Enhancing The Quality Of Care In The Icu An Issue Of Critical Care Clinics

This issue of Critical Care Clinics edited by Dr. Robert Hyzy on Enhancing the Quality of Care in the ICU features topics such as: Taking Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection Rates to Zero, Preventing ICU Delirium, Avoiding Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea, Reducing ventilator associated complications and pneumonia, Can Venous Thromboembolism be avoided?, Preventing urinary catheter associated infections, Improving ICU quality through collaboratives, Do performance measures enhance patient quality in the ICU, and The Future of Quality in the ICU.

This issue of Critical Care Clinics edited by Dr. Robert Hyzy on Enhancing the Quality of Care in the ICU features topics such as: Taking Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection Rates to Zero, Preventing ICU Delirium, Avoiding Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea, Reducing ventilator associated complications and pneumonia, Can Venous Thromboembolism be avoided?, Preventing urinary catheter associated infections, Improving ICU quality through collaboratives, Do performance measures enhance patient quality in the ICU, and The Future of Quality in the ICU.

This issue of Critical Care Clinics, edited by Dr. Kianoush Kashani in collaboration with Consulting Editor Dr. John Kellum, is focused on Intensive Care Unit Telemedicine. Topics in this issue include: ICU telemedicine program administration: from start to full implementation; ICU telemedicine multidisciplinary care teams; ICU telemedicine technology; Impact of ICU telemedicine on outcomes; Quality assurance of ICU telemedicine; ICU telemedicine cost-effectiveness and financial analyses; ICU telemedicine care models; ICU telemedicine in the era of big data, artificial intelligence, and computer clinical decision support systems; ICU Telemedicine: Innovations and Limitations; ICU telemedicine: provider-patient satisfaction; and ICU telemedicine services beyond medical management: Tele-pharmacy, tele-procedure, tele-dialysis, tele-stroke: evidence, benefits, risks, and legal ramifications.

Drs. Richard Carlson and Corey Scurlock have put together a cutting edge list of topics regarding the use of Telemedicine in the Intensive Care Unit. Topics include: Tele-Neurocritical Care, Outcomes related to Telemedicine in the ICU,Telemedicine in the ICU: Its role in Emergencies and Disaster Management,Increasing Quality through Telemedicine in the ICU,The Role of Telemedicine in Pediatric Critical Care,Telemedicine and the Septic Patient,Taking Care of the Cardiac Critical Care Patient with Telemedicine,Barriers to ICU telemedicine,and Design and Function of Tele-ICU.

In this issue, guest editors bring their considerable expertise to this important topic. Provides in-depth reviews on the latest updates in the field, providing actionable insights for clinical practice. Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create these timely topic-based reviews.

In this issue of Critical Care Clinics, guest editors Drs. David N. Hager, Kyle Gunnerson, and Stephen Macdonald bring their considerable expertise to the topic of Critical Illness Outside the ICU. Top experts cover key topics such as flight transport of the critically ill; models of critical care in the emergency department; in-hospital triage; rapid response teams; early warning systems; ICU without walls; and more. Contains 14 relevant, practice-oriented topics the role of intermediate care; PACU care; critical care in rural settings; critical care in austere settings; tele-ICU support; alternate care pathways for the patient with multimorbidity; and more. Provides in-depth clinical reviews on critical illness outside the ICU, offering actionable insights for clinical practice. Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create clinically significant, topic-based reviews.

This issue contains a series of articles focused on various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of patient care delivery and promoting safe passage across the continuum of care. Exemplary, evidence-based nursing practice is the cornerstone of quality care, and this issue highlights many ways in which nurses have led changes to optimize patient outcomes. In addition, quality care enhances cost-effectiveness by reducing avoidable complications and diminishing avoidable hospital readmissions, a concept more important than ever due to value-based purchasing and the Affordable Care Act. Articles are specifically devoted to prevention of delirium in critical care patients, palliative care in the intensive care unit, prevention of pressure ulcers, fall prevention in high-risk patients, prevention readmissions, preventing sepsis mortality, and nursing interventions in the elderly critical care patient, to name a few.

The origin of modern intensive care units (ICUs) has frequently been attributed to the widespread provision of mechanical ventilation within dedicated hospital areas during the 1952 Copenhagen polio epidemic. However, modern ICUs have developed to treat or monitor patients who have any severe, life-threatening disease or injury. These patients receive specialized care and vital organ assistance such as mechanical ventilation, cardiovascular support, or hemodialysis. ICU patients now typically occupy approximately 10% of inpatient acute care beds, yet the structure and organization of these ICUs can be quite different across hospitals. In The Organization of Critical Care: An Evidence-Based Approach to Improving Quality, leaders provide a concise, evidence-based review of ICU organizational factors that have been associated with improved patient (or other) outcomes. The topics covered are grouped according to four broad domains: (1) the organization, structure, and staffing of an ICU; (2) organizational approaches to improving quality of care in an ICU; (3) integrating ICU care with other healthcare provided within the hospital and across the broader healthcare system; and (4) international perspectives on critical care delivery. Each chapter summarizes a different aspect of ICU organization and targets individual clinicians and healthcare decision makers. A long overdue contribution to the field, The Organization of Critical Care: An Evidence-Based Approach to Improving Quality is an indispensable guide for all clinicians and health administrators concerned with achieving state-of-the-art outcomes for intensive care.