Articles: critical-care.
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Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. · Nov 1995
Review[Infections in intensive care units. A challenge for the specialist of infectious diseases?].
There is an obvious need for teamwork between different specialists on the diagnosis and treatment of patients in an intensive care unit. The infectious disease specialist must contribute by establishing definite and quick diagnosis of infections and by employing an adequate and sensible antibiotic policy for successful treatment. The local microbiological flora should be kept at an acceptable level of resistance to antibiotics, and preventive measures should be chosen carefully. To achieve this goal, extensive knowledge on antibiotics and microbial epidemiology is essential.
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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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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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Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Nov 1995
ReviewMusic therapy: a nursing intervention for the control of pain and anxiety in the ICU: a review of the research literature.
Critical care patients experience both pain and anxiety related to their acute illness or injury and some painful treatments. Research on music therapy has shown that it can decrease pain and anxiety in critical care patients. This author suggests practice changes based on the body of research, which investigated the use of music.