Critical care nurse最新文献

Background: Pressure injuries are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and cost. Patients with delayed sternal closure after cardiac surgery are at increased risk of developing pressure injury because of their reduced mobility and inability to undergo complete skin assessment.

Local problem: Safe patient handling of patients with delayed sternal closure is challenging because of mobility restrictions, leading to increased risk for patient and staff harm.

Methods: An interprofessional team composed of bedside nurses, ergonomic specialists, a wound ostomy continence nurse, and cardiothoracic surgeons developed a patient mobility protocol for patients with delayed sternal closure consisting of levitating the patient for thorough skin assessment and care. A multimodal educational strategy was used to disseminate the new protocol. Patient information was collected on the type of surgery, results of the levitation, completion of the skin assessment, and subsequent interventions. Staff injury related to this work was monitored.

Results: After implementation of the protocol, 84 levitations were performed including 50 patients. No staff injuries were reported. Comprehensive skin assessments and care were completed for 98% of patients. Five patients were identified with pressure injury development, and appropriate interventions were applied.

Discussion: A standardized patient mobility protocol for patients with delayed sternal closure that leveraged available equipment was successful in reducing the risk for injury among staff and patients. The protocol allowed assessment and care and thus also reduced the risk for pressure injury development in these patients.

Conclusion: Development of an innovative protocol to safely mobilize patients with delayed sternal closure resulted in improved patient care and increased staff safety.

Background: Critically ill infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit are at risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia and abnormal oral colonization. Adherence to evidence-based guidelines for oral care in critically ill adults is associated with improved short- and long-term health outcomes. However, oral care guidelines for critically ill infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit have not been established, possibly increasing their risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia and other health complications.

Objective: To describe and summarize the evidence regarding oral care for critically ill infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and to identify gaps needing further investigation.

Methods: The MEDLINE (through PubMed) and CINAHL databases were searched for observational studies and randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of oral care on oral colonization, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and health outcomes of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Results: This review of 5 studies yielded evidence that oral care may promote a more commensal oral and endotracheal tube aspirate microbiome. It may also reduce the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia and length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. However, the paucity of research regarding oral care in this population and differences in oral care procedures, elements used, and timing greatly limit any possible conclusions.

Conclusions: Oral care in critically ill infants may be especially important because of their suppressed immunity and physiological immaturity. Further appropriately powered studies that control for potential covariates, monitor for adverse events, and use recommended definitions of ventilator-associated pneumonia are needed to make clinical recommendations.

Background: Medical advances and decreased mortality rates in the pediatric intensive care unit have increased the number of children surviving illnesses they may not have survived previously. The term child with medical complexity is poorly defined.

Objectives: The purposes of this scoping review were to examine the experiences of parents of children with medical complexity in the pediatric intensive care unit and describe strategies to help support these parents.

Results: Eight studies were eligible for inclusion. All were published from 2009 through 2021. One study was a quantitative observational study, 2 were mixed-methods studies, and 5 had a qualitative design. Parents experienced significant stress and depression. Sources of stress were parenting a child with complex chronic illness in the pediatric intensive care unit, uncertainty, communication between family members and clinicians, and lack of subspecialty communication. Strategies to assist parents included respecting parents' expertise and providing consistent and clear communication with family members and among subspecialty clinicians.

Conclusion: This review is the first to examine the experiences of parents of children with medical complexity in the pediatric intensive care unit. The study was limited by lack of available research and lack of consensus for the definition of child with medical complexity. However, this review describes strategies that nurses may find useful when caring for parents of children with medical complexity.

Patients with alterations in level of consciousness are among the most difficult to assess, so knowledge of how to assess these patients is important for tracking trends and identifying changes. This article discusses methods used to assess patients admitted with an altered level of consciousness and describes the neurological assessment of and potential causes for altered level of consciousness. Identifying and understanding certain examination findings enable faster recognition and intervention for life-threatening neurological events, directly impacting outcomes for neurologically compromised individuals.

Background: Intra-abdominal hypertension is a comorbid condition in critically ill children, is an independent predictor of mortality, and has harmful effects on multiple organ systems through renal, pulmonary or hemodynamic damage. Intra-abdominal pressure monitoring is widely used in clinical practice because it is a safe, accurate, inexpensive, and rapid method for the clinical diagnosis of intra-abdominal hypertension.

Objective: To improve pediatric critical care nurses' understanding of and ability to perform intra-abdominal pressure monitoring and provide a reference for standardizing intra-abdominal pressure monitoring in clinical practice.

Methods: A literature review was performed using the following keywords: intra-abdominal pressure, bladder pressure, vesicular pressure, measurement, monitoring, critically ill children, pediatric intensive care, pediatric, and children. Four hundred fifty-four articles were initially identified and screened; 24 were included.

Results: The monitoring and management of intra-abdominal pressure should include appropriate and clinically proven intra-abdominal pressure measurement techniques, appropriate patients, the proper frequency of measurement, and a repeatable intra-abdominal pressure measurement method.

Conclusions: Knowledge of intra-abdominal pressure monitoring in critically ill children enhances the ability of nurses in clinical practice to accurately measure intra-abdominal pressure to improve the timeliness and accuracy of clinical identification of intra-abdominal hypertension and guide decompression interventions.