Articles: intensive-care-units.
-
Critical care medicine · Jul 1988
Case ReportsAutopsy as quality assurance in the intensive care unit.
A prospective study of 100 autopsies was carried out. The clinical and pathologic diagnoses were made independently by intensivists and pathologists; at the end of the study, the differences were determined. There were seven Class I errors (which if detected before death, would probably have led to a change in management that might have resulted in cure or prolonged survival), six of these relating to the basic disease and one to the cause of death. ⋯ In 61% of the patients, the major and minor diagnoses coincided. In 77% of the patients, the major diagnoses coincided. No relationship was found between the incidence of Class I and Class II errors and the length of the patients' stay in the ICU.
-
Burn trauma is the most devastating injury the body can sustain. Each year, 100,000 victims will sustain burn injuries serious enough to require hospitalization; 35% of these victims are children. ⋯ The primary nurse and physician collaborate with the rest of the health care team to manage all aspects of care. This approach assures that coordination of care occurs and allows the family the opportunity to maintain a unique role as the primary caregiver.
-
Aviat Space Envir Md · Jun 1988
Long distance transport of cardiac patients in extremis: the mobile intensive care (MOBI) concept.
Critically ill cardiac patients may require transport to distant centers. Their clinical demands often exceed the capabilities of land or air ambulance services. To provide this service, a new, safe, and cost-effective concept for transport of the critically ill was developed. ⋯ Five patients were transported by ground ambulance. All patients survived the transport: no complications were attributed to the transport process. The system is cost effective since slight modification is required in regular ambulance or chartered aircraft to provide the highest level of care.
-
The delirium that is commonly associated with admission to an intensive care setting (intensive care unit [ICU] psychosis) may be terrifying to the patient, but may go undetected by the nurse. Our current understanding of this delirium is discussed according to incidence, defining characteristics, and etiologic or contributing factors such as predisposing patient factors, pharmacologic agents, and environmental factors. ⋯ These episodes of delirium are examined with reference to sensory-perceptual, perceptual or sensory alterations. We discuss nursing interventions that help to prevent or lessen the impact of delirium before an ICU admission, during the ICU course, and after discharge from the ICU.