Anxiety Sensitivity ‘What If’ Fears Impact Care for ICU Patients, During and After Hospitalization

Clinicians need to have a better understanding of the potential impact of patients’ anxiety sensitivity, or “fear of fear,” falsely believing that symptoms are the early signs of something bad, such as a heart attack, cognitive decline or social isolation.

Johns Hopkins Physicians and Engineers Develop Search for AI Program That Accurately Predicts Risk of ‘ICU Delirium’

More than one-third of all people admitted to the hospital, and as many as 80% of all patients in an intensive care unit (ICU), develop delirium, a type of brain dysfunction marked by sudden bouts of confusion, inattention, paranoia, or even agitation and hallucinations. An intensivist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University engineering students, report they have developed artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that can detect the early warning signs of delirium and can predict — at any time during an ICU stay — a high risk of delirium for a significant number of patients.

Alabama Symphony Orchestra musicians perform virtual concerts for sickest COVID-19 patients at UAB Hospital

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the sickest patients at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital have had their troubles eased, however briefly, thanks to an innovative musical project. Helping those patients recover — and keeping their spirits up amid the isolation the virus requires — is the motivation for the project, an effort between UAB health care staff and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

Communication should be a vital sign, researchers argue

In an editorial published June 19 in the journal Critical Care Medicine, Lance Patak, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and two faculty partners with The Ohio State University College of Nursing suggest that patient communications should be as standard and routine as any other vital sign