[Evaluation of the compliance of semirecumbent position between 30-45° in intubated patients]. / Evaluación del cumplimiento de cabeceros elevados entre 30-45° en pacientes intubados.

AIMS: To determine compliance of the standard "semirecumbent position between 30-45° in patients with artificial airway (AA)". To know the opinion of the professionals on this issue. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, prospective study was carried out in December 2009 in the ICU department of a tertiary hospital that excluded the limitation of therapeutic effort, prone position and antitrendelemburg. DATA COLLECTED: headrest angle, professional experience of the nurse, shift, perception of the auditor, diagnostic, type of AA (tracheostomy or endotracheal tube), mechanical ventilation (MV) (yes/no) and enteral nutrition (EN). Nurses were surveyed to verify if they knew the standard, if they complied with it, the method used and their suggestions. We used the Student's t test and ANOVA for multivariable analysis, and Fisher's χ2; p<0.05=significant. RESULTS: A total of 546 valid measurements were obtained from 53 patients, of which 40.9% had the correct semirecumbent position (30-45°). Professionals with <1 year of experience were those who raised the headrest the least, with only 26.4% of these measurements over 30°. The standard was met in only 34.8% of the neurocritical patients (NC) vs non NC (46.7%) (p<0.05). It was <30° in 29.2% of patients with tracheostomy vs 44% measurements performed on patients with TOT (p<0.05). There were no differences between shifts, the use of MV or EN. Diagnostic accuracy of the auditor: sensitivity: 91.6%; specificity: 72.5%; positive predictive value: 70.2%; negative predictive value (NPV): 92.4%. 97.9% of responders know the standard. Visual judgment was used in 97.2% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Measured compliance was less than 50% although the standard is well known by the nursing team. Even though the subjective perception has a high NPV, it does not achieve the standard.

[Diagnostic blood losses in severe trauma patients]. / Pérdidas sanguíneas diagnósticas en pacientes con trauma grave.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze diagnostic (blood drawings) and iatrogenic (Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy, CRRT) blood losses (BL) in severe trauma patients. METHOD: A one-year descriptive, prospective and observational study. We included patients over 15 years of age, admitted with severe trauma and who had a score of > or =16 on the Injury Severity Index (ISS). Those patients in whom limitation of therapeutic effort had been indicated were excluded. A total of 225 patients with 1619 days of evolution were analyzed for volume of BL/day/patient, type of diagnostic test, clinical outcome and utilization of CRRT. The variables were described as mean +/- standard deviation with the Student's T test. RESULTS: Average blood loss of patient per day was 55.5+/-32.2 cc. Statistically significant differences were found between the blood volume drawn when the first day was compared to the second day, 73.5+/-32.2 vs. 56.3+/-21.9 (p<0.001); clinical outcome (alive vs death) 54.8+/-33 vs. 60.7+/-24.9 (p<0.05); severity (ISS<31 or > or =31) 54.65+/-20 vs. 61.5+/-28.5 (p<0.001), No RRT vs RRT: 50.9+/-18.9 vs. 97.2+/-72.6 (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The greatest diagnostic BL occurs during the resuscitation phase, in the patients who die, in those with greater severity and those undergoing CRRT.

[Burnout syndrome in different intensive care units]. / Síndrome de burnout en distintas Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of the professional burnout syndrome in health care personnel of different Intensive Care Units (ICUs). To know the association between burnout, its dimensions and sociodemographic-laboral variables. To compare the dimensions of burnout, characteristics of the personnel and of the patients of the different ICUs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analytic, comparative, cross-sectional study performed in the ICU of a tertiary hospital in November 2006 performed in a sample of 289 professionals. The Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire and sociodemographic-laboral variables were provided. The following were evaluated in the ICUs: Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS), Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score (NEMS), mortality, stay, isolations and travel of third parties. The chi2 test, Fischer test, Kruskall-Wallis test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used. RESULTS: A total of 73% of the workers answered. Ages ranged from 37 +/- 9 and 81% were women. The prevalence of burnout was 14%, this affecting 16% of the nurses, 14% of residents, 13% physicians and 10% auxiliary workers. Burnout was associated to low professional satisfactions, relationship with regular colleagues, low work recognition and time worked and experience in the ICU to high emotional tiredness, with a p < 0.05. In a polyvalent ICU, higher values of the following were obtained: TISS 42 +/- 11, NEMS 35 +/- 10, mortality 18%, stay 5 +/- 9, isolation 21%, burnout syndrome 17%, elevated emotional tiredness 49%, elevated depersonalization 63% and low professional performance 44%. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of the burnout syndrome in our sample was 14%, those being affected most being the nursing professionals. We detected elevated levels of depersonalization and middle levels of emotional tiredness and professional performance. The variables related with professional burnout syndrome were low professional satisfaction, relationship with regular colleagues, low work recognition, and elevated emotional tiredness in the more expert personnel. The ICU with the greatest prevalence of burnout during the month studied attended patients with greater TISS, NEMS, mortality, stay and isolations.