scholarly journals Parents and nurses telling their stories: the perceived needs of parents caring for critically ill children at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Tanzania

BMC Nursing ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Frank Saria ◽  
Lilian Teddy Mselle ◽  
Birgit Anne Siceloff

Abstract Background Parents have significant responsibility in the care of their critically ill children who have been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). When staying with their children in the hospital, they also have particular needs that should be adequately acknowledged and responded to by healthcare providers. Moreover, when their needs are not identified and addressed, parents may experience stress and anxiety as a result. This study describes the needs of parents caring for hospitalized critically ill children, as perceived by parents and nurses. Methods This study used a descriptive qualitative research design. Five focus group discussions with nurses and parents of critically ill children, who were purposefully recruited, were conducted at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre Hospital. A qualitative content analysis guided the analysis of the data. Results Two themes emerged from the perceptions of parents and nurses about the needs of parents caring for hospitalized critically ill children. These were: “engaging parents in the care of their children” and “receiving psychosocial support”. Both parents and nurses identified the importance of providing adequate information about their children’s progress, encouraging and involving parents in the care of their children and having flexible visiting time for parents was vital when caring for critically ill children. Conclusions This study provides an in-depth understanding of parents’ needs when caring for critically ill children in the hospital setting. Nurses caring for these children should understand the needs of parents and integrate the parents into the daily care of their children. Nurses should also continuously support, inform and engage parents during child-caring procedures. Finally, visiting times for intensive care units should be flexible and allow more time for parents to connect with their hospitalized children.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Roumeliotis ◽  
Eleanor Pullenayegum ◽  
Anna Taddio ◽  
Paula Rochon ◽  
Chris Parshuram

Abstract ObjectivesDrug-associated harm is common but difficult to detect in the hospital setting. In critically ill children, we sought to evaluate drug-associated hepatic injury following enteral acetaminophen error; defined as acetaminophen dosing that exceeds daily maximum recommendations.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingTwo pediatric intensive care units within a pediatric hospital center.PatientsChildren (<18 years of age) admitted to the pediatric and cardiac intensive care unit between January 2008 and January 2018, and receiving enteral acetaminophen. We defined acetaminophen dosing error as exceeding daily acetaminophen dosing by > 10% the upper limit of maximum recommended dose for weight and age (>82.5mg/kg/day or > 4400mg/day).Main ResultsWe included 14,146 admissions, who received 147,485 doses of acetaminophen. Acetaminophen dosing errors occurred 1 in every 9.5 patient-days on acetaminophen. ALT and AST decreased significantly over the course of ICU admission (p<0.0001). In patients with acetaminophen errors, ALT and AST measured in the 24 to 96 hours post error were not significantly different than when measured outside this window. A sensitivity analysis using >100 mg/kg/day as the upper daily acetaminophen error cut-off did not reveal any subsequent significant increase in ALT or ALT in the 24 to 96-hour post-error window, compared to measurements taken outside the window.ConclusionsAlthough the administration of acetaminophen in critically ill children frequently exceeds the daily recommended limit and vigilance is needed, we did not find any associated increase in liver transaminases following acetaminophen errors.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 774
Author(s):  
Mara L. Leimanis-Laurens ◽  
Karen Ferguson ◽  
Emily Wolfrum ◽  
Brian Boville ◽  
Dominic Sanfilippo ◽  
...  

Lipids are molecules involved in metabolism and inflammation. This study investigates the plasma lipidome for markers of severity and nutritional status in critically ill children. Children with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) (n = 24) are analyzed at three time-points and cross-referenced to sedation controls (n = 4) for a total of N = 28. Eight of the patients with MODS, needed veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) support to survive. Blood plasma lipid profiles are quantified by nano-electrospray (nESI), direct infusion high resolution/accurate mass spectrometry (MS), and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), and compared to nutritional profiles and pediatric logistic organ dysfunction (PELOD) scores. Our results show that PELOD scores were not significantly different between MODS and ECMO cases across time-points (p = 0.66). Lipid profiling provides stratification between sedation controls and all MODS patients for total lysophosphatidylserine (lysoPS) (p-value = 0.004), total phosphatidylserine (PS) (p-value = 0.015), and total ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamine (ether-PE) (p-value = 0.03) after adjusting for sex and age. Nutrition intake over time did not correlate with changes in lipid profiles, as measured by caloric and protein intake. Lipid measurement in the intensive care environment shows dynamic changes over an 8-day pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) course, suggesting novel metabolic indicators for defining critically ill children.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi-Hong Xiong ◽  
Xue-Mei Zheng ◽  
Guo-Ying Zhang ◽  
Meng-Jun Wu ◽  
Yi Qu

Abstract BackgroundMalnutrition is highly prevalent in critically ill children in the pediatric intensive care unit .We aimed to investigate the efficiency of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measurements and phase angle (PhA) analysis for the assessment of nutritional risk and clinical outcomes in critically ill children.MethodsThis single-center observational study included patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital. All patients underwent anthropometric measurement in the first 24 h of admission and underwent BIA measurements within 3 days after the admission. The patients were classified into different groups based on body mass index (BMI) for age. Electronic hospital medical records were reviewed to collect clinical data for each patient. All the obtained data were analyzed by the statistics method.ResultsThere were 204 patients enrolled in our study, of which 32.4% were diagnosed with malnutrition. We found that BMI, arm muscle circumference, fat mass, and %body fat were lower in the group with poorer nutritional status (P < 0.05). Evident differences in the score of the Pediatric Risk of Mortality and the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) among the three groups with different nutritional statuses were observed (P < 0.05). Patients in the severely malnourished group had the longest duration of MV. In the MV groups, there were significant differences (P < 0.05) in albumin level, PhA, and extracellular water/total body water (ECW/TBW ratio). The ECW/TBW ratio and the time for PICU stay had a weak degree of correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.375). PhA showed a weak degree of correlation with the duration time of medical ventilation (coefficient of correlation = 0.398).ConclusionBIA can be considered an alternative way to assess nutritional status in critically ill children. ECW/TBW ratio and PhA were correlated with PICU stay and duration time of medical ventilation, respectively.


