Critical Care Alert 2003-01-01

CPAP or NPPV for Acute Cardiac Pulmonary Edema?

Chadda and Associates explored the hypothesis that noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV) would unload the respiratory muscles and improve cardiac and hemodynamic function more effectively than continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Latest Pulse Oximeters can Improve ICU Process of Care

A new-generation pulse oximeter with improved signal-extraction technology had less malfunctioning time than a conventional pulse oximeter placed on the same hand in postoperative cardiac surgery patients and was associated with fewer arterial blood gases and faster FIO2 reduction.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on the Wards: Who Survives?

In this review of outcomes from cardiopulmonary resuscitation among non-ICU inpatients in 3 urban teaching hospitals, no patient who had an unwitnessed cardiac arrest survived to discharge.

Special Feature: When Survival is Not the Same as Mortality

In common discourse we use survival and mortality interchangeably to refer to death. In fact, survival and mortality have very specific, and very different, definitions to a clinical investigator.

Critical Care Plus: IT Reduces Errors and Cuts Costs, Health Legacy Partnership Says

Information technology can substantially reduce medical errors and translate into major cost savings, says Janet M. Marchibroda, MBA, Chief Executive Officer for the eHealth Initiative/Washington, D.C. Marchibroda, speaking at the Third Annual Health Legacy Partnership (HELP) Conference and eHealth Initiative Annual Meeting, The technology exists, she says, But it requires that the communities to work together to realize the greater good that can come from sharing information to support better patient care.

Critical Care Plus: Empowering Nurses Dramatically Lowers Hospital’s Staff Vacancy Rate

A policy that empowers frontline nurses to temporarily halt admissions when their units dont have enough nursing staff to care for more patients has significantly slashed the nursing vacancy rate at a Wisconsin hospital. Roger Resar, MD, Physician Change Agent at 300-bed Luther Middlefort Hospital/Eau Claire, reports that the two-year-old policy also increases throughput and improves patient care.

Clinical Briefs in Primary Care Supplement

Pharmacology Watch: FDA Approves Claritin For OTC Use For Seasonal Rhinitis

After years of legal wrangling, the FDA has approved loratadine (Claritin, Schering-Plough) as an over-the-counter (OTC) product for the treatment of seasonal rhinitis.

Critical Care Alert – January 1, 2003

January 1, 2003