Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Critical care nurse · Aug 2024
ReviewStrategies to Improve Sleep Quality in Intensive Care Unit Patients.
Patients in intensive care units are exposed to many factors that can negatively affect the quality of their sleep. ⋯ The most effective way to improve sleep for intensive care unit patients is to use a combination of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions. Among the latter, the use of earplugs and sleep masks is simplest.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2024
ReviewA shift towards targeted post-ICU treatment: Multidisciplinary care for cardiac arrest survivors.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivorship comprises a burgeoning area of critical care medicine, largely due to our improved understanding of and concern for patients' recovery trajectory, and efforts to mitigate the post-acute complications of critical illness. Expansion of care beyond hospitalization is necessary, yet evidence for post-ICU clinics remains limited and mixed, as both interventions and target populations studied to date are too heterogenous to meaningfully demonstrate efficacy. Here, we briefly present the existing evidence and limitations related to post-ICU clinics, identify cardiac arrest survivors as a unique ICU subpopulation warranting further investigation and treatment, and propose a clinical framework that addresses the multifaceted needs of this well-defined patient population.
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Aug 2024
ReviewSustainability of the Subspecialty of Anesthesiology Critical Care: An Expert Consensus and Review of the Literature.
While considerable literature exists with respect to clinical aspects of critical care anesthesiology (CCA) practice, few publications have focused on how anesthesiology-based critical care practices are organized and the challenges associated with the administration and management of anesthesiology critical care units. Currently, numerous challenges are affecting the sustainability of CCA practice, including decreased applications to fellowship positions and decreased reimbursement for critical care work. This review describes what is known about the subspecialty of CCA and leverages the experience of administrative leaders in adult critical care anesthesiologists in the United States to describe potential solutions.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2024
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyAssessment of the comparative agreement between chest radiographs and CT scans in intensive care units.
Chest radiographs in critically ill patients can be difficult to interpret due to technical and clinical factors. We sought to determine the agreement of chest radiographs and CT scans, and the inter-observer variation of chest radiograph interpretation, in intensive care units (ICUs). ⋯ Chest radiographs commonly miss important radiological features in critically ill patients. Inter-observer agreement in chest radiograph interpretation is only "fair". Consultant radiologists are least likely to miss thoracic radiological abnormalities. The consequences of misdiagnosis by chest radiographs remain to be determined.
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To maintain a clean and hygienic environment in the intensive care unit (ICU) is crucial for ensuring patient safety, preventing infections, and reducing healthcare-associated complications. With the increasing prevalence of infections and the emergence of viral and bacterial resistance to standard antiseptics, there is a pressing need for innovative antiseptic solutions. ⋯ We highlight the effectiveness of the nanotechnology-based bactericide Bio-Kil in reducing bacterial counts in an ICU. The aim is to educate healthcare professionals on the existing role and prospects of nanotechnology in addressing prevalent infectious diseases.