Articles: patient-care.
-
Hemodynamic monitoring gives early warning of changes in a critically ill patient's condition. Accuracy is essential; for example, a blood pressure cuff is inaccurate at low pressures. Hospitalized adults will usually have a higher central venous pressure, so a CVP less than 4 cm H(2)O may indicate hypovolemia. ⋯ Measurement of cardiac output eliminates the need for arterial and mixed venous blood samples, and can be valuable in decision-making. Calculation of vascular resistance can also be very important in management of the critically ill. With today's facilities, routine clinical assessment is no longer adequate care for these patients.
-
The patients of a community health centre who visited a hospital emergency department were compared with a random sample of the patients who visited the health centre during the same four months. Visiting rate to the emergency department was higher for teenagers and patients over 60. Emergency department visitors were more frequent users of health care, both at the health centre and in the emergency department. No differences were found between the two groups concerning sex, length of time as a patient, continuity of care, and distance of home from hospital or health centre.