Aust Crit Care
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Multicenter Study
Implementing an educational program to improve critical care nurses' enteral nutritional support.
Although international nutrition societies recommend enteral nutrition guidelines for patients in intensive care units (ICUs), large gaps exist between these recommendations and actual clinical practice. Education programs designed to improve nurses' knowledge about enteral nutrition are therefore required. In Korea, there are no educational intervention studies about evidence-based guidelines of enteral nutrition for critically ill patients. ⋯ The findings indicate that an enteral nutrition education program could be an effective strategy to increase critical care nurses' support for the critically ill. This education program can be incorporated into hospital education or in-service training for critical care nurses to strengthen their perceptions and knowledge of nutritional support in the ICU. This may improve the clinical outcomes of ICU patients.
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Observational Study
Investigating influencing factors of physical restraint use in China intensive care units: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study.
In this study, we characterised the use of physical restraints in three intensive care units (ICUs) in a general hospital in Nantong, China. Additionally, we explored risk factors potentially related to physical restraint use. ⋯ The overall prevalence of physical restraint use in Chinese ICUs was higher than that reported in previous investigations. The patients' nursing notes lacked complete physical restraint records, reflecting a need for standard guidelines and policies for physical restraint use in hospital ICUs in China. In addition, in this study, we explored the risk factors related to physical restraint use and found that age, delirium, mechanical ventilation, and analgesic use are associated with physical restraint use.
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Transitioning a patient from the operating theatre (OT) to the intensive care unit (ICU) is a dynamic and complex process. Handover of the critically ill postoperative patient can contribute to procedural and communication errors. Standardised protocols are means for structuring and improving handover content. Both have been shown to be effective in reducing information omission and improve communication during this transition period. ⋯ A single, multidisciplinary handover demonstrated improvement in handover practice despite low uptake of the protocol checklist. Further information is required to inform targeted strategies to improve uptake and sustainability although broader interdisciplinary engagement and commitment may be helpful.