Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · May 2024
Physicians' perceptions of intensive care patients' 1-year prognoses compared to realistic prognoses.
It is unknown whether physicians treating critically ill patients have realistic perceptions of their patients' prognoses. ⋯ Finnish anesthesiologists commonly misestimate the long-term prognoses of ICU patients, more often underestimating than overestimating the likelihood of 1-year survival. More education about critically ill patients' prognoses and better prediction tools are needed.
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Family members and close friends of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU) often experience stress and a sense of helplessness. Participating in the care of their loved one may improve their adaptation to the ICU environment and better prepare them for caregiving after discharge. ⋯ Further testing of the FWCS is needed. After refinement, the FWCS could be used to evaluate factors contributing to caregiving willingness of family members of ICU patients and advance the science related to family engagement in the ICU. Additionally, it could be used as a practical tool to suggest family caregiving activities in the ICU.
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Intensive care unit (ICU) patients experience hypoglycemia at nearly 4 times the rate seen in non-ICU counterparts. Although inpatient hypoglycemia management relies on nurse-driven protocols, protocol adherence varies between institutions and units. ⋯ Adherence to nurse-driven hypoglycemia protocols can be equally effective in ICU and non-ICU patients. Further research is needed to determine protocol adherence barriers and patient characteristics that influence response to hypoglycemia interventions.
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Intensive care medicine · May 2024
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyA randomised controlled trial of a nurse facilitator to promote communication for family members of critically ill patients.
Suboptimal communication with clinicians, fragmented care and failure to align with patients' preferences are determinants of post intensive care unit (ICU) burden in family members. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of a nurse facilitator on family psychological burden. ⋯ This study does not support the use of facilitators for family members of ICU patients.
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Intensive care medicine · May 2024
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEffects of restrictive fluid therapy on the time to resolution of hyperlactatemia in ICU patients with septic shock. A secondary post hoc analysis of the CLASSIC randomized trial.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of intravenous (IV) fluid restriction on time to resolution of hyperlactatemia in septic shock. Hyperlactatemia in sepsis is associated with worse outcome. Sepsis guidelines suggest targeting lactate clearance to guide fluid therapy despite the complexity of hyperlactatemia and the potential harm of fluid overload. ⋯ In this post hoc retrospective analysis of a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT), a restrictive intravenous fluid strategy did not seem to affect the time to resolution of hyperlactatemia in adult ICU patients with septic shock.