2021 ◽  
pp. 35-37
Author(s):  
Madhan Kumar ◽  
Jolly Chandran ◽  
Pragathesh Pragathesh ◽  
Ebor Jacob Gnananayagam ◽  
Hema Paul ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of chlorhexidine wipes in reducing the incidence of hospital acquired infections (HAIs) among critically ill children admitted in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). METHODS: An interventional study, wherein enrolled children were wiped with chlorhexidine after routine bath. The incidence of HAIs were noted and compared with data from historical controls of previous year during the same period (pre-intervention). RESULTS: One hundred and ninety nine children in the intervention period were compared with 271 children from pre-intervention period. The numbers of ventilator-days were 777 and 696 respectively for the intervention period and pre-intervention periods. Incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) reduced from 12.9/1000 ventilator-days in the pre-intervention period to 6.4/1000 ventilator-days in the intervention period (p=0.1). VAP prevalence was 3.3% in the pre-intervention period as compared to 2.5% in the intervention period (p=0.6). The incidence of CLABSI was 3.6/1000 catheter-days (catheter days: 1377) with prevalence of 2.5% in the intervention period, whereas among the historic controls of the previous year it was 4.2/1000 days (catheter days 1432) with a prevalence of 2.2% (p= 0.8). No untoward effect was reported. CONCLUSION: The use of chlorhexidine wipes in ICU was feasible but did not signicantly decrease HAIs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-148
Author(s):  
Ángela María Henao Castaño ◽  
Edwar Yamith Pinzon Casas

Background: Delirium has been identified as a risk factor for the mortality of critically ill patients, generating great social and economic impacts, since patients require more days of mechanical ventilation and a prolonged hospital stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), thus increasing medical costs. Objective: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of delirium episodes in a sample of 6-month to 5-year-old children who are critically ill. Methods: Cohort study at a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in Bogotá (Colombia). Participants were assessed by the Preschool Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (psCAM-ICU) within the first twenty-four hours of hospitalization. Results: One quarter of the participants (25.8%) presented some type of delirium. Among them, two sub-types of delirium were observed: 62.5% of the cases were hypoactive and 37.5% hyperactive. Moreover, from them, six were male (75%) and 2 female (25%). Primary diagnosis was respiratory tract infection in 62.55% of the patients, while respiratory failure was diagnosed in the remaining 37.5%. Conclusions: The implementation of delirium monitoring tools in critically ill children provides a better understanding of the clinical manifestation of this phenomenon and associated risk factors in order to contribute to the design of efficient intervention strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. e1-e1
Author(s):  
Camille Maltais-Bilodeau ◽  
Maryse Frenette ◽  
Geneviève Morissette ◽  
Dennis Bailey ◽  
Karine Cloutier ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Glucocorticoids are widely used in the pediatric population. They are associated with numerous side effects including repercussions on the cardiovascular system. The impact on heart rate is not well known, but bradycardia has been reported, mostly with high doses. Objectives We described the occurrence of bradycardias and the variation of heart rate in critically ill children receiving glucocorticoids. Design/Methods We conducted a retrospective study including 1 month old to 18 year old children admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit between 2014 and 2017, who received a glucocorticoid dose equivalent to 1 to 15 mg/kg/day of prednisone. We collected data on exposition to glucocorticoids, heart rate before, during and after the exposition, and interventions from the medical staff in response to bradycardia. The primary outcome was the occurrence of bradycardia and the secondary outcomes were the magnitude of heart rate variation and the clinical management of bradycardias. Results We included 92 admissions (85 patients). The median dose of glucocorticoid used was 2.80 mg/kg/day of prednisone (2.08—3.80). We found 70 cases (76%) with at least one bradycardia. Before treatment, all patients had a mean heart rate higher than the 5th percentile for age. During exposition to glucocorticoids, 8 patients (10%, n = 83) had a median heart rate ≤ 5th percentile. We noted 46 cases of bradycardia (50%) that led to an intervention from the medical staff, but no patient had a major event associated to bradycardia. We found a significant association between bradycardia and age (estimate -0.136, 95% CI -0.207—-0.065, p &lt; 0.001), glucocorticoid dose (estimate 4.820, 95% CI 2.048—7.592, p &lt; 0.001) and intravenous administration (estimate 8.709, 95% CI 1.893—15.524, p = 0.012). Conclusion In our study, most children hospitalized at the intensive care unit receiving standard doses of glucocorticoid experienced bradycardia. The majority of episodes led to an intervention from the medical staff. Presence of bradycardia was associated with younger age, higher dose and IV administration of glucocorticoids.


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