Aust Crit Care
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Critical care nurses are responsible for administering sedative medications to mechanically ventilated patients. With significant advancements in the understanding of the impact of sedative exposure on physiological and psychological outcomes of ventilated patients, updated practice guidelines for assessment and management of pain, agitation, and delirium in the intensive care unit were released in 2013. The primary aim of this qualitative study was to identify and describe themes derived from critical care nurses' comments regarding sedation administration practices with mechanically ventilated patients. ⋯ Critical care nurses endorse recommendations to minimise sedation administration when possible, but a variety of factors, including personal perspectives, impact sedation administration in the intensive care unit and need to be considered. Critical care nurses continue to encounter numerous challenges when assessing and managing sedation of mechanically ventilated patients.
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Implementation of quality improvement interventions can be enhanced by exploring the perspectives of those who will deliver and receive them. We designed a non-pharmacological bundle for delirium management for a feasibility trial, and we sought to obtain the views of intensive care unit (ICU) staff, survivors, and families on the barriers and facilitators to its implementation. ⋯ Generally, the bundle was deemed acceptable and deliverable. However, like any complex intervention, component adaptations will be required depending on resources available to the ICU; in particular, involvement of pharmacists in the ward round and physiotherapists in mobilising intubated patients.