Critical Care Alert – December 1, 2014
December 1, 2014
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Assessment of Pain in Non-vocal or Unresponsive ICU Patients
Pain defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage1 is a common symptom experienced by critically ill patients. -
The Choosing Wisely ® Top 5 List in Critical Care Medicine
The Choosing Wisely Campaign was introduced in 2011 by the American Board of Internal Medicine to identify practices and procedures physicians and patients should question. The critical care top 5 list was developed through a collaborative effort of several critical care societies. -
Can the Physical Layout of an ICU Influence Delirium Rates?
Delirium, or acute brain dysfunction, is a syndrome that affects many patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). A number of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors contribute to the development of delirium, such as illness severity, receipt of benzodiazepine medications, and metabolic alterations. -
Do Arterial Catheters Improve Patient Care in the ICU?
Gershengorn and colleagues used prospectively collected data from the Project IMPACT database (a nationwide, voluntary, proprietary database for assessing performance of U.S. ICUs with respect to patient outcomes and numerous other variables) to examine the question of whether the use of arterial catheters (ACs) in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients was associated with improved survival or other documentable benefits.