Triggers of intensive care patients with palliative care needs from nurses' perspective: a mixed methods study.

PURPOSE: Triggers have been developed internationally to identify intensive care patients with palliative care needs. Due to their work, nurses are close to the patient and their perspective should therefore be included. In this study, potential triggers were first identified and then a questionnaire was developed to analyse their acceptance among German intensive care nurses. METHODS: For the qualitative part of this mixed methods study, focus groups were conducted with intensive care nurses from different disciplines (surgery, neurosurgery, internal medicine), which were selected by convenience. Data were analysed using the "content-structuring content analysis" according to Kuckartz. For the quantitative study part, the thus identified triggers formed the basis for questionnaire items. The questionnaire was tested for comprehensibility in cognitive pretests and for feasibility in a pilot survey. RESULTS: In the qualitative part six focus groups were conducted at four university hospitals. From the data four main categories (prognosis, interprofessional cooperation, relatives, patients) with three to 15 subcategories each could be identified. The nurses described situations requiring palliative care consults that related to the severity of the disease, the therapeutic course, communication within the team and between team and patient/relatives, and typical characteristics of patients and relatives. In addition, a professional conflict between nurses and physicians emerged. The questionnaire, which was developed after six cognitive interviews, consists of 32 items plus one open question. The pilot had a response rate of 76.7% (23/30), whereby 30 triggers were accepted with an agreement of ≥ 50%. CONCLUSION: Intensive care nurses see various triggers, with interprofessional collaboration and the patient's prognosis playing a major role. The questionnaire can be used for further surveys, e.g. interprofessional triggers could be developed.

Lived experience of patients in ICU after cardiac surgery: A phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery (CS) patients spend a significant amount of time in the intensive care unit (ICU). This event can be very overwhelming, with an intense emotional impact, causing vulnerability and a sense of helplessness in patients. Currently, the in-depth description of the ICU stay experience from a patient's own perspective is little studied, especially in the CS setting and using a qualitative approach in Italy. AIMS: This study aimed to describe CS patients' lived experiences. METHODS: A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted between October 2018 and December 2019 using the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. RESULTS: Eleven patients were interviewed during the months after discharge from the ICU. Four main themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: (a) will not wake up anymore; (b) endless time in ICU; (c) something keeps me from breathing; and (d) "anchor in the storm." Results confirm the negative experience of patients in the ICU, mainly because of the extubating procedure. Nurses were found to play a key role in decisions, supporting and protecting patients from the psychological stress related to the ICU stay. CONCLUSION: This is the first study capturing ICU patients' lived experiences after a CS intervention with the use of interpretative phenomenology in Italy. Further investigations are warranted to systematically identify which approaches or strategies are essential to support these patients in the Italian context. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Our study's results could be useful for tailored care delivery to meet the real needs of Italian patients in the ICU after CS and, consequently, improve the quality of nursing care and patients' outcomes.

Resuscitation à la Carte: Ethical Concerns About the Practice and Theory of Partial Codes.

We describe a request for CPR without chest compressions from a patient's daughter. Requests for partial codes raise numerous clinical concerns, including lack of evidence-based effectiveness, risk of medical error, and difficulty in communication. These in turn lead to ethical concerns, including a misapplication of respect for patient autonomy, violating the foundational principle of "first do no harm," and inconsistency with the tenets of shared decision-making. Many requests for partial codes are also based on a conflation of cardiopulmonary arrest and pre-arrest emergencies. We argue physicians have no ethical obligation to honor a request for a partial code and that doing so does not violate respect for patient autonomy. Requests for partial codes should be seen as a request for information about CPR and an invitation to conversation. We also report here the move our health system made to only offer evidence-based code status options and reject those with negligible likelihood for therapeutic benefit. This work included limiting options for code status to "Full Code" or "Do Not Attempt Resuscitation," creating an order set for non-arrest emergencies, and sample language to guide physicians in responding to requests for partial codes. To assist other hospitals or health systems considering this move, we provide the content of the order set for non-arrest emergencies and the sample language guide.

EAST Oriens Award: Why I want a career in trauma and acute care surgery.

