Search Tag: palliative care

ICU Management

Electronic-poor-outcome-screening-epos-score

2022 21 Mar

The number of elderly and multimorbid patients admitted to the ICU continues to increase. These patients are at a high risk of dying and are likely to suffer from poor long-term outcomes such as functional and cognitive impairment, psychological distress and 6-month mortality. In addition, these patients have complex palliative care needs and could...Read more

ICU Management

Volume-17-issue-4-2017-1

2017 22 Nov

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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

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

Zoom-on-jessica-nutik-zitter-critical-care-and-palliative-care-physician-and-writer

2016 16 Feb

Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, MPH is a physician and writer with a professional interest in critical care and end-of-life care. She blogs for the Huffington Post and the New York Times . Her first book, Critical Decisions , a memoir about her professional journey at the intersection of ICU and Palliative Care medicine is due to be published by Avery/...Read more

ICU Management

End-of-life-why-these-conversations-matter

2015 23 Jul

The original Obamacare proposal sought to grant compensation for physicians for providing counselling to patients about living wills and end-of-life care options. The Affordable Care Act, which was enacted in 2010, however, includes no such compensation. The issue has been resurrected when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced...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

Predicting-disability-and-death-after-the-icu

2015 11 Feb

Although an increasing number of older adults are surviving visits to hospital intensive care units (ICUs), many emerge with disabilities such as impaired walking and poor overall function. Interestingly, a Yale School of Medicine study has shown that that the level of disability the year before an ICU visit can predict post-ICU disability and death....Read more

ICU Management

End-of-life-care-in-icus-practices-vary-amongst-asian-doctors

2015 14 Jan

Results of an Asia-wide survey show that attitudes and practices surrounding end-of-life care for patients in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) varied widely amongst physicians on the continent. The survey covered 1,465 physicians (physician response rate of 59.6 percent), who manage patients in 466 ICUs (ICU response rate of 59.4 percent) in 16...Read more

ICU Management

Significant-cost-savings-with-early-palliative-care

2014 22 Jul

A new study in Health Services Research reports that palliative care, if delivered early during hospitalisation, can play an important role in cutting down costs for critically ill patients. The ultimate objective of palliative care is to relieve the patient's suffering. Lead author Ian McCarthy, PhD, an assistant professor of economics at Emory University...Read more