CE: Infection in Acute Care: Evidence for Practice.

Infection may be either a cause for admission to an acute care hospital or health care associated, a complication of receiving care for another illness in the acute care environment. In recent years, there has been significant research investigating risk factors for infection in the hospital setting, best practices for diagnosis and treatment, and ways to prevent many health care-associated infections. Multidrug-resistant organisms are a consequence of antibiotic overuse, poor environmental hygiene, and our increasing ability to keep chronically ill patients alive longer through invasive intensive care support. This article reviews the evidence on infection in acute care settings, with a focus on community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia, surgical site infections, and Clostridioides difficile infection. Recommendations for integrating this evidence into nursing practice are offered.

The Impact of an Advanced ECMO Program on Traumatically Injured Patients.

In June 2016, an advanced extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program consisting of a multidisciplinary team was initiated at a large level-one trauma center. The program was created to standardize management for patients with a wide variety of pathologies, including trauma. This study evaluated the impact of the advanced ECMO program on the outcomes of traumatically injured patients undergoing ECMO. A retrospective cohort study was performed on all patients sustaining traumatic injury who required ECMO support from January 2014 to September 2017. The primary outcome was to determine survival in trauma ECMO patients in the two timeframes, before and after initiation of the advanced ECMO program. Secondary outcomes included complication rates, length of stay, ventilator usage, and ECMO days. One hundred and thirty eight patients were treated with ECMO during the study period. Of the 138 patients, 22 sustained traumatic injury. Seven patients were treated in our pre-group and 15 in our post-group. The majority of patients were treated with VV ECMO. Our post group VV ECMO extracorporeal survival rate was 64% and our survival to discharge was 55%. This study demonstrated an improvement in survival after implementation of our advanced ECMO program. The implementation of a multidisciplinary trauma ECMO team dedicated to the rescue of critically ill patients is the key for achieving excellent outcomes in the trauma population.

Provider to patient ratios for nurse practitioners and physician assistants in critical care units.

BACKGROUND: Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are being increasingly integrated into intensive care unit and hospital-based care teams, yet limited information is available on provider to patient ratios. OBJECTIVE: To determine current provider to patient ratios for nurse practitioners and physician assistants working in intensive and acute care units and to assess factors that affect the ratios. METHODS: A descriptive study design was used with a Web-based survey of members of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American Academy of Physician Assistants, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. RESULTS: Responses were received from 222 nurse practitioners and 211 physician assistants from all but 8 of the 50 United States and from Canada. Mean provider to patient ratios in intensive care were 1 to 5 (range, 1 to 3 - 1 to 8). In pediatric intensive care, the mean ratio of nurse practitioners to patients was 1 to 4 (range, 1 to 3 - 1 to 8). Factors that affected nurse practitioner and physician assistant provider to patient ratios included patients' severity of illness, number of patients in the unit, number of providers in the unit, patient diagnosis, number of physicians in the unit, time of day, and number of fellows and medical residents on service. CONCLUSIONS: Additional information on factors influencing provider to patient ratios and specific components of the roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistants will be important to ensure the best utilization of these providers to enable optimal patient care outcomes.

When should a chest radiograph be obtained after chest tube removal in mechanically ventilated patients? A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the appropriate time interval between the removal of a chest tube and the chest radiograph (CXR). We hypothesized that a CXR obtained 1 hour after chest tube removal would exclude the presence of a recurrent pneumothorax. METHODS: Of 214 trauma intensive care unit patients with a chest tube during a 1-year period, 75 met entry criteria and underwent chest tube removal according to an institutional review board-approved prospective study protocol. Patients were undergoing positive-pressure ventilation, with an existing solitary chest tube, and had less than 150 mL of drainage on water seal over the previous day. After chest tube removal, serial CXRs were obtained at approximately 1, 10, and 36 hours. Demographic, chest tube, and ventilator data were collected. RESULTS: None of the patients experienced hemodynamic or respiratory deterioration after chest tube removal. There were nine pneumothoraces (12%). All pneumothoraces were present on the initial CXR after chest tube removal. Two patients (3%) required intervention for pneumothorax. Of the remaining seven small pneumothoraces, three resolved and four were unchanged on the third CXR. CONCLUSION: A CXR obtained within 1 to 3 hours after chest tube removal effectively identifies pneumothorax in mechanically ventilated patients.

Antimicrobial resistance in the intensive care unit: understanding the problem.

Antimicrobial resistance is a problem that affects healthcare delivery around the globe. Factors associated with antimicrobial resistance include overuse or misuse of antimicrobial agents, immunosuppressed patients, and increased technology. Cellular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance include the decreased uptake of a drug, efflux of the drug, enzymatic inactivation, and alterations in the antimicrobial target site. New treatment options are currently available for resistant organisms. Therapeutic strategies such as antibiotic control policies and antibiotic "cycling" have been proposed as methods for minimizing the emergence of more resistant organisms. Little evidence is available to indicate that these strategies are effective in limiting the emergence of resistance. Clinicians are urged to be judicious in their use and choice of antimicrobials.

Routine daily chest radiography in patients with pulmonary artery catheters.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary artery catheters are widely used invasive monitoring devices in critically ill patients. Clinicians disagree about whether daily chest radiographs are needed or clinical parameters alone are sufficient to verify catheter placement. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether daily chest radiographs are needed to assess migration of pulmonary artery catheters. METHODS: One hundred consecutive patients with pulmonary artery catheters were prospectively evaluated. Clinical criteria for optimal position of the pulmonary artery catheters and findings on chest radiographs were compared. Optimal clinical criteria were (1) amount of air required to measure pulmonary capillary wedge pressure: 1.25 to 1.5 mL and (2) pulmonary artery catheter migrated 1 cm or less from initial position. RESULTS: Three hundred ninety comparisons of clinical criteria and radiographic findings were done. Chest radiographs indicated the catheter required repositioning in 15 (4%) of 390 instances but in only 4 (1%) of 310 instances in which bedside clinical findings indicated adequate catheter position. In 69 (18%) of the 390 cases, the clinical criteria for adequate catheter position were not met, but radiographs showed the catheter in an appropriate position. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of abnormal clinical criteria were 73%, 82%, 81%, 14%, and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Chest radiographs indicated that about 4% of catheters required repositioning. Catheter malposition can be reliably excluded (negative predictive value, 99%) by close observation of specific clinical criteria, so routine daily chest radiographs do not seem justified.