ABSTRACT: The opportunity to compose this essay for the Eastern Association for the Surgery Trauma's Oriens Award has been the most terrific privilege of my training thus far. This award gave my passion a voice. It helped me better understand myself and my need to be a part of this world, this universe that selflessly dedicates every moment of themselves to the care of the critically ill and injured patient. I found every single past Oriens Essay and Keynote Address is a testament to the pure resilience, strength, and grit necessary to embody the calm and collected exterior of the internally screaming trauma surgeon. To me, this award, and all the previous essays, represents the genuine passion of this community and its continued support of each other. As I continue to process the honor of being selected for this prestigious award, I would like to thank my peers, mentors, and the entire trauma community for your perpetual inspiration and education. Your success and timeless dedication to the evolution of this field simply fascinates me. In preparing to join this society, it is my hope that some of these words may inspire, in an effort to reprise my mentors and truly thank you for selecting my essay for this year's award.

Opinion & Special Articles: Shared Decision-Making During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Three Bullets in 3 Hemispheres.

Patients with traumatic brain injury may be dependent on the decision-making of their families. Restrictive visitation policies implemented during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disproportionately affect these patients and their families. This narrative aims to illustrate this phenomenon and catalyze discussions regarding the need for careful evaluation of restrictive family visitation policies and exceptions that may be required for patients with brain injuries.

Reinforcement Learning in Neurocritical and Neurosurgical Care: Principles and Possible Applications.

Dynamic decision-making was essential in the clinical care of surgical patients. Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm is a computational method to find sequential optimal decisions among multiple suboptimal options. This review is aimed at introducing RL's basic concepts, including three basic components: the state, the action, and the reward. Most medical studies using reinforcement learning methods were trained on a fixed observational dataset. This paper also reviews the literature of existing practical applications using reinforcement learning methods, which can be further categorized as a statistical RL study and a computational RL study. The review proposes several potential aspects where reinforcement learning can be applied in neurocritical and neurosurgical care. These include sequential treatment strategies of intracranial tumors and traumatic brain injury and intraoperative endoscope motion control. Several limitations of reinforcement learning are representations of basic components, the positivity violation, and validation methods.

Implementing a Rapid, Two-Step Delirium Screening Protocol in Acute Care: Barriers and Facilitators.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: An effective and efficient protocol for delirium identification is needed to improve health outcomes for older adults and reduce healthcare costs. This study describes the barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of the ultra-brief confusion assessment method (UB-CAM), a rapid two-step delirium identification protocol (ultra-brief screen, followed by CAM in positives), field tested with hospitalized older adults (70+). DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design using observational data collection and brief semi-structured interviews. SETTINGS: An urban academic medical center and a community teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included 50 physician hospitalists, 189 registered nurses, and 83 nursing assistants (NAs). MEASUREMENTS: Field researchers guided by a modified multi-level implementation framework, collected observational data as participants administered the UB-CAM (n = 767). Thematic analysis was conducted on five observational categories: structural, organizational, patient, clinician, and innovation. Field notes and brief semi-structured interviews (n = 231) with clinicians, explored the utility, acceptability, and feasibility of the protocol, and supplemented the observations. RESULTS: The UB-CAM was generally positively received by all three clinician types. Six themes describe barriers and/or facilitators to implementing the UB-CAM: (1) physical setting and milieu; (2) practice environment; (3) integrating into role; (4) adaptive techniques; (5) patient responses; and (6) systematic assessment. The composition and interaction of the six themes determined if the theme was expressed as a barrier or facilitator, affirming the importance of context when implementing system-level delirium screening. CONCLUSION: This is one of the first studies to test a two-step process for delirium identification, and to involve NAs in screening, and the findings demonstrate overall support from clinicians for delirium identification, and describe the need for a multifaceted, contextualized, and systemic approach to implementation and evaluation of delirium screening.

Covid-19: um novo fenômeno de representações sociais para a equipe de enfermagem na terapia intensiva / Covid-19: a new phenomenon of social representations for the nursing team in intensive care / Covid-19: un nuevo fenómeno de representaciones sociales para el equipo de enfermería en cuidados intensivos

Objetivo: refletir sobre a COVID-19 como um fenômeno de representações sociais para a equipe de enfermagem da Unidade de Terapia Intensiva, analisando as implicações dessa compreensão teórica no delineamento das práticas sociais de tais profissionais. Método: estudo teórico-reflexivo, pautado no referencial das representações sociais. Captaram-se artigos científicos, livros e dados oficiais sobre a COVID-19; posteriormente, procedeu-se o aprofundamento reflexivo com base nos preceitos da teoria. Desenvolvimento: a COVID-19 vem apresentando um forte impacto no cuidado de enfermagem na terapia intensiva. O atendimento dos critérios das representações sociais: da relevância, da prática, do consenso e da afiliação; as dimensões dos afetos, imagética e das práticas sociais mobilizadas na construção social desse fenômeno; e as características do cotidiano da pertença social da equipe de enfermagem atuante na terapia intensiva diante dos pacientes com a COVID-19 foram os argumentos teóricos que sustentaram a defesa de que a COVID-19 é um fenômeno de representação social para esse grupo social. Conclusão e implicações para a prática: estudos das representações sociais desses profissionais sobre a COVID-19 podem subsidiar a proposição de tecnologias de cuidado-educação que qualifiquem a sua atuação no atendimento aos pacientes críticos com a COVID-19

