Blood Volume Measurement
FIGURE 27.1 Dynamic equilibrium between hydrostatic (capillary) and oncotic pressures. Under normal conditions, there is a balance between the net hydrostatic pressure causing flux from the blood vessels into the…
Policy, Politics, and the Intensive Care Unit
FIGURE 1.1 Estimated effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the uninsured. (Data from Congressional Budget Office. Insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act. CBO’s March 2015 Baseline….
Transferring Critically Ill Patients
FIGURE 11.1 Example of an intrahospital transport checklist developed by Brunsveld-Reinders et al. (From Brunsveld-Reinders AH, Arbous MS, Kuiper SG, de Jonge E. A comprehensive method to develop a checklist…
Judicial Involvement in End-of-Life Decisions and Informed Consent
If courts are not involved with a patient’s ability to make decisions, health care providers commonly invoke the term “medical competence,” but they are really referring to the patient’s capacity….
Collaborative Care: Physician and Nursing Interactions and the Foundation of a Successful Unit
TABLE 5.2 Sample Daily Goals Sheet TABLE 5.3 Steps to Ensure an Effective Clinical Handover ICU Clinical Handover The clinical handover is a verbal form of communication involving health professionals…
Clinical Decision-Making
How can the Results Apply to my Patient? Participants in clinical trials represent a selected group of patients. In clinical practice, most patients do not fulfill the inclusion and exclusion…
Invasive monitoring
Invasive arterial pressure monitoring Invasive arterial pressure monitoring provides beat-to-beat real-time information with sustained accuracy. Components 1. An indwelling Teflon arterial cannula (20G or 22G) is used ( Fig. 11.1…
Non-invasive monitoring
Clinical observation provides vital information regarding the patient. Observations gained from the use of the various monitors should augment that information; skin perfusion, capillary refill, cyanosis, pallor, skin temperature and…
Pumps, pain management and regional anaesthesia
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) PCA represents one of the most significant advances in the treatment of postoperative pain. Improved technology enables pumps to accurately deliver boluses of opioid when a demand…
Additional equipment used in anaesthesia and intensive care
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) CPAP is a spontaneous breathing mode used in the intensive care unit, during anaesthesia and for patients requiring respiratory support at home. It increases the…
