Critical Care Commons^™

Incidence And Predictor Variables Of Pressure Injuries In Patients Undergoing Ventricular Assist Device And Total Artificial Heart Surgeries: An Eight-Year Retrospective Review, Christopher T. Brindle

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND

Cardiac surgery patients have some of the highest reported incidence and prevalence of pressure injuries (PI). A growing subset of cardiac surgery include patients with end-stage heart failure who undergo ventricular assist device (VAD) or total artificial heart (TAH) surgery. The risk of PI and their natural history of development in this population are unknown and the specific risk factors for PI development remain unexplored.

OBJECTIVES

To perform a systematic review of the literature to identify the incidence and risk factors of PI development in patients undergoing VAD-TAH surgery and thereby inform study design and variables in an eight-year …

The Effects Of Compassion Fatigue On Burnout Among Inpatient Psychiatric And Intensive Care Unit Nurses, Amita Madan Neidlinger

DNP Projects

PURPOSE: This DNP project is relevant to nurses of the psychiatric and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) setting, as high stress environments may produce higher rates of compassion fatigue and burnout. Investigation of these areas may help illuminate unnecessary healthcare costs that are associated with these phenomena. This DNP project is important to the University of Kentucky’s healthcare system, its patients, and nurses. Increased absenteeism and increased medication errors are positively associated with the prevalence of compassion fatigue and burnout in nurses. Outcomes from this project will allow identification of unnecessary healthcare costs and encourage administrators to focus on reducing nurse …

Keep The Beat With Heart Failure Education: A Quality Improvement Project, Brenda L. Peterson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Problem: Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is the number one diagnosis-related group (DRG) for people 65 years of age and older in the United States. This disease group is complicated and debilitating, requiring frequent hospitalizations with high mortality rates. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has identified CHF as an area for improvement in hospitals.

Context: This was a quality improvement project for an integrated medical center in the Central Valley, California with over 19,000 HF patients. In 2018, for patients 65 years and older, HF is the third-most admitted DRG …

The Lifecycle Of A K-Card: Improving Data Collection While Improving Bundle Reliability, Tara Benton, Barb Haney, Lacey Bergerhofer, Susan Burns, Yolanda Ballam, Kaitlyn Hoch

Posters

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Muscle Strength On Mobility In Critically Ill Adult Patients On Mechanical Ventilation, Audrey R. Roberson

Theses and Dissertations

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting are prone to develop muscle weakness and the causes are multi-factorial. Muscle strength in adult, critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation decreases with immobility. The influence of muscle strength on different muscle groups and its influence on progressive mobility in the adult, critically ill patient on mechanical ventilation has not been examined. Identifying muscle strength in this patient population can benefit overall muscle health and minimize muscle deconditioning through a progressive mobility plan. The objective of this dissertation was to describe muscle strength in different muscle groups and to describe the influence …

Delirium Reduction Strategies For The Critically Ill, June Chaves, Sam Canonico, Will Cheney, Tammy Corey, Gil Fraser, Alex Kowalewski, Jen Low, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Haley Pelletier, Cathy Palleschi, Stephen Tyzik, Suneela Nayak, Ruth Hanselman

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

Delirium, an acute and fluctuating disturbance of consciousness and cognition, is a common manifestation of acute brain dysfunction in critically ill patients. Patients with delirium have longer hospital stays and a lower 6-month survival rate than do patients without delirium. Preliminary research suggests that delirium may be associated with cognitive impairment that persists months to years after discharge.

In a large acute care hospital, the cardiac intensive care staff became interested in mitigating their unit’s high delirium rate of ventilated patients. At baseline, many members of the healthcare team did not believe that delirium could be prevented and the predominant …

Meta-Regression: Prognostic Models As Objective Predictors Of Mortality Among Icu Cancer Patients, Sheila Donnell

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

Cancer patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) may be experiencing complications of disease or treatment-related effects. While acute complications related to disease and/or its therapeutic management vary in severity, the approach to ICU-centered care is complicated by actual versus perceived risks of poor outcomes. Prognostic models that inform clinical judgment of nurses and physicians may prove helpful in this population. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) are ICU-based models predicting 30-day mortality among the general ICU population. Although studies have been …

Implementation Of An Innovative Early Warning System: Evidenced-Based Strategies For Ensuring System-Wide Nursing Adoption, Shirley S. Paulson

