Critical Care Alert – February 1, 2013

February 1, 2013

• Life After the ICU: Improving Decision Making About Chronic Critical Illness in the Acute Care Setting

  n their 1985 article The Chronically Critically Ill: To Save or Let Die?, Girard and Raffin created the term chronically critically ill to describe patients admitted to an ICU who survived their acute insults but remained dependent on intensive care therapies.

  Read more about Life After the ICU: Improving Decision Making About Chronic Critical Illness in the Acute Care Setting - Critical Care Alert – February 1, 2013

• Using Natriuretic Peptide to Guide Fluid Management During Ventilator Weaning

  This multicenter, randomized controlled trial compared daily B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurements as a way to guide fluid management with usual care in patients undergoing weaning from mechanical ventilation.

  Read more about Using Natriuretic Peptide to Guide Fluid Management During Ventilator Weaning - Critical Care Alert – February 1, 2013

• Organizational Factors Contribute to Adoption of ICU-Care Management Protocols

  The purpose of this study was to determine which protocols guiding the management of mechanical ventilation are incorporated into practice and to determine if any organizational characteristics of hospitals are associated with the adoption of protocols using evidence-based treatments.

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• Time Spent in Handoff Discussions was Longer for Patients Discussed First, Regardless of Complexity

  Handoffs have been extensively examined as a potential source of communication failure. Such studies typically focus on how to best share details of care when patient responsibility is transferred from one clinical care team to another.

  Read more about Time Spent in Handoff Discussions was Longer for Patients Discussed First, Regardless of Complexity - Critical Care Alert – February 1, 2013

• Pharmacology Watch: FDA Approves Apixaban for Patients with Nonvalvular AF

  In this issue: Apixaban approval; new dental clinical practice guideline; apixaban for VTE; aspirin resistance; tamoxifen treatment; and FDA actions.

  Read more about Pharmacology Watch: FDA Approves Apixaban for Patients with Nonvalvular AF - Critical Care Alert – February 1, 2013

• Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement

  Read more about Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement - Critical Care Alert – February 1, 2013