Critical care nurse最新文献

Background: In critical care settings during night shift, the number of staff members is reduced and a designated time for structured patient care discussions is often absent. The absence of organized collaboration and shared decision-making strains professional relationships.

Local problem: In a 21-bed cardiovascular intensive care unit, advanced practice providers were frequently interrupted by night shift nurses to discuss nonurgent clinical matters while engaged in patient care activities.

Methods: This quality improvement project used a preintervention-postintervention design. Surveys were distributed to advanced practice providers and nurses to determine perceptions of communication. All advanced practice providers and nurses working night shift in the cardiovascular intensive care unit were included. Nightly bedside rounds for advanced practice providers and nurses using a goal sheet to improve communication were implemented in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. Preintervention and postintervention scores on survey subscales (perceptions of collaboration, workflow, and communication) were examined with analysis of variance for both groups.

Results: Mean scores increased after the intervention for both advanced practice providers and nurses. Scores for perception of collaboration significantly increased for both advanced practice providers and nurses (both P = .01). The score for perception of workflow significantly increased for nurses (P < .001) but not for advanced practice providers. Scores for perception of communication did not significantly change for either group.

Conclusion: Implementation of bedside rounds using a goal sheet for advanced practice providers and nurses working night shift in the cardiovascular intensive care unit improved perceptions of collaboration and workflow.

Background: For patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, early mobility decreases mechanical ventilation time, delirium incidence, and length of intensive care unit stay and improves physical functioning. Individual centers use institutional guidelines to develop ambulation protocols. Local Problem A quality improvement initiative was used to evaluate an ambulation protocol for adult intensive care unit patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Methods: Adult patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation who walked according to the protocol were compared with a historical control group of patients who walked without the protocol. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and independent t tests. Outcomes included adverse safety events, number of patients and ambulation sessions, standing and ambulation time, and distance.

Results: From January to March 2021, 13 of 46 patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (28%) walked according to the protocol. In the control group, 14 of 147 patients (10%) walked in 2019; 21 of 144 patients (15%) walked in 2020. Some characteristics of the control group (hospitalized before the COVID-19 pandemic) differed from those of the protocol group (hospitalized during the pandemic). Mean number of ambulation sessions was not significantly different between groups (protocol group, 10; control group, 9). Differences in mean standing time (protocol group, 121.23 minutes; control group, 210.80 minutes), ambulation time (protocol group, 11.77 minutes; control group, 198.70 minutes), and ambulation distance were not significant.

Conclusions: Standing time, ambulation time, and distance were not significantly different between the groups. The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ambulation protocol demonstrated clinical significance by increasing the number of patients walking.

Background: Prolonged intubation has been associated with unfavorable outcomes after cardiac surgery. A standardized approach is needed to ensure prompt extubation and shorten intensive care unit stays.

Local problem: This quality improvement project was designed to evaluate the impact of a fast-track extubation protocol on time to extubation and intensive care unit length of stay.

Methods: The intervention group consisted of 26 adult cardiac surgery patients who underwent the fast-track extubation protocol. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare time to extubation and intensive care unit length of stay in this group with those of a pair-matched control group of patients from the previous year who did not undergo the fast-track extubation protocol.

Interventions: An evidence-based literature review was used to develop a fast-track extubation protocol involving extubation in less than 6 hours. An educational activity was created to improve intensive care unit staff members' knowledge of the fast-track extubation protocol, and its effectiveness was measured by a posttest score of 80%.

Results: The percentage of patients with extubation times of less than 6 hours was significantly higher in the fast-track extubation protocol group than in the pair-matched control group (U = 179, P = .003). The mean intensive care unit stay decreased from 2.92 days in the control group to 1.85 days in the fast-track extubation protocol group.

Conclusion: Implementing a fast-track extubation protocol for adult cardiac surgery patients shortened time to extubation and intensive care unit stay, expediting and improving recovery processes in the intensive care unit.

Background: Coronary artery bypass graft surgery is one of the most common cardiac procedures performed worldwide. The longer these patients remain in bed, the greater their risk of postoperative complications and prolonged length of stay.

Local problem: At the authors' institution, the average length of stay after coronary artery bypass graft surgery was 7.27 days, longer than the national average of 6.9 days. This quality improvement project was undertaken to increase these patients' postoperative mobility and thereby reduce their length of stay.

Methods: Data on mobility and length of stay of patients with isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery during an 8-week period were collected retrospectively to establish preintervention values. These values were compared with postintervention values for an equivalent period. An evidence-based nurse-driven early mobility protocol was used to mobilize appropriate patients from bed to chair on postoperative day 0. This level of mobility was documented as a score of 4 on the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility Scale.

