Search Tag: Communication

ICU Management

Communication-myths-of-anaesthetists-2

2019 14 Mar

Vital minutes before unconsciousness   Anaesthesia is a diverse specialty with a wide range of necessary skills, one of which is effective communication.   The myth that anaesthetists pick the specialty ‘because you don’t need to talk to your patients’ persists. Whether said in jest or disdain this concept gains ground because, yes...Read more

ICU Management

Humanizing-the-icu-experience-with-enhanced-communication

2018 16 Oct

Avicenne ICU’s initiative. Decisions to limit therapy (DTLT) are routine for ICU physicians. Although breaking bad news is one of the most difficult tasks clinicians face, ongoing communication is even more crucial as families (not necessary following a legal or genetic definition) of critically ill patients have heightened communication...Read more

ICU Management

Patient-family-centred-care-communication-is-key

2018 27 Jun

Among critically ill patients and their surrogates, a family-support intervention delivered by the interprofessional ICU team did not significantly affect the surrogates’ burden of psychological symptoms, according to results of the PARTNER trial. Researchers note, however, that the surrogates’ ratings of the quality of communication and the patient-...Read more

ICU Management

Volume-18-issue-1-2018-1

2018 16 Mar

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ICU Management

Supporting-the-patient-innovator

2018 16 Mar

Their inability to communicate effectively whilst he had a tracheostomy on the intensive care unit (ICU), had such a profound impact on Duncan Buckley and his wife, Lisa-Marie, that they developed a concept for a novel interactive communication device, called ‘ICU CHAT’. Together, they have been embedded within the multidisciplinary ICU research...Read more

ICU Management

Effective-education-for-palliative-care-communication-as-a-procedure

2017 22 Nov

Palliative care for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit is increasingly in the mainstream, and palliative care principles are vital to ensure comprehensive patient care. ICU Management & Practice spoke to Caroline J. Hurd, MD, Director of Education Operations at UW Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence, about the purpose of...Read more

ICU Management

Integration-of-nurse-practitioners-into-the-critical-care-team

2017 22 Nov

A viable approach to meet pressing challenges As the demands of critical care medicine increase one viable option to meet needs is the addition of a nurse practitioner to the traditional structure of the critical care team. The purpose of this article is to convey our positive experience of physician and nurse practitioner integration...Read more

ICU Management

Decision-support-tool-for-icu-patients-families

2017 25 Apr

Families of intensive care unit (ICU) patients perceive severe deficiencies in communication about decision making. A new study finds that an online decision support tool is an acceptable and valuable tool as perceived by the family members of critically ill patients. The findings are reported in Journal of Critical Care. Critically ill, mechanically...Read more

ICU Management

New-app-for-patients-who-can-t-speak

2016 07 Nov

An app for patients who cannot communicate has been developed by Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre’s intensive care department. The app (voICe) was released in Dutch in 2013 and is now available in English. It consists of 50 pictograms, for adults and children, grouped in 6 themes, that speak and show the text. When the pictogram is touched,...Read more

ICU Management

Quality-and-safety-what-have-we-learned

2016 04 Oct

Communication is key when it comes to improving quality and safety in intensive care, according to Todd Dorman, President, Society of Critical Care Medicine , and Professor and Vice Chair Critical Care, Johns Hopkins University. “We need to create a culture where mistakes will be identified”, he said. Speaking at the Global Tracheostomy Collective...Read more

ICU Management

10-ways-to-address-moral-distress-in-the-icu

2016 24 Sep

Moral distress is a reality and should be addressed by a culture of frank disclosure and good team communication. Although it is hard to find the time and space to do this, there are things that can help, says paediatric intensivist, Daniel Garros, writing in Frontiers in Pediatrics. Garros, Staff intensivist, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University...Read more

ICU Management

The-right-stuff-information-on-organ-donation

2016 03 Jul

The sensitive issue of providing information about organ donation to families of potential donors whilst not seeming to pressure them into giving consent has been addressed by a randomised controlled trial in Australia. The trial compared two videos of a simulated conversation about organ donation, the only difference being the amount of information...Read more

ICU Management

Study-change-management-in-the-icu

2016 27 Jun

Relocating an ICU can involve not only a physical move but changes to work practices. Relocation should be planned with a systematic change management strategy, dedicated leadership, and a communication strategy, according to a study published in Australian Critical Care.   Frances Fenghzhi Lin, RN, PhD, from the Centre for Health Practice Innovation,...Read more

ICU Management

Divergent-views-on-prognosis-between-doctors-and-surrogate-decision-makers

2016 18 May

Surrogate decision makers for intensive care patients may misunderstand information given about the patient’s prognosis. Commonly, this misperception is attributed to poor understanding of medical information. However, a study from the United States, published in JAMA , has found that such discordance occurred in more than half of their sample,...Read more

ICU Management

Caregiver-stress-palliative-care-consults-don-t-help-more-than-usual-high-quality-care

2016 17 May

Research presented at the American Thoracic Society 2016 international conference showed that support from palliative care specialists did not improve anxiety and depression symptoms in caregivers of patients with chronic critical illness. Patients also saw little benefit as the additional support did not lead to reduced time on a breathing machine...Read more

