Resp Care
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Review
Severity scores in respiratory intensive care: APACHE II predicted mortality better than SAPS II.
In recent years several scoring systems have been developed to describe the severity of illness, to establish the individual prognosis, and to group adult ICU patients by predicted risk of mortality. In addition, these scores can be used to measure and/or compare the quality of care in different ICUs. We compared the mortality predictions of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score and a new Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) in patients with respiratory disease who require intensive care. ⋯ The APACHE II score was a good predictor of hospital outcome and better than SAPS II in our population.
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Respiratory care practitioners (RCPs) serve as the primary providers of neonatal endotracheal intubation (ETI) in our institution. ETIs are performed by registered respiratory therapists who have completed Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Neonatal Advanced Life Support training and have successfully completed 3 intubations under the direct supervision of a senior therapist. The purpose of this study was to (1) ascertain whether RCPs can successfully provide this type of service with acceptable complications rates and (2) survey the economic impact of this practice on patient charges in our hospital. ⋯ RCPs can successfully serve as primary providers of neonatal ETI at a Level-II nursery in a community hospital, and this practice may result in a cost reduction.