Aim: To reflect on COVID-19 as a phenomenon of social representations for the nursing staff of the Intensive Care Unit, analyzing the implications of this theoretical understanding in the design of the social practices of such professionals. Method: Theoretical-reflective study, based on the framework of social representations. Scientific articles, books, and official data on COVID-19 were captured; subsequently, a deep reflection was conducted based on the principles of the theory. Development: COVID-19 has had a strong impact on nursing care in intensive care. Meeting the criteria of social representations: relevance, practice, consensus, and affiliation; the dimensions of affects, imagery, and social practices mobilized in the social construction of this phenomenon; and the daily characteristics of the social belonging of the nursing team working in intensive care before patients with COVID-19 were the theoretical arguments that supported the defense that COVID-19 is a phenomenon of social representation for this social group. Conclusion and implications for the practice: Studies on the social representations of these professionals about COVID-19 can support the proposition of care-education technologies that qualify their performance in the care of critically ill COVID-19 patients

Objetivo: Reflexionar sobre la COVID-19 como fenómeno de representaciones sociales para el equipo de enfermería de la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, con el análisis de las implicaciones de esta comprensión teórica en las prácticas sociales de dichos profesionales. Método: Estudio teórico-reflexivo, basado en el marco de las representaciones sociales. Se capturaron artículos científicos, libros y datos oficiales sobre la COVID-19; posteriormente, se procedió a una profundización reflexiva basada en los preceptos de la teoría. Desarrollo: la COVID-19 ha tenido un fuerte impacto en la atención de enfermería en cuidados intensivos. Cumplir con los criterios de las representaciones sociales: relevancia, práctica, consenso y afiliación; las dimensiones de los afectos, de las imágenes y de las prácticas sociales movilizadas en la construcción social de este fenómeno; y las características cotidianas de la pertenencia social del equipo de enfermería que trabaja en cuidados intensivos ante pacientes con COVID-19 fueron los argumentos teóricos que sustentaron la defensa de que la COVID-19 es un fenómeno de representación social para este grupo social. Conclusión e implicaciones para la práctica: Los estudios de las representaciones sociales de estos profesionales sobre la COVID-19 pueden apoyar la propuesta de tecnologías de cuidado-educación que califiquen su desempeño en el cuidado de pacientes críticos con COVID-19

To comfort always: Are we ignoring this duty in Covid protocols?

COVID-19 is an amplifier of serious physical suffering and emotional trauma, which together could be all-consuming. It is important for health systems to go beyond methods of prevention and treatment, and focus on the palliation of suffering, and to systematically integrate palliative care into Covid-19 management.

Further, in cases where the triage process indicates poor chances of survival, it is particularly important to respect autonomy by honest and sensitive disclosure of prognosis, and to jointly arrive at goals of care. Hooking every dying person to a ventilator would violate the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. It is also important to ensure at least electronic communication between the patient and family members.

Keywords: Covid-19, palliative care, end of life care, isolation, quarantine, intensive care, ethics of intubation, consent

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Anesthesiologist to Patient Communication: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Many patients are admitted to the intensive care unit following surgery, and some of them will experience incomplete recovery. For patients in this situation, preoperative discussions regarding patient values and preferences may direct care decisions. Existing literature shows that it is uncommon for surgeons to have these conversations preoperatively; it is unclear whether anesthesia professionals engage with patients on this topic prior to surgery. Objective: To review the literature on communication between patients and anesthesia professionals, with a focus on discussions related to postoperative critical care. Evidence Review: MEDLINE and Web of Science were searched using specific search criteria from January 1980 to April 2020. Studies describing encounters between patients and anesthesia professionals were selected, and data regarding study objectives, study design, methodology, measures, outcomes, patient characteristics, and clinical setting were extracted and collated. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) reporting guideline was followed. Findings: A total of 12 studies including 1284 individual patient encounters were eligible for inclusion in the review. These studies demonstrated that communication between patients and anesthesia professionals related to postoperative care is rare: only 2 studies reported communication regarding adverse postoperative events, and this communication behavior was reported in only 46 of 1284 consultations (3.6%) across all studies. Additional findings were that communication during these encounters is dominated by anesthetic planning and perioperative logistics, with variable discussion of perioperative risks vs benefits and infrequent elicitation of patient values and preferences. Some data suggest that patients wish to be involved in perioperative decision-making but are often limited by an incomplete understanding of risks and benefits. Conclusions and Relevance: This systematic review found that communication in anesthesia is dominated by anesthetic planning and discussion of preoperative logistics, whereas postoperative critical care is rarely discussed. Most patients who are admitted to an intensive care unit after a major operation will not have had a discussion regarding goals of care specific to protracted recovery or prolonged intensive care with their anesthesiologist.

