Vanderbilt University Medical Center designed and rapidly deployed a curriculum specifically to equip nurses new to ECMO with the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to provide proficient and safe care for patients receiving ECMO. The pre-COVID ECMO training proved to be an effective, resource-efficient and pragmatic solution that can be used across different types of ICUs and across institutions.
Tag: ICU
Norma Metheny Receives AACN Award for Distinguished Career
AACN honors Norma Metheny, professor and the Dorothy A. Votsmier Endowed Chair in Nursing at Saint Louis University, with its 2020 Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career.
Nurses are on the Frontlines of COVID-19 but Their Expertise Remains Missing from Policy Decisions
Nurses’ perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic are unique and essential to informing decisions made by federal leaders, and they should be included in key decision-making groups, urges the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
Mortality of Mechanically Ventilated COVID-19 Patients Is Lower than Previously Reported Reveals Study in Critical Care Medicine
June 4, 2020 – An online first study published in Critical Care Medicine indicates the actual mortality rate of adults with critical illness from COVID-19 is less than what was previously reported. Compared to earlier reports of a 50 percent…
Shifting the Patterns That Contribute to Ethical Conflicts
A four-step process can help nurses and other healthcare professionals identify patterns behind ethical challenges and reveal new approaches to guide communication and decision-making, according to the ethics column in AACN Advanced Critical Care
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and Dearworld.org Partner on #DearNurses Photo Docuseries
For its latest portrait collection, “#DearNurses,” DearWorld.org is partnering with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses to capture portraits and letters of 40 front-line critical care nurses working in COVID-19 units across south Louisiana
Mount Sinai Works With Google Nest to Help Patients With COVID-19
A New Nest Camera Console Enhances Safety of Patients and Staff; Reduces PPE Demands
COVID-19 and the Challenging Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Joe G. N. “Skip” Garcia, MD, an academic pulmonary physician-scientist describes a complication in COVID-19.
Simulation-based Training Helps Providers Prepare for Prone Position Ventilation for Patients With ARDS
An interprofessional simulation-based educational program helped Mount Sinai Hospital train nearly 90% of its medical ICU staff to care for patients in prone position, as part of its 2018 implementation of a new protocol related to prone position ventilation for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
UChicago Medicine doctors see ‘remarkable’ success using ventilator alternatives to treat COVID-19
Doctors at the University of Chicago Medicine are seeing “truly remarkable” results using high-flow nasal cannulas rather than ventilators and intubation to treat some COVID-19 patients. A team from UChicago Medicine’s emergency room took 24 COVID-19 patients who were in respiratory distress and gave them HFNCs instead of putting them on ventilators. The patients all fared extremely well, and only one of them required intubation after 10 days.
An Integrated Approach to Reducing Ventilation Time
A Texas hospital developed an integrated approach that reduced ventilation time for ICU patients. The 2018 study, in AACN Advanced Critical Care, is the first to examine the effects of implementing protocol-directed sedation with the coordinated use of two evidence-based assessments across multiple disciplines.
Six Self-Care Strategies to Combat Clinician Burnout
A study published in Critical Care Nurse identifies six self-care strategies to combat clinician burnout. Based on interviews conducted in 2017 and 2018, the research may offer guidance for healthcare teams responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lack of PPE Poses Clear and Present Danger to Nurses and the Nation
Without immediate action, limited supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and other lifesaving equipment will cause greater loss of life and increase the toll from COVID-19, warns the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Creates Custom COVID-19 Online Course
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses has created an online course that specifically addresses the most serious reported symptoms from COVID-19. The course is available to all nurses, at no charge, to provide vital resources during this challenging time.
Authentic Leadership Key to Improving ICU Nurses’ Professional Quality of Life
Results from a survey of ICU nurses at the University of Tennessee Medical Center reinforce the importance of nurse leaders to the overall health of the work environment and to individual nurses’ professional quality of life.
Targeted Rounding Helps Bring CAUTI Rate to Zero
Daily targeted rounds and real-time training helped Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia achieve a rate of zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections and sustain it for more than a year, according to a study published in Critical Care Nurse
Epidemic levels of chronic pain, opioid use disorder add to challenges of managing patients in pain
A series of seven articles in AACN Advanced Critical Care focuses on the challenges of safe, effective pain management in the ICU, including more Americans reporting daily chronic pain and the rapidly increasing prevalence of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder.
Could Nursing Certification Make a Difference in Adopting Evidence-Based Practices?
A survey of critical care nurses in six UPMC hospitals found a strong association between nurses who were certified in critical care and their knowledge of and perceived value in specific evidence-based practices used to care for patients receiving mechanical ventilation, according to a study published in the American Journal of Critical Care.
Registration Opens for Premier Critical Care Nursing Conference
Nurses and other healthcare professionals who care for critically ill patients and their families can now register for the 2020 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI) in Indianapolis, May 4-7. The conference offers hundreds of sessions to improve clinical practice, patient outcomes and hospitals’ bottom line, with a comprehensive program that incorporates leading evidence-based education.
Probiotic Bacteria: A Double-Edged Sword
Israeli and American scientists have discovered that administering probiotics in hospital intensive care units may lead to blood infections, and in some cases the adverse effects could outweigh the potential benefits.
ICU Survivors Commonly Experience Job Loss after Critical Illness, Study Confirms
National attention has been drawn to the plight of patients who have experienced the unintended side effects of prolonged ICU care such as memory loss and muscle weakness. Now, a research team led by UC San Diego have evaluated the employment impacts to ICU patients, with concerning findings.
Project to answer last wishes spreads successfully
Six years ago the initial Three Wishes Project began at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, when hospital staff asked patients or their families how they might honour the life and dignity of those dying in the intensive care unit. Staff would then help families by implementing these wishes.
Now a study with three additional hospital intensive care unit sites in Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles, California has proven the project is a success elsewhere.
AACN grants support clinical research to influence high-acuity and critical care nursing practice
Nurses are invited to apply for AACN research grants by Nov. 1, 2019, with total available funding of $160,000. Projects funded in 2019 address PICS, telemedicine, virtual reality for onboarding new nurses, and machine learning and pressure injuries.
Some ICU Admissions May Be Preventable, Saving Money and Improving Care
Many admissions to the intensive care unit may be preventable, potentially decreasing health care costs and improving care, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.