Articles: intensive-care-units.
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To study the referral patterns of obstetric clinics, and the performance of receiving intensive care units measured by the survival of transported neonates, transport records were collected prospectively between July, 1991 and June, 1992. Two hundred and fifty-four transported neonates born in 51 obstetric clinics (level I units) in Tainan City and County, in southern Taiwan, were enrolled in this study. Nineteen percent of the transported neonates were very low birthweight infants (< 1500 g). ⋯ Approximately 56% of these normal birthweight infants in level II units died of severe birth asphyxia. The referral patterns of level 1 units had an unfavorable effect on the survival of neonates requiring mechanical ventilation. Enhancing the skills of the staff in level I units to recognize and stabilize such infants, elevating the capability of level II units in treating some of these cases, and increasing the hospital beds for level III care are necessary to increase their chance of survival.
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Am J Infect Control · Apr 1997
Cost analysis and clinical impact of weekly ventilator circuit changes in patients in intensive care unit.
The introduction of heated circuits and sealed, single-use humidifiers has prompted some investigators to question the traditional recommendations for changing ventilator circuits. We studied the clinical and cost impact of extending the circuit change interval from 72 hours to 7 days in our two intensive care units with 17 beds. ⋯ Weekly circuited changes in patients undergoing ventilation therapy in the intensive care unit are cost-effective and do not contribute to increased rates of nosocomial pneumonia.
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To identify areas requiring the most urgent improvement in the intensive care unit (ICU); and to accurately determine the positive predictive value of routine critical care patient monitoring alarms, as well as the common causes for false-positive alarms. ⋯ Efforts to develop intelligent monitoring systems have more potential to deliver significantly improved patient care by initially targeting especially weak areas in ICU monitoring, such as pulse oximetry reliability.