Objectives. This study was designed to assess the clinical applicability of a Point-of-Care (POC) ultrasound curriculum into an intensive care unit (ICU) fellowship program and its impact on patient care. Methods. A POC ultrasound curriculum for the surgical ICU (SICU) fellowship was designed and implemented in an urban, academic tertiary care center. It included 30 hours of didactics and hands...

OBJECTIVE To determine the epidemiology of colonization with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) among intensive care unit (ICU) patients. DESIGN Ten-month prospective cohort study. SETTING A 19-bed medical ICU of a 1,440-bed teaching hospital. METHODS Patients admitted to the ICU had rectal swab cultures for VRE on admission and weekly thereafter. VRE-positive patients were cared for...

Intensive care units (ICUs) are highly complex organizations where lives are hanging by a thread. Approximately 400,000 to 500,000 people die each year in American ICUs. The highly complex environment and large responsibilities put a burden on ICU staff including physicians and nurses. Research has shown that ICU physicians and nurses report high levels of workload and burnout that are related ...

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in various groups of patients in a mixed intensive care unit (ICU). DESIGN Observational retrospective. SETTING University hospital mixed medical, neurological, neurosurgical and surgical ICU. PATIENTS All patients admitted to the ICU between 1 November 2006, and 31 October 2007. RESULTS 1,353 Patients were ...

BACKGROUND In the war against the Taliban, Canada was the lead North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nation to provide medical and surgical care to NATO soldiers, Afghanistan National Army soldiers, Afghanistan Nation Police, civilians working in and outside Kandahar Airfield and Afghanistan civilians at the Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit (R3MMU) from February 2006 to October 2009. MET...

BACKGROUND Intensive care unit (ICU) beds are a scarce resource, and admissions may require prioritization when demand exceeds supply. However, there are few empiric data on whether the availability of ICU beds influences triage and processes of care for hospitalized patients who develop sudden clinical deterioration. METHODS RESULTS The cohort consisted of 3,494 patients. Reduced ICU bed ava...

Background: Having a loved one admitted to the ICU is an extraordinarily stressful event, principally with poor prognosis and when death may occur. Aim: To evaluate the impact of poor prognosis patients admitted in the ICU on their family member’s emotional disorders. Design and setting: Prospective study conducted in a 22-bed mixed ICU in a tertiary hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Family member...

BACKGROUND The demand for specialized medical services such as critical care often exceeds availability, thus rationing of intensive care unit (ICU) beds commonly leads to difficult triage decisions. Many factors can play a role in the decision to admit a patient to the ICU, including severity of illness and the need for specific treatments limited to these units. Although triage decisions woul...