Articles: critical-care.
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Providing emergency medicine at the entrance to the hospital proves to be a sufficient link between pre- and inhospital medical care. The aim of our study is to investigate how many open ward and intensive care facilities can be saved within the hospital by the emergency department. Therefore, the data of our emergency department within a 2000-bed teaching hospital are retrospectively analysed. ⋯ Of the delayed care patients, 93061 (96%) were discharged and 4200 (4%) were admitted to an open ward. Of 5150 patients with life-threatening diseases, 551 (11%) needed an intensive care unit and 2328 (45%) an open ward. Providing acute and immediate care in our emergency department saves both intensive care and open ward facilities of the hospital.
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Although nurse educators and nurse managers have disagreed about which clinical competencies are necessary for new graduates to begin working in critical care, the competencies are in need of revision and reassessment. ⋯ The agreement between nurse educators and nurse managers supports a competency list for baccalaureate nursing curricula and hospital inservice programs to integrate new graduates into critical care.
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Critical care nurses frequently care for patients receiving propofol infusions for sedation and control of stress responses. A previous article described the pharmacodynamics of propofol; this article focuses on interventions to improve outcomes in these patients.