Tracheostomy care: competency assessment criteria COMPETENCY STATEMENTDemonstrates safe practice for patients requiring a tracheostomy and dealing with tracheostomy emergencies Key skills Assessment criteria 1. Demonstrates an understanding of the anatomy…
Complications associated with a tracheostomy Complications can be divided into those associated with insertion of the tracheostomy (surgical or percutaneous), those that arise following the procedure (usually blocked or displaced…
Introduction In order to safely care for patients with tracheostomies in our hospitals, we need to address the organisation and infrastructure of the clinical areas where patients with tracheostomies and…
What is a tracheostomy? Tracheostomies are performed in head and neck surgical practice, with over 5000 procedures performed yearly in England. We estimate around 10 000–15 000 percutaneous tracheostomies are…
Ethical and Legal Aspects Applicable to the Neurological Intensive Care Unit Neurologists and neurosurgeons in the neurological intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) frequently must decide on the level of care to…
Spinal Cord Injury Approximately 10,000 patients a year in the United States are rendered paraplegic or quadriplegic as a result or injuries to the spinal cord. There are an estimated…
Viral Encephalitis and Bacterial Meningitis In the past 20 years the complexity of caring for patients with acute encephalitis and meningitis in the critical care setting has increased. This is…
Status Epilepticus Status epilepticus (called “status” throughout this chapter) is a life-threatening neurological emergency with a high mortality and morbidity. In several series it accounts for 1% to 8% of…
