Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Axone (Dartmouth, N.S.) · Dec 1995
Clinical indicators contributing to I.C.U. length of stay in elective craniotomy patients with brain tumour.
The immediate purposes of this study are (a) to indicate the I. C. U. and hospital length of stay in elective craniotomy patients with brain tumour, and (b) to identify the clinical indicators that contribute to the I. ⋯ C. U. length of stay, and post-op complications. The results of this pilot study, with sample size of 55 patients, could assist us in the nursing profession to develop an appropriate Care Map for craniotomy patients with brain tumour.
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To examine the limits of the effectiveness of critical care through the study of patients for whom it was ineffective. ⋯ Patients in the PIC category consumed a large portion of the resources devoted to critical care at an academic teaching hospital. We suggest a change in focus from assessment of the quality of critical care and risk-adjusted mortality to an assessment of ineffective care based on outcome and resource use and a patient's response to treatment over time.
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More than 250,000 women will die of cancer in the United States this year, almost 10% of which are due to gynecologic malignancies. Many of these women will have received care in the intensive care unit (ICU). With important advances in medical technology and the advent of an expanded pharmacologic armamentarium, our ability to maintain life has increased greatly over the past few years. ⋯ Decisions regarding admission to an ICU, level of care, and termination of care must take into account patient and family wishes, a reasonable estimation of the reversibility of the acute disease process in question, and the natural history of the underlying disease. Many prognostic scoring systems have been devised to estimate the probability of death among adult ICU patients; however, most of these systems were developed with data from trauma patients rather than from patients with an underlying malignancy, and none are capable of predicting which patient will die. Decisions concerning level of care in the ICU will necessarily involve medical as well as ethical considerations and are best made with a team approach.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The cost-effectiveness of a special care unit to care for the chronically critically ill.
To assess the relative value of healthcare programs, technologic innovations, and clinical decisions, policymakers are searching for ways to evaluate cost-effectiveness. What constitutes cost-effectiveness and how should it be measured? The authors discuss ways in which the cost-effectiveness of clinical programs can be measured and describes various methods of assessing both costs and effectiveness. Comparison of the cost-effectiveness of a nurse managed special care unit with that of traditional intensive care units illustrates some of these methods.
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J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs · Nov 1995
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialEvaluation of three types of support surfaces for preventing pressure ulcers in patients in a surgical intensive care unit.
Because critical care nurses recognize that many of their patients are at risk for pressure ulcer development, they provide them with support surfaces that can reduce this risk. Few reported studies, however, are available to help these nurses choose these surfaces wisely. This project was a new-product evaluation that compared the clinical effectiveness of three types of support surfaces: two dynamic mattress replacement surfaces and a static foam mattress replacement. ⋯ Although these three surfaces were comparable in effectiveness, they were not comparable in cost. Both dynamic mattress replacement surfaces cost approximately $2000 each, whereas the cost of the static foam mattress replacement was only $240 each. The results of this product evaluation should encourage other nurses to evaluate patient care products carefully before making recommendations.