The centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) has issued updated guidance to help infection control professionals prevent costly intravascular catheter-related bloodstream infections (BSIs).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Smallpox Vaccination and Adverse ReactionsGuidance for Clinicians in the Jan. 24th edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The guidance is a thorough review of the smallpox vaccine with a well-illustrated compendium of complications.
The purpose of this pre- and postintervention observation study was to evaluate the effect of an educational initiative on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rate. The educational program was directed towards respiratory therapists and critical care nurses.
Synopsis: This carefully done systematic review of the existing literature shows that overall mortality and ICU length of stay are better with increasing involvement of critical care physicians in patient care.
The fatality rates for hospital-associated pneumonia in general, and of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in particular, are high. For hospital-associated pneumonia, attributable mortality rates of 20% to 33% have been reported, according to the draft pneumonia prevention guideline by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Ventilator-related deaths and injuries often are caused by multiple system failures, especially in the ICU, according to a recent report from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
This article, the second of two parts, deals with the potentially disastrous situation in which either the patients airway presents a substantial challenge or standard intubation methods have failed.