Ethical Implications of Risk Stratification in the Acute Care Setting

1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Knaus
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Hospital Care ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Health Evaluation ◽  
Acute Care Setting ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Modern Hospital ◽  
Source Of Information

The increasing complexity of modern hospital care and the decisions that must be made were the reasons we began our research on the Acute Physiology, Age and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) project. As a clinician in an intensive care unit (ICU), I felt very uncomfortable making the sorts of decisions that are common today without any source of information or any reference points. These decisions are not avoidable, they are not discretionary, and they are going to become more frequent in the future because we are treating people at later stages of disease.

scholarly journals Passive Ceiling Light Disinfection System to Reduce Bioburden in an Intensive Care Unit

2018 ◽  
Vol 08 (03) ◽  
pp. 138-143
Author(s):  
Annie Rohan ◽  
Imraan Khan ◽  
Donglei Yin ◽  
Jie Yang
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Acute Care ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Medical Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Acute Care Setting ◽  
Automated Technology ◽  
Medical Intensive Care ◽  
Ceiling Light

AbstractA ceiling-installed narrow spectrum (402–420 nm) bactericidal blue light disinfection system was installed in a large suburban medical intensive care unit (ICU) and evaluated for implementation feasibility and effectiveness in reducing environmental bioburden. Installation of 54 ceiling devices was accomplished at low cost and with minimal ICU process disruption. Postinstallation high-touch surface colony counts were significantly lower than preinstallation. Linear mixed modeling demonstrated a 21% average overall decrease in colony count after installation, with consistent reduction in colony counts starting from week 4 postinstallation. Automated technology is potentially more efficient in reducing environmental bioburden in the acute care setting compared with other bioburden reducing methods or can provide a robust compliment to manual cleaning.

scholarly journals Prevalence of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a critical care setting: A tertiary teaching hospital experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 205031212110011
Author(s):  
Thabit Alotaibi ◽  
Abdulrhman Abuhaimed ◽  
Mohammed Alshahrani ◽  
Ahmed Albdelhady ◽  
Yousef Almubarak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Acinetobacter Baumannii ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Tertiary Teaching ◽  
The Mean

Background: The management of Acinetobacter baumannii infection is considered a challenge especially in an intensive care setting. The resistance rate makes it difficult to manage and is believed to lead to higher mortality. We aim to investigate the prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii and explore how different antibiotic regimens could impact patient outcomes as there are no available published data to reflect our population in our region. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all infected adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit at King Fahad University Hospital with a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of Acinetobacter baumannii from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2017. Positive cultures were obtained from the microbiology department and those meeting the inclusive criteria were selected. Variables were analyzed using descriptive analysis and cross-tabulation. Results were further reviewed and audited by blinded co-authors. Results: A comprehensive review of data identified 198 patients with Acinetobacter baumannii. The prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii is 3.37%, and the overall mortality rate is 40.81%. Our sample consisted mainly of male patients, that is, 68.7%, with a mean age of 49 years, and the mean age of female patients was 56 years. The mean age of survivors was less than that of non-survivors, that is, 44.95 years of age. We observed that prior antibiotic use was higher in non-survivors compared to survivors. From the review of treatment provided for patients infected with Acinetobacter baumannii, 65 were treated with colistin alone, 18 were treated with carbapenems, and 22 were treated with a combination of both carbapenems and colistin. The mean length of stay of Acinetobacter baumannii–infected patients was 20.25 days. We found that the survival rates among patients who received carbapenems were higher compared to those who received colistin. Conclusion: We believe that multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is prevalent and associated with a higher mortality rate and represents a challenging case for every intensive care unit physician. Further prospective studies are needed.

scholarly journals Non-haemorrhagic causes of obstetrical intensive care unit admissions in tertiary care setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1392
Author(s):  
Preet Kamal ◽  
Surinder Kaur ◽  
Harleen Kaur ◽  
Madhu Nagpal
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Medical Illness ◽  
Tropical Diseases ◽  
Medical Disorders ◽  
Tropical Conditions ◽  
Tertiary Care Setting

Background: Management of critically ill obstetric patients involve intensive monitoring in intensive care unit. In present scenario there are significant number of obstetric patients with sepsis, tropical diseases and medical illness that require ICU care. The aim of this study was to evaluate in more detail the non-haemorrhagic causes of obstetric ICU admissions and to identify and adopt high risk strategies as prime learning objective.Methods: It is a prospective ongoing study conducted in 50 patients in SGRDUHS, Amritsar from December 2016 to October 2019, who were admitted in obstetric ICU, out of them 30 cases were attributed to non-haemorrhagic obstetric causes. All demographic parameters along with gestational age, diagnosis on admission, intervention done prior to shift to ICU and details of treatment given in ICU were evaluated. Patient outcome, review of mortality and area of improvement were also noted.Results: Majority of the patient (70.1%) were admitted in 3rd trimester. Obstetric sepsis (13.33%), infective diseases (16.66%), tropical conditions (16.66%), medical disorders (26.66%) and hypertensive disorders (26.66%) were the major causes of admission to obstetric ICU. There were 33.3% mortalities observed in present study and 40% were due to respiratory failure. In ICU mechanical ventilation was done in 63.3% cases and blood products were given in 33.3% of patients.Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach is ideal to handle non-haemorrhagic situations especially related to medical disorders and tropical diseases. Review of the ICU admissions and periodic audit can improve management of morbidities as well as reduce maternal mortalities.

scholarly journals The significance of National Early Warning Score for predicting prognosis and evaluating conditions of patients in resuscitation room

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 324-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Chang Yuan ◽  
Cao Tao ◽  
Zhu Dan Dan ◽  
Sun Chang Yi ◽  
Wang Jing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Chronic Health Evaluation ◽  
Early Warning Score ◽  
Health Evaluation ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
Resuscitation Room ◽  
Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves ◽  
National Early Warning Score

Background: For critical patients in resuscitation room, the early prediction of potential risk and rapid evaluation of disease progression would help physicians with timely treatment, leading to improved outcome. In this study, it focused on the application of National Early Warning Score on predicting prognosis and conditions of patients in resuscitation room. The National Early Warning Score was compared with the Modified Early Warning Score) and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II. Objectives: To assess the significance of NEWS for predicting prognosis and evaluating conditions of patients in resuscitation rooms. Methods: A total of 621 consecutive cases from resuscitation room of Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University were included during June 2015 to January 2016. All cases were prospectively evaluated with Modified Early Warning Score, National Early Warning Score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II and then followed up for 28 days. For the prognosis prediction, the cases were divided into death group and survival group. The Modified Early Warning Score, National Early Warning Score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II results of the two groups were compared. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated for assessing and predicting intensive care unit admission and 28-day mortality. Results: For the prognosis prediction, in death group, the National Early Warning Score (9.50 ± 3.08), Modified Early Warning Score (4.87 ± 2.49), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (23.29 ± 5.31) were significantly higher than National Early Warning Score (5.29 ± 3.13), Modified Early Warning Score (3.02 ± 1.93), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (13.22 ± 6.39) in survival group ( p < 0.01). For the disease progression evaluation, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of National Early Warning Score, Modified Early Warning Score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II were 0.760, 0.729, and 0.817 ( p < 0.05), respectively, for predicting intensive care unit admission; they were 0.827, 0.723, and 0.883, respectively, for predicting 28-day mortality. The comparison of the three systems was significant ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: The performance of National Early Warning Score for predicting intensive care unit admission and 28-day mortality was inferior than Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II but superior than Modified Early Warning Score. It was able to rapidly predict prognosis and evaluate disease progression of critical patients in resuscitation room.

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