Aust Crit Care
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Continuing education for intensive care unit nurses on invasive mechanical ventilation is fundamental to the acquisition and maintenance of knowledge and skills to optimise patient outcomes. ⋯ Registered nurses are commencing their ICU experience with limited knowledge of invasive MV therefore the education provided within the ICU workplace becomes fundamental to safe and effective practice. The perception of continuing education by ICU nurses from this research is positive regardless of level of ICU experience and may influence the type of continuing education on invasive MV provided to ICU nurses in the future, not only in the ICU involved in this study, but other units throughout Australia.
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Medical Emergency Teams (METs) have been developed and implemented with the aim of improving recognition of and response to deteriorating patients. Yet, METs are often not activated or used effectively by nursing staff. The reasons for this are not fully understood. ⋯ This work identifies why nurses do not activate METs appropriately. This delay in MET activation potentially exposes the deteriorating patient to suboptimal care and increases the risk of adverse events.
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There continues to be considerable amount of interest in decompressive craniectomy however its use is controversial. It is technically straightforward however it is not without significant complications and although there is currently unequivocal evidence available that it can be a life saving intervention, evidence that outcome is improved over and above standard medical therapy is less forthcoming. This narrative review considers the current role of decompressive craniectomy in the management of neurological emergencies and focuses on four specific questions, namely; (i) Is the decompressive craniectomy a life saving procedure? (ii) Does decompressive craniectomy improve outcome? (iii) Are there any risks associated with decompressive craniectomy? (iv) How do patients feel about their eventual outcome? Finally the future directions for the use of decompressive craniectomy are explored.