISCOMFORT 1): a prospective observational study.
Discomfort experienced by patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) is an important indicator of the quality of care provided, but few studies have evaluated the incidence and magnitude of discomfort in critically ill patients. The IPREA (Inconforts des Patients de REAnimation) discomfort questionnaire is a tool developed by French intensivists and validated in the French language with good internal consistency (Cronbach's α, 0.78). ⋯ Patients admitted to our ICU reported low overall discomfort. There was an inverse relationship between age and perceived discomfort. The translated questionnaire for measuring discomfort performed well in our setting and could be applied to the Australian population.
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To characterise intubation practices in Australian and New Zealand intensive care units (ICUs) and investigate clinician support for establishing airway management guidelines in Australian and New Zealand ICUs. ⋯ Variation of practices in intubation was noted in the participants. Approximately 61% of respondents supported the development of Australian and New Zealand ICU airway management guidelines, and 80% supported mandatory airway management training.