Neurosurgery in Contemporary Medical Dramas: How Grey's Anatomy & Co. May Affect Perception of Neurosurgery in the Media.

BACKGROUND: Neurosurgery is a common topic in contemporary medical dramas. This study aimed to examine depictions of several neurosurgical diseases and techniques as well as the perception of the personality of neurosurgeons in the media, focusing on their impact on the physician-patient relationship. METHODS: TV series and movies with a main focus on neurosurgeons and/or neurosurgical diseases were identified by consulting the International Movie Database (IMDb). RESULTS: After investigation of many TV series and movies, we identified five main topics: vascular neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, neurointensive care, neurosurgical techniques, and neurosurgeon's personality. The portrayal of neurosurgery in medical drama is characterized to a large extent by sensationalism, a lot of misinformation, and an unfavorable portrayal of neurosurgeons, although it is assumed that expert advice was sought in advance of every production. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the popularity of medical dramas and movies dealing with medical topics, we must consider the general public's picture of neurosurgery to be widely influenced by the media.

[Stressors for patients in the intensive care unit : An analysis taking controllability into consideration]. / Belastungen für Patienten auf der Intensivstation : Eine Analyse unter Berücksichtigung der Kontrollierbarkeit.

OBJECTIVE: Studies on stress factors for patients in intensive care units (ICU) have so far concentrated on whether certain stressors have occurred or how stressful they were. There are no studies on stress for patients in ICUs that measured both the perception of stress and the chances perceived to control it; however, loss of control can result in long-term psychopathological consequences, such as depression or posttraumatic stress disorder. Therefore, a questionnaire was developed to evaluate the influence of controllability on perception of stress. The aim of this study was to answer the following questions: which situations were experienced as stressful by patients in ICUs, whether patients perceived them as being controllable and whether the experience of stress depended on the controllability? Furthermore, it was examined which stressful situations are specific to ICUs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The questionnaire included 18 potentially stressful situations for ICU patients. These situations were assessed with respect to the occurrence, frequency and duration, the impact of stress and the perception of control. In addition, anxiety was assessed using STAI-X1. A total of 198 ICU patients and 100 patients hospitalized in a general surgery ward were interviewed. RESULTS: Patients in ICUs remembered significantly more stressful situations than those on the normal ward (M ± SD = 10.2 ± 2.7 vs. 6.6 ± 2.0; d = 1.48; p < 0.001) and perceived them as more stressful (mean stress: M ± SD = 3.6 ± 1.5 vs. 2.2 ± 1.3; d = 1.01; p < 0.001). The most stressful situations for ICU patients were fixation of the arms (M ± SD = 7.47 ± 3.27), mechanical ventilation (M ± SD = 7.36 ± 3.29) and endotracheal suctioning (M ± SD = 7.19 ± 2.99). Approximately one third of patients underwent these situations. Situations experienced by more than 90% of ICU patients were evaluated as being the least stressful experiences, including infusion (M ± SD = 2.7 ± 2.7), measuring heart activity (M ± SD = 2.3 ± 2.7), taking blood samples (M ± SD = 2.2 ± 2.7), and temperature control (M ± SD = 0.9 ± 1.7). Controllability experienced by ICU patients negatively correlated with anxiety (r = -0.20, p = 0.004) and mean sensation of stress (r = -0.36; p < 0.001). When comparing stress levels of ICU patients who perceived controllability in a given situation to those who did not, the greatest effects (Cohen's d > 1.4) were observed for the situations presence of a bed barrier (M ± SD = 0.1 ± 0.4 vs. 5.9 ± 2.8), lighting at night (M ± SD = 0.7 ± 1.7 vs. 5.7 ± 3.3), presence of a ventilation tube (M ± SD = 2.5 ± 2.1 vs. 6.7 ± 3.0) and repositioning of the patient (M ± SD = 2.5 ± 2.9 vs. 6.7 ± 2.9). CONCLUSION: The experience of loss of control seems to negatively modify the impact of stressors. Thus, an increase in aspects of controllability could reduce the burden on patients during intensive care.