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Early deterioration in adult medical-surgical patients is associated with increased intensive care unit and hospital mortality (Goldhill, 2001). Failure to recognize deterioration is a preventable patient safety and quality issue. To address this problem, since 2013, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KP NCAL) has piloted Advance Alert Monitor (AAM) at two hospitals. This early warning system employs a set of predictive models developed by the KP NCAL Division of Research, which automatically predicts patient deterioration within the next 12 hours based on a complex algorithm of laboratory and clinical data points. Improvements in mortality and length of stay have been realized …

Evaluating Adherence To The Sepsis Bundle And The Effectiveness Of Best Practice Alerts, Kate M. Burnett

DNP Projects

PURPOSE: To evaluate the adherence to the CMS sepsis recommendations and sepsis bundle used by the study health system before and after the implementation of Best Practice Alerts (BPAs) and assessing the effect of these alerts on patient outcomes.

METHODS: The study was a single-center, process evaluation through a retrospective chart review within a southwest healthcare system. The sample consisted of 73 patients for the pre-implementation period (May 1, 2016-September 7, 2016) and 75 patients for the post-implementation period (September 8, 2016-April 30, 2017).

RESULTS: No major differences were found between the two groups with regard to patient age, ethnicity, …

Pre-Implementation Of A Fontan Post-Operative Clinical Pathway: Summary Of 2016 Pdsa Cycles, Sarah M. Lagergren, Bryan Beaven, Suma Goudar, Megan Jensen

Posters

Background/Introduction: Post-operative hospitalization for the Fontan procedure tends to have an extended hospital length of stay (LOS). From 2013-2014, the average LOS at Children’s Mercy for the Fontan procedure is 14 days, whereas the U.S. national reported average is 11 days. Post-operative management of this patient population is often caregiver dependent. It has been theorized that developing a more standardized post-operative management regimen tailored specifically toward the unique physiology of Fontan patients may be able to improve outcomes and decrease LOS.

Methods: A review of literature was performed and revealed three pediatric institutions have published their post-operative Fontan care guidelines. …

Intensive Care In Oncology: Admission And Outcomes In Adult Patients With Cancer, Surya John

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: Historically, patients with cancer have been perceived as poor candidates for ICU admission. General ICU admission criteria lists cancer patients as low priority in ICU admission depriving them of the care they rightfully deserve. The purpose of this literary synthesis was to examine ICU admission criteria, risk factors, and outcomes of ICU admission in relation to hematological and solid tumor cancers and discuss ways that practitioners and nurses can educate patients with cancer and their families on appropriateness of ICU care.

Methods: A total of 768 articles were found in a literature search including all literature from 2005 to …

Recognizing Pain Using Novel Simulation Technology, Justin C. Grace

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Effective pain management and time to treatment is essential in patient care. Despite scientific evidence supporting the need to treat pain and an emphasis on addressing pain as a priority, pain management continues to be an unresolved issue. As a member of the health care team, nurses are integral to optimal pain management. Currently, nursing schools have limited innovative or alternative methods for teaching pain assessment and management. Simulation in nursing education provides a unique opportunity to expose students to realistic patient situations and allow them to learn and make mistakes without causing harm. However, modern low- and high-fidelity simulation …

National Institutes Of Health Stroke Scale (Nihss) And Tissue Plasminogen (Tpa) Education For All Critical Care Nurses, Cheriese Rawlins

All Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance To Reduce Clabsi Rate In Oncology Icu, Lorenzo D. San Pedro

Master's Projects and Capstones

The aim of this project is to reduce the rate of central line associated blood stream infection (CLABSI) occurrence in oncology ICU by 50% by the last quarter of 2015. This study was conducted in ICU to assess adherence to the facility’s hand hygiene (HH) protocol among the staff nurses and allied healthcare workers. The facility is best known as a non-profit cancer treatment center and designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Evidence showed that hand hygiene is the most effective way of preventing CLABSI, one of the most common types of infection in ICU microsystem. The project utilized The …

Ready-Set-Go! A Clinical Practice Guideline That Promotes Safe Care Of The Sedated Patient Before, During And After Transport, Kimberly A. Martin Rn, Cnrn, Jennifer Houp Rn, Cnrn

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Ventilator Associated Pneumonia Prevention In The Traumatically Injured Patient: Beyond The Bundle!, Cindy Umbrell Msn,Rn,Cns,Ccrn, Kenneth Miller Med, Rrt-Nps

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.