Each year approximately five million people are treated in the nation's intensive care units making intensive care one of the most expensive components of the U.S. healthcare system. Of these patients, 400,000-500,000 will die annually giving the ICU the distinction of having the highest rate of mortality and complications in the hospital setting. Studies have demonstrated that one in ten patients who die each day in ICUs might survive if intensivists were present to manage clinical care and direct treatment plans (Randolph & Pronovost, 2002; Dimick, Pronovost, Heitmiller & Lipsett, 2001; Pronovost et al., 2002). The utilization of supplemental remote telemedicine has been investigated as a means of compensating for the limited resource of intensivists (Breslow et al., 2004; Rosenfeld et al., 2000). One specific use of this technology, the electronic intensive care unit or eICU®, has previously demonstrated the potential to improve physiological and economic outcomes in ICU patients through the use of integrated decision-support and patient data systems. The present study focuses on the eICU® as a 21st century technology capable of improving the quality of patient care and identifies those factors most likely to impact the success of this clinical intervention. This research utilizes a non-experimental pre-and post-intervention study design and examines patient data collected on all admissions to five ICUs managed by two regional tertiary care hospitals during a 36-month time period. Each ICU is equipped with eICU® software systems that allow intensivist surveillance of patients from a remote facility. The data is analyzed using both structural equation modeling and decision tree regression modeling to statistically evaluate the effects of patient, hospital and unit characteristics on proximal and distal outcomes in ICU patients. As the development of clinical complications subsequently affects patient length of stay, cost of stay, and mortality, it becomes increasingly imperative to seek interventions capable of reducing the risk of unfavorable patient outcomes. This study closely examines one such intervention, the eICU®.

Machine learning has the potential of significantly improving daily operations in health care institutions but many persistent barriers are to be faced in order to ensure its wider acceptance. Among such obstacles are the accuracy and reliability. For a decision support system to be entrusted by the medical staff in clinical situations, it must perform with an accuracy comparable to or surpassing that of human medics, as well ashaving a universal applicability and not being subject to any bias. In this paper the MIMIC-IV Clinical Database will be utilized in order to: (1) Predict patient mortality and its associated risk factors in intensive care units (ICU) and: (2) Assess the reliability of utilizing the database as a basis for a clinical decision system. The cohort consisted of 523,740 hospitalizations, matched with each respective admitting diagnoses in ICD-9 format. The diagnoses were then converted from code to text-format, with the most frequently occurring factors (words) observed in deceased and surviving patients being analyzed with an Natural language Processing (NLP) algorithm. The results concluded that many of the observed risk factors were self-evident while others required further explanation, and that the performance was highly by selection of hyperparameters. Finally, the MIMIC-IV database can serve as a stable foundation for a clinical decision system but its reliability and universality shall also be taken into consideration. / Maskininlärninstekniker har en stor potential att gynna sjukvården men står inför ett flertal hinder för att fullständigt kunna tillämpas. Framförallt bör modellernas tolkningsbarhet och reproducerbarhet beaktas. För att att ett kliniskt beslutstodssystem skall vara fullständigt anförtrott av sjukvårdspersonal måste det kunna prestera med en jämförbar eller högre träffsäkerhet än sjukvårdspersonal, samt kunna tillämpas i åtskilliga sammanhang utan någon subjektivitet. Syftet med denna studie är att: (1) Förutspå patientdödsfall i intensivvårdsavdelningar och utreda dess riskfaktorer genom journalförd information från databasen MIMIC-IV och: 2) Bedöma databasens tillförlitlighet som underlag för ett kliniskt beslutstödssystem. Kohorten bestod av 523,740 insjuknanden som matchades med de diagnoser som ställdes vid deras sjukhusintag. Eftersom diagnoserna inskrevs i ICD-9-format omvandlades dessa till ord och de mest förekommande faktorerna (orden) för avlidna och överlevande patienter analyserades med en NLP-model (Natural Language Processing). Resultaten konkluderade att många av de förutspådda riskfaktorerna var uppenbara medan andra krävde ytterligare klargöranden. Dessutom kunde val av hyperparametrar stort påverka modellens kvalitet. MIMIC-IV-databasen kan utgöra ett gediget underlag för ett kliniskt beslutsystem men dess tillförlitlighet och relevans bör även tas i beaktande. / Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2022, KTH, Stockholm

Yes / It is estimated that 5-10% of hospitalised patients in developed countries contract hospital acquired infections (HAI). Increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance manifested by many HAI-causing pathogens such as Acinetobacter spp in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting present a significant challenge to those managing these infections. Consequently, much attention has been focused on the prevention of HAIs. Particular emphasis has been placed on interventions intended to interrupt patient-to-patient transmission of pathogens, such as enhanced hand hygiene and identification of patients colonised with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using rapid DNA-based screening techniques. However, comparatively little attention has been given to the hospital environment, including water supplies, as a source of nosocomial pathogens of importance for patients on the critical care unit. This article reviews the role of hospital water sources in the epidemiology of HAI and new technologies which can be employed in the prevention and control of such infections.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper describes the integration activities associated with the instrumentation and telemetry system developed for an F/A-18 Hornet Flight Test program, including bench integration, avionics integration, and aircraft ground and flight checkout. The system is controlled by a Boeing Integrated Defense System (IDS) Flight Test Instrumentation designed Instrumentation Control Unit (ICU), which interfaces to an avionics pilot display and Ground Support Unit (GSU) to set up the instrumentation during preflight and control the instrumentation during flight. The system takes in MIL-STD-1553, analog parameters, Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and video, and records these with onboard recorders. Selected subsets of this data may be routed to the telemetry system, which features two RF streams, each of which contains up to four PCM streams combined into a composite by a data combiner. The RF streams are transmitted by multi-mode digital transmitters capable of PCM-FM or Shaped Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (SOQPSK), with selectable Turbo-Product Code (TPC) Forward Error Correction (FEC). This paper describes integration of the system with the IDS Flight Test Integration Test Bench (ITB), production avionics integration facilities, and final aircraft ground checkout and initial flight tests. It describes results of integration activities and bench evaluation of the telemetry system.

Thesis (MCurr)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The shortage of nurses in the intensive care units (ICU) affects both the nurse and the patient with regard to quality care and the quality of work life. Job satisfaction as well as factors within the organisation and work environment predisposes dissatisfaction. Identifying these factors may improve the quality of life at work and reduce staff shortages. The aim of this study is to evaluate the contextual factors influencing the turnover of intensive care nurses in specified hospitals in the Cape Metropole. The objectives were: • To determine the factors influencing the turnover of intensive care nurses in specified hospitals in the Cape Metropole. • To compare the findings of the data in the specified hospitals. An explorative, descriptive design with a quantitative approach has been applied. The research sample consists of all nurses working in the intensive care units in the specified hospitals at the time of the study. A convenience sampling was applied. A structured questionnaire containing predominantly closed-ended questions was used and data collection was conducted by the researcher herself. A pilot study consisting of 10% (N=21) of the sample was done in one of the hospitals to validate the reliability of the questionnaire. The 21 participants who completed the pilot test did not participate in the actual study. The reliability and validity of the findings was assured by the utilization of the statistician and experts in the nursing department. The data is presented in tables and histograms. A Chi -square test is used to test the statistical significance association between variables. Spearman’s ranks (rho) order correlation is used to show the strength of the relationship between two continuous variables. The findings of the study show that discontent with salaries, inferior working environments, organisational factors, physical as well as emotional stress and the lack of career development opportunities, were major determinants in the poor quality of life at work with regard to the two set objectives. Recommendations include those for better remuneration, improved career opportunities and the creation of a safe as well as a friendly work environment. The aim is to create a positive work environment and improve the quality of life at work. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ’n Tekort aan verpleegsters in die intensiewesorgeenheid beïnvloed beide die verpleegster en die pasient sovêr dit die gehalte van sorg lewering en die kwaliteit van arbeidservarings in die werkplek betref. Werkstevredenheid, sowel as faktore binne die organisasie en omgewingsfaktore in die werkplek, is aanleidend tot ontevredenheid binne die organisasie. Deur hierdie faktore te identifiseer, mag die kwaliteit van werkslewe verbeter word en die verlies aan personeel verminder word. Die doel van hierdie studie is om die kontekstuele faktore wat die personeel omset van intensiewesorgverpleegsters in spesifieke hospitale in die Kaapse Metropool beïnvloed, te evalueer. Die doelwitte was: • Om die faktore wat die omset van intensiewesorgverpleegsters in spesifieke hospitale in die Kaapse metropool beinvloed, te bepaal • Om die bevindinge van die studie binne verskeiehospitale te vergelyk Om hierdie navorsingsvrae te beantwoord, is ’n verkennende en beskrywende ontwerp met ’n kwantitatiewe benadering aangewend. Die steekproef het bestaan uit alle verpleegspersoneel werksaam in die intensiewesorg-eenhede in die gespesifiseerde hospitale binne die studie vermeld . ’n Gerieflikheids-steekproef is uitgevoer. ‘n Goedgestruktueerde vraelys met hoofsaaklik geslote vrae is gebruik vir datainsameling en vraelyste was persoonlik deur die navorser ingeneem. ’n Loodsstudie wat 10% van die steekproef beslaan, (N= 21), is in een van die hospitale onderneem om sodoende die betroubaarheid van die vraelys te bevestig. Die 21 deelnemers was nie deel van die werklike studie nie. Die betroubaarheid en geldigheid van die betrokke studie is bevestig deur die statistikus en kenners in die verplegingsdepartement van sodanige inrigting. Data is voorgelê in die vorm van tabelle en histogramme. ’n Chi-vierkanttoets is gebruik om die statistiese-beduidends verwantskap tussen veranderlikes te toets. Spearman se rangorde (rho) korrelasie is gebruik om die sterkte van die verhouding tussen twee aaneenlopende veranderlikes aan te dui. Die bevindinge dui aan dat ontevredenheid oor salarisse, ‘n swak werksomgewing en organisatoriese faktore, sowel as fisiese en emosionele stres, asook ’n gebrek aan loopbaanontwikkeling, groot bepalers was van swak werkskwaliteit in terme van die twee voorgestelde doelwitte. Aanbevelings bestaan uit voorstelle vir beter salarisse, die skepping van loopbaangeleenthede en die daarstelling van ’n veilige, vriendelike, werksomgewing. Die doel is om ’n positiewe werksomgewing te skep en om die kwaliteit van werkslewe te verbeter.

Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree in Masters of Technology: Nursing, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Background Working in the intensive care unit can be traumatic for nursing personnel. Critical care nurses are faced with repeated exposure to death and dying as they are involved in caring for patients who are actively dying or who have been told that they have a terminal illness and are faced with the possibility of impending death. Critical care nurses relate in different ways to the phenomena of death and dying within their nursing profession and their scope of practice. These nurses often have a difficult time coping with the stress that comes with caring for those who are dying or relating to loved ones of those that are dying. Aim of the study The aim of the study was to explore the critical care nurse’s experiences of death and dying. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive phenomenological approach was used to guide the study. Four nurses were recruited and rich descriptions of their experiences were gained through individual face-to-face interviews. One broad question was asked: ‘What are your experiences regarding death and dying of your patients in ICU?’ iii Results The findings of this study revealed that issues such as communication, multicultural diversity, education and coping mechanisms relating to caring for the critically ill and dying patient are essential in nursing education and practice. Critical care nurses need to have support networks in place, not only to assist in providing care, but also for their own emotional support / M

This diploma thesis deals with the psychical and physical stress of nurses working in anesthesiology and intensive medicine. In the theoretical part, the problems of psychical and physical stress are presented, as well as the role of nurses and their activities undertaken in the units of anesthesiology and intensive care. The practical part deals with a research that aims to obtain data revealing indicators of mental and physical stress of nurses working in anaesthesiology and intensive medicine. The research took place in four selected hospitals in their departments of anesthesiology and intensive care and intensive care units of neurosurgical clinics. Respondents were divided into two groups - respondents of anesthesiology and intensive care and respondents from department of neurosurgery. Groups were compared and results are presented in tables and graphs. Key words Anesteziology, intensit medicine, roles of nurses, physical stress, psychological stress, departemnt of ICU

This thesis deals with the stress, strain and stress level of stress. It examines what more burdens on JIPu sisters and what the standard department, what are the specifics of their work. Compares the work load and nursing department and the standard JIPu. It looks at how the situation affects of stress nurses. It outlines the causes and manifestations of stress effects on the human organism. He is also the burnout that often occurs among workers in the helping professions. The thesis is focused on the shift operation (especially on night shift), relationships at work (sister-sister, sister-doctor), the aggressive behavior of patients, or the lack of sufficient time for patient care. Research method is a questionnaire distributed to the nurses and the internal standard surgical wards and ICU. The evaluation questions of the questionnaire confirms or overthrows the hypothesis that I set at the beginning of research. The hypotheses were confirmed hypotheses 2 and 5 of the hypothesis was not confirmed. It was confirmed that the exchange operation and overload nurses, patient aggression, care of confused patients and bad interpersonal relations a high burden on medical personnel and contributes significantly to the stress load of nurses. In conclusion, I mention that a large role in preventing and...

Les infections nosocomiales demeurent un véritable défi de santé publique en dépit des progrès techniques considérables enregistrés. Inhérentes à la prise en charge de soins, se sont les services de réanimation qui comptabilisent les plus fort taux de prévalence. En effet, quelle que soit leur orientation (chirurgicale, médicale ou mixte), ces services, ont pour mission la prise en charge des patients dont le processus vital est menacé par la survenue brutale d’une ou de plusieurs défaillances organiques nécessitant un arsenal diagnostic et/ou thérapeutique souvent invasif.Parmi les conséquences induites par ces infections ; i) l’allongement de la durée de séjour, ii) le surcoût, iii) une augmentation de la mortalité, et iv) la résistance bactérienne.Pouvoir anticiper en amont et en aval cette problématique aux motifs complexes et aux conséquences parfois fatales serait un atout majeur au profit des patients et un outil stratégique pour les équipes soignantes.Organisée autour de trois étapes charnières, la présente étude s’est d’abord attelée à la phasede l’identification des facteurs de risque de l’évènement nosocomial et de mortalité au service de réanimation ou s’est passé l’étude –prise en compte du case-mix du service de réanimation CHU la TIMONE-. Réalisée grâce à deux méthodes statistiques différentes à savoir la régression logistique et la méthode des risques compétitifs. L’étape suivante a consisté dans un premier temps à comparer les capacités prédictives des scores APACHE II, LOD, SOFA et SAPS II chez ces patients -hospitalisés en réanimation-ayant développé un épisode nosocomial. Dans un second temps de déterminer si la variation des scores LOD, SOFA, APACHEII et SAPS II est un facteur pronostique du risque nosocomial. Les résultats obtenus révèlent que la meilleure performance prédictive est objectivée au profit du SOFA et que seule la variation de ce même score entre le premier jour d’hospitalisation et celui du diagnostic de l’infection nosocomiale mesurée grâce à l’AUC est prédictive du risque nosocomial.À l’issue de ces étapes et au moyen des résultats obtenus une construction d’un score prédictif est réalisée grâce à la méthode de régression logistique. L’objectif de ce score est d’éclairer voire d’influencer le prescripteur lors de ses prises de décisions ou d’éventuelle démarche d’ajustement de ses conduites thérapeutiques. / Limiting nosocomial infections is still a health challenge although the technical development has improved. They are inherent in medical care and the health care services have the highest prevalence. Indeed, whatever the service (surgical, medical or both), the patients life-giving process is under attack because of the emergence of one or several organ faillures;This generates a diagnostic and therapeutic arsenal which is often invasive.Among the consequences resulting from these infections we will take into account :i) a longer stay in hospitalii) an extra costiii) a higher mortality rateiv) bacterial resistance .If we could anticipate upstream and downstream this issue with complex origins and sometimes fatal consequences, it would be a major asset for patients and a strategic tool for medical teams.The present study is organized in three parts, and first focusses onto the identification of the nosocomial event and death risk factors in intensive care where the study took place. We took into account the the case-mix of the intensive care unit in the TIMONE University Hospital. The study was made with two different statistic methods that is logistic regression and the competitive risks method.The next step first consisted in comparing the predictive capacities of the APACHE II, LOD, SOFA and SAPS II scores in nosocomial patients hospitalized in intensive care . Then it tried to determine if the variation of the LOD, SOFA, APACHEII and SAPS II scores was a prognostic risk factor.Results showed that the best predictive performance was objectively measured by the SOFA and that only the variation of this score between the first day in hospital and the day of the diagnosis of a nosocomial infection, calculated thanks to the AUC, could be predictive of a nosocomal risk. After these steps, and with the results calculated , the construction of a predictive score could be established thanks to the logistic regression method. The objective of this score is to help, or even influence the prescribing doctors when they take decisions or when they try to adjust their therapeutic practices.

Introdução: Há poucos estudos avaliando qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde (QVRS) e anos de vida ajustados para qualidade de vida (QALY) em pacientes com câncer que necessitam internação em unidades de terapia intensiva. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar sobrevida, QVRS e QALY durante o seguimento a longo prazo de pacientes com câncer internados em UTI. Métodos: Realizamos uma coorte prospectiva de pacientes com câncer admitidos em duas UTIs do estado de São Paulo. Coletamos dados na admissão da UTI, incluindo QVRS antes da doença aguda que motivou internação em UTI e no seguimento em 15 dias, 3 meses, 6 meses, 12 meses e 18 meses para avaliar a QVRS e status vital. Adicionalmente, o status vital foi avaliado em 24 meses. QVRS foi determinada com o questionário EQ-5D-3L. A sobrevida foi calculada com o estimador de Kaplan-Meier e o QALY com uma adaptação do estimador Zhao e Tsiatis. Resultados: Foram incluídos 792 pacientes. A média de idade foi 61,6±14,3 anos, 42,5% dos pacientes eram do sexo feminino e metade foi admitida após cirurgia eletiva. A média do escore SAPS3 foi 47,4±15.6. A probabilidade de sobreviver 12 e 18 meses foi 42.4% e 38.1%, respectivamente. A média do índice de utilidade da QVRS antes da internação na UTI foi 0,47±0,43, aos 15 dias pós-admissão a UTI 0,41±0,44, aos 3 meses 0,56±0,42, aos 6 meses 0,60±0,41, aos 12 meses 0,67±0,35 e aos 18 meses 0,67±0,35. A probabilidade de atingir 12 e 18 meses de vida ajustados para qualidade de vida foi de 30.1% e 19.1%, respectivamente. Houve diferenças estatisticamente significativas do tempo de sobrevida e QALY conforme as características de base consideradas (admissão após cirurgia eletiva, cirurgia de urgência ou clínica; SAPS3; extensão do câncer; status do câncer; cirurgia prévia; quimioterapia prévia; radioterapia prévia; capacidade funcional; e QVRS prévia). No entanto, apenas QVRS prévia e capacidade funcional foram associados a QVRS ao longo do seguimento de 18 meses. Conclusão: Em pacientes com câncer admitidos em UTI, a sobrevida, QVRS e QALY a longo prazo são limitados. Entretanto, há bastante variabilidade entre os pacientes nestes desfechos clínicos que é associada a características simples presentes na admissão à UTI e que podem auxiliar a equipe de saúde a avaliar o prognóstico / Introduction: Only few studies assessed health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) of cancer patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU). We aimed to assess the long-term HRQOL and QALY of cancer patients admitted to ICUs. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of cancer patients admitted to two ICUs from the state of São Paulo, Brazil. We assessed the HRQOL with the EQ-5D-3L before ICU admission, 15 days, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months. In addition, the vital status was assessed at 24 months. Survival was calculated with the Kaplan-Meier estimator and QALY with the adapted Zhao and Tsiatis estimator. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 61.6 ± 14.3 years, 42.5% were female and half were admitted after elective surgery. The mean Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) 3 was 47.4 ± 15.6. Survival at 12 and 18 months was 42.4% and 38.1%, respectively. The mean EQ5D utility measure before admission to the ICU was 0.47±0.43, at 15 days it was 0.41±0.44, at 90 days 0.56±0.42, at 6 months 0.60±0.41, at 12 months 0.67±0.35 and at 18 months 0.67±0.35. The probabilities for attaining 12 and 18 months of quality-adjusted survival were 30.1% and 19.1%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in survival time and QALYs according to all assessed baseline characteristics (ICU admission after elective surgery, emergency surgery or medical admission; SAPS3; cancer extension; cancer status; previous surgery; previous chemotherapy; previous radiotherapy; performance status; and previous HRQOL). Only the previous HRQOL and performance status were associated with the HRQOL during the 18-month follow-up. Conclusion: Long-term HRQOL, survival and QALY expectancy of cancer patients admitted to the ICU are limited. Nevertheless, these clinical outcomes exhibit wide variability among patients and are associated with simple characteristics present at the time of ICU admission, which may help healthcare professionals estimate patients\' prognose