Attitudes of Anesthesiology Specialists and Residents toward Patients Infected with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): A National Survey Study.

Background: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of anesthesiology specialists and residents in Turkey about COVID-19 and their attitudes toward the strategies and application methods to be used for a suspected/confirmed COVID-19 case that needs to be operated on or followed up in an intensive care unit, as well as to raise awareness about this issue. Methods: This descriptive study comprised anesthesiology specialists and residents working in various health institutions in Turkey. The data used in this study were obtained online between March 13, 2020 and March 25, 2020 through the website SurveyMonkey (SurveyMonkey, San Mateo, CA) by using a survey form. We contacted members of the Turkish Anaesthesiology and Reanimation Society through the social media platforms Twitter, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp, as well as through their e-mail addresses and invited them to participate in the study. Those who agreed to participate responded to the aforementioned survey. We used SPSS 22.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY) to analyze the survey data statistically. Results: A total of 346 anesthesiology specialists and residents participated in the study. Although the majority of the participants exhibited the correct attitudes toward airway management, research assistants with little professional experience were observed to be undecided or had the tendency to make incorrect decisions. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading rapidly worldwide. The incidence of COVID-19 cases is increasing daily, and this disease can cause patient death. Anesthesiology specialists and residents who perform emergency operations on these patients in settings other than intensive care units should follow simple and easy-to-understand algorithms to ensure safety. The provision of theoretical and practical training to healthcare providers before they meet patients will help ensure patient-healthcare provider safety and prevent panic, which can cause distress among healthcare providers.

[Consideration of surgeons participating in 2019 coronavirus disease emergency medical rescue].

As a newly epidemic, 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with a concentrated outbreak poses a great challenge to medical treatment. The severe and critical patients are complex complicatied with the psychological problems, and the medical staff are overworked and under tremendous psychological pressure. The surgeon participated in emergency medical rescue could provide professional treatment for the patients combined with surgical diseases, as well as specialized training for the non-surgeon crew, to reduce surgical-related mortality. With the advantages of good team consciousness, strong aseptic concept and good psychological quality, the surgeons can quickly adapt to and carry out rescue work under the premise of good self-protection. Surgeons need to develop critical care management concepts and focus on the critical care support equipment. Some suggestions are put forward for the standardized training of resident surgeons to cultivate compound talents. It is hoped that this article can lead to the thinking of how to participate in the emergency medical rescue of infectious diseases among surgeons and provide some enlightenment for future surgical education.

Antibiotic decision making in surgical intensive care: a qualitative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic use in hospitals is high, particularly in surgical specialty and intensive care units. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) are increasingly intervening in antibiotic use by surgeons and intensivists. However, there is limited information on the features which characterize antibiotic decision making in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), an area in hospital practice where critically ill surgery patients can be kept under close observation. AIM: To explore the features which characterize antibiotic decision making in the SICU. METHODS: A total of 160 h of ethnographic observation and 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted at two teaching hospitals in the USA. Data were analysed using thematic coding. FINDINGS: Three key characteristics of SICU practice with regard to antibiotic use were identified: (1) physical proximity makes SICU clinicians acutely aware of changes in patient status; (2) communication of patient status relies on active involvement by SICU clinicians; (3) SICU clinicians have contested and variable autonomy over antibiotic decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic decision making in the SICU is a complex process involving multiple clinician teams with varying levels of physical proximity to and autonomy over patient cases. This study found that the SICU clinician team has increased physical proximity to patient cases but little autonomy over antibiotic decisions. If these characteristics are not considered, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) interventions may have diminished success in addressing high levels of the antibiotic use in the SICU.

Surgeons' expertise during critical event in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: An expert-novice comparison using protocol analysis.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in thought processes between novice and experienced surgeons when they were presented with a critical situation during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: A group of experienced and novice surgeons were shown a recording of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy with an intraoperative bleeding event. The think-aloud method was used to capture surgeons' thought processes. Verbal reports were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the protocol analysis method. RESULTS: Sixteen subjects (8 in each group) participated at two centers. Experienced surgeons demonstrated deeper comprehension of the operative field, richer mental image of future events and superior awareness of potentially dangerous situations. They also spent more time engaged in metacognitive activity. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the differences and similarities between surgeons with different levels of experience during a challenging intraoperative encounter. The domains of cognition and mental image as well as metacognition appear to be key elements of surgical expertise.