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In order to reduce the rate of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) in intensive care units, Northwestern Memorial Hospital implemented patient-care bundles in all ICUs in August 2005.
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This study showed that cleaning a stethoscope with an ethanol-based foam hand cleaner is as effective as wiping it with an isopropyl alcohol pad.
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In this paper, Krahn et al, from a Canadian consortium, report on the results of systematic evaluations in patients with unexplained cardiac arrest due to ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.
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The concept of abandoning the use of whole blood in favor of packed cells for the treatment of hypovolemia in obstetric hemorrhage should be questioned in view of this study's suggestion of a lower rate of acute tubular necrosis in patients treated with whole blood.
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In January 2009, the publication of an updated vancomycin monitoring guideline gave clinicians a set of recommendations on: 1) timing of monitoring, 2) optimal trough concentration, 3) dosing to achieve optimal trough concentrations, 4) loading doses for complicated infections, 5) criteria for monitoring, and 6) frequency of monitoring.
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Initiation of a respiratory therapist-driven protocol for assessment and management of risk for respiratory complications in the study hospital's neurosurgery step-down, trauma/surgery step-down, and trauma/surgery general units was followed by an increase in the number of patients receiving respiratory treatments, but decreases in ICU and hospital stays and overall hospital costs.
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The introduction of telemedicine in the ICU dates to the 1980s when Grundy and colleagues reported results of an 18-month trial using interactive television to provide consultation between university-based critical care physicians and a small (7-bed) inner city ICU with no intensivist of its own.
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After randomized controlled trials demonstrated the benefit of daily sedation and analgesia vacations in critically ill patients, sedation and analgesia practices in many centers changed, such that patients are now maintained at a lighter depth of sedation.
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After identifying the first 2 cases of novel influenza (H1N1) infection in the United States in mid-April 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided interim recommendations to reduce the risk of transmission in health care settings.