ICU Management

Communication-device-used-with-touch-or-click-of-the-tongue-close-to-market

2016 25 Apr

Patients in the ICU unable to speak may benefit from a device invented by Voxello, a spin-out company from the University of Iowa in the United States. The company is expecting to launch the device commercially later in 2016, following clinical trials and federal regulatory approval. Voxello’s device, called the “noddle" (combining 'noodle' for 'brain'...Read more

ICU Management

Do-end-of-life-communication-tools-improve-decision-making

2016 12 Apr

Patients admitted to the ICU commonly have not have discussed their end-of-life (EOL) goals with family or surrogate decision-makers. Even if patients have discussed their preferences, they may not be documented in the medical record. ICU staff therefore may need to discuss goals with families and patients. A variety of decision aids, communication...Read more

ICU Management

Standards-for-healthy-critical-care-work-environments-updated

2016 28 Mar

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has announced the publication of the 2nd edition of its Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments . The standards, first published in 2005, identified previously discounted systemic behaviours that can result in unsafe conditions, and focus on the human factor. The Association...Read more

ICU Management

Myicu-app-introduced

2015 11 Nov

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Cente r (BIDMC), in Boston, USA, has launched a new app, MyICU, that serves as a communication tool to better engage ICU patients and family members in decisions. The app can be accessed from the dedicated iPad in each ICU room, or remotely via a smartphone or home computer, using a secure login. The online tool allows...Read more

ICU Management

Paediatric-communication-improves-with-family-input

2015 10 Sep

Poor communication between medical teams and families can lead to errors and poor-quality care. New research has demonstrated that a multidisciplinary improvement team involving a family advisor can be effective in helping improve communication between care teams and families in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). "Including a family advisor as...Read more

ICU Management

Uk-issues-draft-guidance-for-care-of-the-dying

2015 04 Aug

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced new draft guidance to improve the care of adults nearing the end of their lives. The guidelines have been proposed as an alternative to the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway, which was phased out in 2014 after a review by the Health Service Ombudsman found serious failings...Read more

ICU Management

Workshop-improves-nurses-palliative-communication-skills

2015 06 Jul

A workshop developed at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) has been effective in improving palliative care communication skills of critical care nurses. Specifically, workshop participants reported improvements to skill and confidence levels for engaging in discussions of prognosis and goals of care with families and physicians, according...Read more

ICU Management

Mental-practice-rehearsing-for-trauma

2015 16 Apr

Trauma is a fast-paced, demanding environment, and communication is key to ensuring everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. As a new study suggests, doctors and other members of trauma resuscitation teams should map out mental blueprints — much like how athletes mentally visualise races long before lacing up — and then communicate their...Read more

ICU Management

Patient-confusion-about-opioid-addiction-in-the-ed

2015 14 Apr

Emergency department (ED) patients have misperceptions about opioid dependence and want more information about their pain management options, according to researchers from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Patients seen in the ED for acute pain, the researchers note, expressed a desire for better communication from physicians...Read more

ICU Management

Isicem15-ten-rules-for-dealing-with-relatives

2015 18 Mar

There are two basic rules when it comes to dealing with and talking to relatives of patients in the ICU - Treat people the way you would like to be treated, and wherever possible treat people the way they wish to be treated. Stephen Warrillow (Melbourne, Australia) outlined ten rules for dealing with relatives, speaking at the International Symposium...Read more

ICU Management

Over-half-of-icu-patients-on-ventilators-able-to-communicate

2015 28 Jan

More than half of patients in intensive care units (ICU) using ventilators to help them breathe could benefit from assistive communication tools and speech language consultation, according to a new study published in Heart & Lung . These tools could be as simple as a notepad and pen that would allow a patient to write requests and questions, researchers...Read more

ICU Management

Who-are-the-central-communicators-in-the-icu

2015 05 Jan

Effective communication is vital in the intensive care unit (ICU). Communication in an ICU is usually thought to be most frequent between doctors and nurses. A study at the Loyola University Health System burn centre intensive care unit (ICU), however, showed that a dietitian, a social worker and three doctors a were the most central communicators of...Read more

ICU Management

Anaesthesia-impacts-perioperative-risk-and-outcomes

2014 24 Nov

Anaesthesiologists play a vital role in perioperative care. In recent decades, the risks associated with anaesthetic care have been dramatically reduced. However, anaesthesia takes centre stage among acute healthcare services, and from a patient's perspective, anaesthesia-specific risks cannot be meaningfully isolated from perioperative and peri-interventional...Read more

ICU Management

Icu-volume-14-issue-3-autumn-2014

2014 24 Sep

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ICU Management

Assessing-and-improving-communication-and-patient-handovers-in-the-icu

2014 24 Sep

Authors Paul Barach , MD, MPH Guest Professor University of Oslo, Norway Gautham K. Suresh , MD, MS Associate Professor of Pediatrics a nd Community & Family Medicine Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, New Hampshire...Read more