Articles: intensive-care-units.
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This study was designed to describe the level of sound in acute patient care areas. A convenience sample of 25 subjects from four intensive care and two general care units within three hospitals in a large metropolitan area was studied. Continuous decibel levels [dB(A)] and equivalent continuous sound pressure levels [LEQ] were measured for 24 continuous hours. ⋯ Decibel levels generated from equipment reached 90 dB(A) in some instances. Patients' perceptions ranged from content to highly perturbed. Although some sources of noise were not immediately changeable, other were adaptable, preventable, or reducible.
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The portability of modern real-time ultrasound units has led to a marked increase in the demand for examinations in medical, surgical, and pediatric intensive care units, the pediatric nursery, and the operating room. The results of all portable ultrasound examinations in the medical and surgical intensive care units at the Massachusetts General Hospital over a four-month period were analyzed to determine the efficacy of such studies. Of 48 examinations, portable sonograms were useful in 90 per cent, found new, clinically important information in 17 per cent, and led to misleading information in 4 per cent. Portable ultrasound examinations are valuable clinically and are probably cost effective.
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This study focused on the degree of burnout experienced by nurses in intensive care units and nonintensive care units. Nurses in both the surgical and medical ICUs, as well as nurses in the intermediate surgical and medical units and general surgical and medical units of a large, university hospital were the subjects. The data indicated that nurses in the ICUs did not differ in level of burnout from nurses in the other units. Across units, however, nurses who were characterized as more "hardy" experienced lower levels of burnout than nurses lower in this construct.