Results: From before to after protocol implementation, the postoperative length of stay decreased by 1.04 days. None of the 103 patients in the preintervention group scored a 4 on the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility Scale, compared with 36 of 134 patients in the intervention group. The difference in postoperative length of stay was clinically but not statistically significant (2-sided P = 1.95).

Conclusion: Early mobility may help improve patient outcomes by reducing hospital length of stay and minimizing complications associated with prolonged immobility.

Introduction: Noninvasive ventilation therapy is a common approach in acute respiratory failure as an alternative to invasive mechanical ventilation. Assistive communication strategies are necessary to overcome communication impairments and anxiety caused by oronasal obstruction in pediatric intensive care unit patients undergoing noninvasive ventilation.

Clinical findings and diagnosis: A 7-year-old girl was admitted with a history of pulmonary arterial hypertension and recurrent respiratory failure requiring bilevel positive airway pressure intervention. The patient experienced initial lack of bilevel positive airway pressure mask compliance due to oronasal mask discomfort.

Interventions: The trial of a novel communication device (SPEAX, Ataia Medical) involving a microphone that attaches to the patient's bilevel positive airway pressure mask for enhanced communication.

Outcomes: Use of the assistive communication device was associated with increased intelligibility to familiar listeners, mask compliance, enhanced mobility, and reduced patient anxiety levels throughout hospitalization and in later episodes of readmission.

Conclusion: The implementation of assistive communication devices can alleviate communication barriers in pediatric bilevel positive airway pressure users, contributing to increased compliance and diminished anxiety for patients and caregivers. Providing a pathway for effective communication may reduce sedation use, minimizing risks of sedation-related delirium and improving overall quality of life in these patients.

Background: Patients with cardiogenic shock have a 25% to 50% mortality rate despite the introduction of mechanical circulatory devices and coordinated medical treatment. The use of shock teams has improved outcomes for these patients.

Local problem: A cardiovascular hospital with a multidisciplinary shock team had inconsistency and delays in recognition and diagnosis of patients with cardiogenic shock.

Methods: A nurse-led, preintervention-postintervention quality improvement project was performed in April and May 2021 and in April and May 2022 within a cardiovascular hospital in north Texas. The 2 nursing staff interventions regarding shock team activation were education and shock alert implementation. Time from first signs to diagnosis (for inpatients) and time from initial transfer request to acceptance (for transferring patients) were measured. Descriptive and statistical analyses were conducted using R, version 4.0.0 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing).

Results: The mean (SD) time to diagnosis of cardiogenic shock decreased significantly from 17.98 (28.39) hours in the preintervention group (n = 25) to 8.15 (12.26) hours in the postintervention group (n = 45; P = .045). For patients with cardiogenic shock transferring from referring hospitals, the median (IQR) time to acceptance was 1.55 (0.08-3.18) hours in the preintervention group and 0.35 (0.00-0.72) hours in the postintervention group (P < .001).

Conclusions: Nursing staff interventions regarding shock team activation significantly improved the time of diagnosis and acceptance of patients with cardiogenic shock in a cardiovascular hospital, enhancing the overall quality of care provided to these patients.

Introduction: Nearly one-quarter of adult critical illness survivors develop posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms triggered by sensory stimuli after intensive care unit discharge. Intensive care unit delirium is a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder. Compressed virtual reality exposure therapy (C-VRET) incorporates sensory stimuli to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms through habituation.

Clinical findings and diagnosis: A critical illness survivor developed intensive care unit delirium and enrolled in a C-VRET trial to treat posttraumatic stress disorder. She reported self-isolation because of infection fears and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms triggered by medical commercials and lawn equipment sounds. She repetitively checked her heart rate at night for fear of missing illness signs and waking up intubated.

Interventions: The participant completed therapy. Screening tests were administered before, 2 weeks after, and 3 months after therapy to measure posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5; range, 0-60), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; range, 0-60), physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and resiliency (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; range, 0-100).

Outcomes: The participant's posttraumatic stress disorder symptom scores declined from 36 to 11 to 5; depression scores declined from 19 to 5 to 1; physical activity scores increased from 499 to 2013 to 4599; and resiliency scores increased from 70 to 76 to 83.

Conclusion: This report highlights the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in critical illness survivors and the importance of strategies to limit delirium and posttraumatic stress disorder. Compressed virtual reality exposure therapy may reduce posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in critical illness survivors.