Critical Care General
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‘Code Critical’ Process Speeds Care to Critically Ill Patients Who Present to ED
In 2016, a suburban California emergency department began working on a new alert process designed to ensure medical patients not covered by alerts already in place would receive the same type of rapid, timely response that other alerts trigger. The resulting approach, dubbed “code critical,” has proven successful at accelerating care to a broad category of critically ill patients.
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Peramivir: A Newly Approved Antiviral for Treatment of Influenza
Peramivir (Rapivab™) was recently approved by the FDA in December 2014 for treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza within two days of symptom onset. This newly approved antiviral is a neuraminidase inhibitor (NI) similar to oseltamivir and zanamivir but the first to be approved in an injectable formulation.1 Peramivir has been licensed in Japan (as Rapiacta) and South Korea (as PeramiFlu) since 2010. In addition, it has been used in the United States on an emergency basis during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.
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Multicenter Quality Improvement Project Resulted in a 23% Reduction in Medical Errors
SYNOPSIS: Implementation of a quality improvement project focused on handoffs reduced medical errors by 23% and preventable adverse events by 30%.
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Benefits of NIV in COPD Supported in Routine Clinical Practice
SYNOPSIS: In a large cohort study, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease managed with noninvasive ventilation had lower inpatient mortality, shorter length of stay, and lower costs compared to those managed with invasive ventilation.
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Transient Ischemic Attacks: A Missed Opportunity
SYNOPSIS: Patients with transient ischemic attacks were not given evidence-based secondary prevention for stroke at discharge from the hospital as often compared to patients with stroke, thus creating a missed opportunity to decrease the incidence of future stroke and cardiovascular disease.
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Does Your Patient Have a Central Venous Catheter?
Central venous catheters (CVCs) are essential to providing optimal care to many hospitalized patients.
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Pharmacology Watch: HPV Vaccine Now Recommended for Males
In this issue: New recommendations for HPV vaccine; guidelines for treatment of essential tremor; updates on smoking cessation drugs; and FDA actions. -
Abstract & Commentary: Academic ICU Attending Workload: Potential Effects on Teaching, Patient Care, and Workforce Stability
This article reports findings of a task force set up by the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2008 to study intensivist workforce issues in the face of the ongoing increase in ICU beds and numbers of critically ill patients. -
Abstract & Commentary: Hospital Organizational Characteristics Associated with Use of Daily Sedation Interruption in Mechanically Ventilated Patients
Miller and colleagues conducted a survey of daily interruption of sedation (DIS) in U.S. hospitals and sought to determine whether organizational features were associated with DIS use. The survey was mailed to a stratified random sample of non-federal U.S. acute-care hospitals with more than 50 beds. -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement