Background: Patients with severe COVID-19 evolve to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and require management in Intensive Care Units (ICU) where they are exposed to immobilization, immunosuppression, malnutrition, nosocomial infections; may develop ICU Acquired Weakness (ICUAW), which increases with the stay and use of mechanical ventilation (MV).There is evidence of the use of different modalities in rehabilitation to mitigate these effects. Goal: To determine the efficacy of a Multimodal Rehabilitation Program (MRP) in reducing the number of days of mechanical ventilation and stay in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in ICU, as well as to describe its clinical and hospital characteristics. Material and Methods: An quasi-experimental study was designed, with sequential sampling and without blinding. A control and intervention group was formed, with 32 participants each. A Multimodal Rehabilitation Program (MRP) based on four therapeutic modalities was applied and the intervention was quantified through the use of proposed indicators. Results: The variation in days of ICU stay and days of MV were similar in both groups. The Multimodal Rehabilitation Index (iMR) ranged from 0.1 to 2.7 (mean = 1.2, SD = 0.7) and had significance for cut-off points ≤ 0.81 and ≤ 0.94 in mortality (p = 0.02) and Ventilator-free days at 28 days (VFDs-28) (p = 0.01). Conclusions: No statistically significant difference was found in favor of the intervention in terms of days of stay in the ICU and days of MV. Explanatorily, it was reported that iMR was related to (VFDs-28) and mortality in patients with severe COVID-19.

No description available.

Teamwork is essential for ensuring the quality and safety of healthcare delivery in the intensive care unit (ICU). Complex procedures are conducted with a diverse team of clinicians with unique roles and responsibilities. Information about care plans and goals must also be developed, communicated, and coordinated across multiple disciplines and transferred effectively between shifts and personnel. The intricacies of routine care are compounded during emergency events, which require ICU teams to adapt to rapidly changing patient conditions while facing intense time pressure and conditional stress. Realities such as these emphasize the need for teamwork skills in the ICU. The measurement of teamwork serves a number of different purposes, including routine assessment, directing feedback, and evaluating the impact of improvement initiatives. Yet no behavioral marker system exists in critical care for quantifying teamwork across multiple task types. This study contributes to the state of science and practice in critical care by taking a (1) theory-driven, (2) context-driven, and (3) psychometrically-driven approach to the development of a teamwork measure. The development of the marker system for the current study considered the state of science and practice surrounding teamwork in critical care, the application of behavioral marker systems across the healthcare community, and interviews with front line clinicians. The ICU behavioral marker system covers four core teamwork dimensions especially relevant to critical care teams: Communication, Leadership, Backup and Supportive Behavior, and Team Decision Making, with each dimension subsuming other relevant subdimensions. This study provided an initial assessment of the reliability and validity of the marker system by focusing on a subset of teamwork competencies relevant to subset of team tasks. Two raters scored the performance of 50 teams along six subdimensions during rounds (n=25) and handoffs (n=25). In addition to calculating traditional forms of reliability evidence [intraclass correlations (ICCs) and percent agreement], this study modeled the systematic variance in ratings associated with raters, instances of teamwork, subdimensions, and tasks by applying generalizability (G) theory. G theory was also employed to provide evidence that the marker system adequately distinguishes teamwork competencies targeted for measurement. The marker system differentiated teamwork subdimensions when the data for rounds and handoffs were combined and when the data were examined separately by task (G coefficient greater than 0.80). Additionally, variance associated with instances of teamwork, subdimensions, and their interaction constituted the greatest proportion of variance in scores while variance associated with rater and task effects were minimal. That said, there remained a large percentage of residual error across analyses. Single measures ICCs were fair to good when the data for rounds and handoffs were combined depending on the competency assessed (0.52 to 0.74). The ICCs ranged from fair to good when only examining handoffs (0.47 to 0.69) and fair to excellent when only considering rounds (0.53 to 0.79). Average measures ICCs were always greater than single measures for each analysis, ranging from good to excellent (overall: 0.69 to 0.85, handoffs: 0.64 to 0.81, rounds: 0.70 to 0.89). In general, the percent of overall agreement was substandard, ranging from 0.44 to 0.80 across each task analysis. The percentage of scores within a single point, however, was nearly perfect, ranging from 0.80 to 1.00 for rounds and handoffs, handoffs, and rounds. The confluence of evidence supported the expectation that the marker system differentiates among teamwork subdmensions. Yet different reliability indices suggested varying levels of confidence in rater consistency depending on the teamwork competency that was measured. Because this study applied a psychometric approach, areas for future development and testing to redress these issues were identified. There also is a need to assess the viability of this tool in other research contexts to evaluate its generalizability in places with different norms and organizational policies as well as for different tasks that emphasize different teamwork skills. Further, it is important to increase the number of users able to make assessments through low-cost, easily accessible rater training and guidance materials. Particular emphasis should be given to areas where rater reliability was less than ideal. This would allow future researchers to evaluate team performance, provide developmental feedback, and determine the impact of future teamwork improvement initiatives.

In this dissertation I explore the cultures of death and dying in medical institutions, hospices and funeral work. I argue that not only are there competing cultures of death and dying in American society, but within these institutions that produce tension and conflict, sometimes among the workers, other times between the workers and those they serve, and other times between the institution and outside organizations. Medical institutions, by medicalizing death and dying, constructed a "death as enemy" orientation in which doctors fight death with the use of medical technology, practice detached concern from their patients, and marginalize religion and spirituality. On the other hand, a "suffering as enemy" orientation has also emerged, primarily in the form of palliative medicine, in which needless suffering is considered worse than death, therefore life-saving technology is removed, doctors empathize with patients and families, and spirituality is incorporated. Hospice started as a social movement to change how dying patients were treated at the end of life, addressing patients' physical, spiritual and emotional pain. However, the bureaucratization of hospice, particularly the Medicare Hospice Benefit, has led to a compromise of the social movement's ideals and these competing orientations shape how hospice workers, particularly nurses and social workers, express frustrations with their work. Funeral directors assert their jurisdictional claims of the right to handle the corpse and assuage the grief of the bereaved, through embalming, informal grief counseling and the funeral performance, but funeral directors encounter resistance from large funeral corporations and the funeral societies. Large corporations centralize embalming, turning the corpse from a craft to a product, recruit other professionals to practice grief counseling, and sell standardized funeral packages. Funeral societies challenge the necessity of embalming, funeral directors' expertise in grief counseling, and focusing on the value of simple, dignified and affordable funerals. I conclude this dissertation by showing how orientations toward death and dying vary in American society and these institutions because of tension between experts who espouse a particular orientation and activists who resist the claims of the experts.

No description available.

Diarrhea is common during critical illness; however, the etiology, definitions, incidence and risk factors for diarrhea and its impact on patient important outcomes require further investigation. There are many possible etiologies of diarrhea, including iatrogenic causes such as laxative medications, often administered as part of bowel protocols, as well as Clostriodiodes difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD). This thesis includes 6 chapters that address the knowledge gaps in the literature regarding the epidemiology of diarrhea in the intensive care unit (ICU), the impact of bowel protocols on diarrhea, and CDAD in critically ill adults. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to gaps in the literature that are addressed by the studies included in this thesis. Chapter 2 outlines the methodology used to inform the protocol for the Diarrhea, Incidence, Consequences and Epidemiology in the Intensive Care Unit (DICE-ICU) Study. Chapter 3 reports on the findings of DICE-ICU including the incidence, risk factors, definitions, and outcomes of patients who develop diarrhea in the ICU. Chapter 4 provides a content analysis of bowel protocols used in multiple ICUs. Chapter 5 summarizes a nested cohort study addressing the incidence, prevalence, timing, treatments, and outcomes of CDAD in critically ill patients enrolled in the PROSPECT Trial. Chapter 6 summarizes the work and discusses the strengths and limitations, implications and conclusions presented in this PhD thesis. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre haben sich Fast-Track-Behandlungskonzepte in der Kardioanästhesie etabliert. Diese zielen darauf ab, unter Verwendung kurzwirksamer Anästhetika eine frühzeitige postoperative, tracheale Extubation der Patienten zu gewährleisten, und folgend die Dauer der postoperativen Behandlung auf der Intensivstation und im Krankenhaus sowie die Inzidenz an Komplikationen zu senken. Kernstück eines multimodalen, kardioanästhesiologischen Fast-Track-Konzeptes am Herzzentrum in Leipzig (HZL) ist eine postanästhesiologische Aufwacheinheit (PACU) mit 3 Patientenplätzen, in der Patienten postoperativ betreut werden, ohne dass eine Aufnahme auf die Intensivstation (ICU) erfolgen muss. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist, den Einfluss der PACU im Rahmen des Fast-Track-Konzeptes im Vergleich zur Behandlung auf der Intensivstation zu untersuchen. Hierzu führten wir eine prospektiv-randomisierte kontrollierte Studie mit insgesamt 200 elektiven, kardiochirurgischen Patienten durch. Resultat der Studie war eine signifikant kürzere Dauer bis zur Extubation in der PACU im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe, zudem war die Verweildauer in der PACU im Median signifikant kürzer als auf der ICU. Hinsichtlich der postoperativen Mortalität und Morbidität zeigten sich keine wesentlichen Unterschiede. Hieraus lässt sich schlussfolgern, dass eine postoperative Fast-Track-Behandlung in einer dedizierten PACU im Vergleich zur ICU zur früheren Extubation und Verlegung auf die weiterversorgenden Stationen führt, ohne dass die Sicherheit der Patienten beeinträchtigt wird.

Ao se considerar a importância da busca de indicadores que determinam, tanto a alta dos pacientes das unidades de terapia intensiva (UTIs) como o risco de óbito e readmissão dos internados nessa unidade, este estudo teve como objetivos: caracterizar os pacientes internados em UTIs de hospitais que tenham unidades intermediárias quanto aos dados demográficos e clínicos; descrever a mortalidade e a unidade de destino após a alta da UTI e a freqüência de readmissão nessas unidades; comparar as médias do Nursing Activities Score (NAS), Simplified Acute Physiology (SAPS II) e Logistic Organ Dysfunction (LODS) no primeiro e último dia de internação na UTI; identificar os fatores associados com a alta, óbito e readmissão dos pacientes em UTI na mesma internação hospitalar. Trata-se de um estudo prospectivo longitudinal de pacientes adultos internados em UTIs gerais de dois hospitais governamentais e dois não governamentais do Município de São Paulo que possuíam unidades intermediárias. A casuística compôs-se de 500 pacientes adultos admitidos nessas UTIs. Os dados coletados foram referentes as primeiras e últimas 24 horas de permanência na UTI, porém os pacientes foram acompanhados até a alta hospitalar para identificação das readmissões. Os resultados mostraram predomínio de indivíduos idosos (55,80%), do sexo feminino (56,60%), a maior parte procedente do Pronto-Socorro/Atendimento (37,60%) e tempo de permanência na UTI entre um e dois dias (36,60%). Os antecedentes e os motivos de internação mais freqüentes foram relacionados às doenças do aparelho circulatório. As médias dos escores, no primeiro dia de internação na UTI, foram SAPS II, 37,41, LODS, 4,32 e NAS, 62,13. No último dia de internação, o valor médio do SAPS II foi de 36,15, do LODS, 4,2 e do NAS, 52,17. Os pacientes com alta da UTI apresentaram no último dia de internação, a média desses escores inferior à de admissão. Nos indivíduos que morreram, as médias dos escores SAPS II e LODS foram superiores no último dia de internação na UTI em relação aos valores de admissão; já as médias do NAS foram similares. Os pacientes readmitidos apresentaram na alta da UTI diminuição da média dos escores, porém essa diferença só alcançou níveis significativos quando o NAS foi o indicador utilizado. A mortalidade foi 20,60% durante a internação na UTI, a maioria dos pacientes foi transferida para unidade intermediária e aproximadamente, 9% foram readmitidos. Os pacientes que foram encaminhados à unidade intermediária diferiram dos que foram para unidade de internação em relação à idade, procedência, antecedentes, motivo de internação, SAPS II na admissão e NAS na admissão e alta. Os pacientes que morreram, apresentaram maior tempo de internação, escores de gravidade mais altos na admissão e, imediatamente, antes do óbito. No último dia de internação na UTI, o NAS foi mais elevado entre os que morreram. Para o grupo de readmitidos, somente antecedentes relacionados a doenças infecciosas e parasitárias, doenças do aparelho geniturinário e o LODS na admissão foram diferentes se comparados aos não readmitidos / Considering the relevance of collecting indicators to define either the discharge of patients from the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) or risk of death and readmission of interned patients into these units, this study had as objectives: - to characterize the patients interned in ICUs in hospitals with intermediate care units according to demographical and clinical data; - to describe mortality, unit of destination after ICU discharge and frequency of readmission into these units - to compare the averages of the Nursing Activities Score (NAS), Simplified Acute Physiology (SAPS II) and Logistic Organ Dysfunction (LODS) during the first and the last day of internment in the ICU; - to identify the factors associated with the discharge, death and readmission of patients into the ICU, during the same hospital internment. This is a longitudinal prospective study of adult patients interned in general ICUs of two public hospitals and two private hospitals of the City of São Paulo, which had intermediate care units. The casuistry was composed of 500 adult patients who were interned in these ICUs. The collected data referred to the first and the last 24 hours spent in the ICU, however, a follow-up of the patients was made until their discharge in order to identify readmissions. The results show a predominance of elderly individuals (55.8%), of female gender (56.6%), with the larger number coming from the Emergency Room (37.6%) and patients who spent between one and two days in the ICU (36.6%). The previous problems and the main motives for internment were related to circulatory system diseases. The average scores during the first day in the ICU were SAPS II (37.41), LODS (4.32) and NAS (62.13%). During the last day of internment, the average scores were SAPS II (36.15), LODS (4.2), and NAS (52.17%). Patients who had been discharged from the ICU presented, during the last day of internment, an average in these scores inferior to those registered on their entry day. For the individuals who died, the average SAPS II and LODS scores were superior to those of the entry day in the ICU, nevertheless, the NAS averages were similar. The readmitted patients had, at the time of discharge from the ICU, less than average scores in SAPS II, LODS and NAS. This difference, however, only reached significant levels when the NAS indicator was applied. The death rate was 20.6% during the ICU internment, the majority of the patients were transferred to an intermediate care unit and approximately 9% were readmitted. Patients, who were transferred to the intermediate care unit, differed from those who went to a general nursing unit according to age, origin, antecedents, motive for internment, SAPS II during their entry, NAS during their entry and discharge. Patients who died presented longer internment time and had more severe scores at their entry into the ICU and immediately before death. The NAS during the last internment day in the ICU was higher for those who died. For the readmitted group, only antecedents related to contagious and parasitic diseases, genitourinary system diseases, and LODS at entry were different when compared to those of patients who were not readmitted into the ICU

Ao se considerar a importância da busca de indicadores que determinam, tanto a alta dos pacientes das unidades de terapia intensiva (UTIs) como o risco de óbito e readmissão dos internados nessa unidade, este estudo teve como objetivos: caracterizar os pacientes internados em UTIs de hospitais que tenham unidades intermediárias quanto aos dados demográficos e clínicos; descrever a mortalidade e a unidade de destino após a alta da UTI e a freqüência de readmissão nessas unidades; comparar as médias do Nursing Activities Score (NAS), Simplified Acute Physiology (SAPS II) e Logistic Organ Dysfunction (LODS) no primeiro e último dia de internação na UTI; identificar os fatores associados com a alta, óbito e readmissão dos pacientes em UTI na mesma internação hospitalar. Trata-se de um estudo prospectivo longitudinal de pacientes adultos internados em UTIs gerais de dois hospitais governamentais e dois não governamentais do Município de São Paulo que possuíam unidades intermediárias. A casuística compôs-se de 500 pacientes adultos admitidos nessas UTIs. Os dados coletados foram referentes as primeiras e últimas 24 horas de permanência na UTI, porém os pacientes foram acompanhados até a alta hospitalar para identificação das readmissões. Os resultados mostraram predomínio de indivíduos idosos (55,80%), do sexo feminino (56,60%), a maior parte procedente do Pronto-Socorro/Atendimento (37,60%) e tempo de permanência na UTI entre um e dois dias (36,60%). Os antecedentes e os motivos de internação mais freqüentes foram relacionados às doenças do aparelho circulatório. As médias dos escores, no primeiro dia de internação na UTI, foram SAPS II, 37,41, LODS, 4,32 e NAS, 62,13. No último dia de internação, o valor médio do SAPS II foi de 36,15, do LODS, 4,2 e do NAS, 52,17. Os pacientes com alta da UTI apresentaram no último dia de internação, a média desses escores inferior à de admissão. Nos indivíduos que morreram, as médias dos escores SAPS II e LODS foram superiores no último dia de internação na UTI em relação aos valores de admissão; já as médias do NAS foram similares. Os pacientes readmitidos apresentaram na alta da UTI diminuição da média dos escores, porém essa diferença só alcançou níveis significativos quando o NAS foi o indicador utilizado. A mortalidade foi 20,60% durante a internação na UTI, a maioria dos pacientes foi transferida para unidade intermediária e aproximadamente, 9% foram readmitidos. Os pacientes que foram encaminhados à unidade intermediária diferiram dos que foram para unidade de internação em relação à idade, procedência, antecedentes, motivo de internação, SAPS II na admissão e NAS na admissão e alta. Os pacientes que morreram, apresentaram maior tempo de internação, escores de gravidade mais altos na admissão e, imediatamente, antes do óbito. No último dia de internação na UTI, o NAS foi mais elevado entre os que morreram. Para o grupo de readmitidos, somente antecedentes relacionados a doenças infecciosas e parasitárias, doenças do aparelho geniturinário e o LODS na admissão foram diferentes se comparados aos não readmitidos / Considering the relevance of collecting indicators to define either the discharge of patients from the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) or risk of death and readmission of interned patients into these units, this study had as objectives: - to characterize the patients interned in ICUs in hospitals with intermediate care units according to demographical and clinical data; - to describe mortality, unit of destination after ICU discharge and frequency of readmission into these units - to compare the averages of the Nursing Activities Score (NAS), Simplified Acute Physiology (SAPS II) and Logistic Organ Dysfunction (LODS) during the first and the last day of internment in the ICU; - to identify the factors associated with the discharge, death and readmission of patients into the ICU, during the same hospital internment. This is a longitudinal prospective study of adult patients interned in general ICUs of two public hospitals and two private hospitals of the City of São Paulo, which had intermediate care units. The casuistry was composed of 500 adult patients who were interned in these ICUs. The collected data referred to the first and the last 24 hours spent in the ICU, however, a follow-up of the patients was made until their discharge in order to identify readmissions. The results show a predominance of elderly individuals (55.8%), of female gender (56.6%), with the larger number coming from the Emergency Room (37.6%) and patients who spent between one and two days in the ICU (36.6%). The previous problems and the main motives for internment were related to circulatory system diseases. The average scores during the first day in the ICU were SAPS II (37.41), LODS (4.32) and NAS (62.13%). During the last day of internment, the average scores were SAPS II (36.15), LODS (4.2), and NAS (52.17%). Patients who had been discharged from the ICU presented, during the last day of internment, an average in these scores inferior to those registered on their entry day. For the individuals who died, the average SAPS II and LODS scores were superior to those of the entry day in the ICU, nevertheless, the NAS averages were similar. The readmitted patients had, at the time of discharge from the ICU, less than average scores in SAPS II, LODS and NAS. This difference, however, only reached significant levels when the NAS indicator was applied. The death rate was 20.6% during the ICU internment, the majority of the patients were transferred to an intermediate care unit and approximately 9% were readmitted. Patients, who were transferred to the intermediate care unit, differed from those who went to a general nursing unit according to age, origin, antecedents, motive for internment, SAPS II during their entry, NAS during their entry and discharge. Patients who died presented longer internment time and had more severe scores at their entry into the ICU and immediately before death. The NAS during the last internment day in the ICU was higher for those who died. For the readmitted group, only antecedents related to contagious and parasitic diseases, genitourinary system diseases, and LODS at entry were different when compared to those of patients who were not readmitted into the ICU

No description available.