Evaluating the Feasibility and Efficacy of a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Diary.

As the progress of critical care medicine has improved the survival rate of critically ill patients, comorbidities and long-term health care have attracted people's attention. The terms "post-intensive care syndrome" (PICS) and "PICS-family" (PICS-F) have been used in non-neurocritical care populations, which are characterized by the cognitive, psychiatric, and physical sequelae associated with intensive care hospitalization of survivors and their families. An intensive care unit (ICU) diary authored by the patient's family members may alleviate the psychological distress of the patient and his or her family. This quality improvement project focused on the development and implementation of the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) diary in the pediatric critical care setting. The project aims to evaluate the feasibility and the potential efficacy of the PICU diary, measured through parental acceptance and satisfaction. Seventeen families of critically ill children admitted to the PICU received the PICU diary during the implementation period. Twenty-four parents completed the weekly follow-up, and 15 subsequently completed the diary entry evaluation. The use of the diary in the PICU setting is feasible and considered beneficial by families of critically ill children.

Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Noise Pollution With the Use of a Pediatric Delirium Bundle.

OBJECTIVES:: Noise pollution in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) contributes to poor sleep and may increase risk of developing delirium. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends <45 decibels (dB) in hospital environments. The objectives are to assess the degree of PICU noise pollution, to develop a delirium bundle targeted at reducing noise, and to assess the effect of the bundle on nocturnal noise pollution. METHODS:: This is a QI initiative at an academic PICU. Thirty-five sound sensors were installed in patient bed spaces, hallways, and common areas. The pediatric delirium bundle was implemented in 8 pilot patients (40 patient ICU days) while 108 non-pilot patients received usual care over a 28-day period. RESULTS:: A total of 20,609 hourly dB readings were collected. Hourly minimum, average, and maximum dB of all occupied bed spaces demonstrated medians [interquartile range] of 48.0 [39.0-53.0], 52.8 [48.1-56.2] and 67.0 [63.5-70.5] dB, respectively. Bed spaces were louder during the day (10AM to 4PM) than at night (11PM to 5AM) (53.5 [49.0-56.8] vs. 51.3 [46.0-55.3] dB, P < 0.01). Pilot patient rooms were significantly quieter than non-pilot patient rooms at night (n=210, 45.3 [39.7-55.9]) vs. n=1841, 51.2 [46.9-54.8] dB, P < 0.01). The pilot rooms compliant with the bundle had the lowest hourly nighttime average dB (44.1 [38.5-55.5]). CONCLUSIONS:: Substantial noise pollution exists in our PICU, and utilizing the pediatric delirium bundle led to a significant noise reduction that can be perceived as half the loudness with hourly nighttime average dB meeting the EPA standards when compliant with the bundle.

Pediatric Mobility: The Development of Standard Assessments and Interventions for Pediatric Patients for Safe Patient Handling and Mobility.

Due to improvements in biomedical sciences and clinical expertise, childhood mortality has decreased. Pediatric patients experience similar complications from inactivity as adults, such as hospital-acquired conditions and delirium. Interdisciplinary collaboration is imperative to improve functional and developmental outcomes of children who suffers from either a chronic illnesses or an acute illness that results in a prolonged hospitalization. Pediatric nursing assessments should include gross motor function related to mobility. Activities to mobilize pediatric patients should be based on age and developmental assessment. The purpose of this article is to describe the modification of an adult mobility assessment for the pediatric population.

Development of Medical Criteria for Mobilizing a Pediatric Patient in the PICU.

Physical activity in acute and critical care has been recognized as a successful method of improving patient outcomes. Challenges lie, however, in mobilizing pediatric critically ill patients and establishing consensus among health care providers about the safety and feasibility. The challenge of mobilizing pediatric patients is balancing developmental level, functional ability, and level of acuity; therefore, a mobility guideline was developed for use in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The unique population and challenges in the PICU led to the development of a PICU-specific set of medical criteria within a PICU mobility guideline. The process of determining the medical criteria, using evidence, is discussed along with stratification of the criteria into phases of mobility. We review the criteria and the implications for mobility guidelines and patient outcomes.

Improving delivery of continuous renal replacement therapy: impact of a simulation-based educational intervention.

PURPOSE: To describe our experience with transitions in both nursing model and educational training program for delivery of continuous renal replacement therapy. There have been very few comparisons between different care and educational models, and the optimal approach remains uncertain. In particular, we evaluated our experience with introducing a simulation-based educational model. DESIGN: Prospective quality control observational study. SETTING: The ICU of a tertiary care pediatric referral center. PATIENTS: All patients undergoing CRRT between July 2007 through July 2010 were included. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We monitored CRRT filter life during a transition from a collaborative to critical care nursing model, and subsequently during a transition from a didactic education program to simulation-based training. During the study period, 80 patients underwent continuous renal replacement therapy with use of 343 filters. Process control charts demonstrated a significant increase in filter life and a decrease in unplanned filter changes. Both of these signals emerged at the same time and corresponded with the introduction of the simulation-based education program. Further statistical analysis showed that filter life improved from 42.5 hours (18.2-66.4 hr) during the didactic education program to 59.4 hours (22.2-76.4 hr) during the simulation-based education program (p = 0.008). This relationship persisted when excluding nonpreventable premature filter discontinuations and in a multivariate model that accounted for other potential influences on filter life. CONCLUSIONS: We report on the impact of transitioning between different educational programs for continuous renal replacement therapy, specifically with the introduction of a simulation-based approach. We observed a significant and sustained improvement in the delivery of continuous renal replacement therapy as demonstrated by a marked increase in filter lifespan.

A systematic approach to improving medication safety in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Safety and quality improvement are major issues in children's hospitals. Improving pediatric medication safety often takes on a larger role in pediatric units than in adult units due to the larger size differences and dose ranges found in a pediatric intensive care unit. This article reviews the literature and our own experience at the CS Mott Children's Hospital, University of Michigan, to improve medication safety. The issues identified include (1) an effective pediatric medication safety governance structure within a larger hospital, (2) practice standardization strategies for physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, (3) use of pharmacy technicians as unit medication managers, which reduces medication costs and decreases nursing time spent hunting for medications, and (4) methods to improve the safety culture in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Increasing medication error reporting rates while reducing harm through simultaneous cultural and system-level interventions in an intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: This study analyses patterns in reporting rates of medication errors, rates of medication errors with harm, and responses to the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), all in the context of four cultural and three system-level interventions for medication safety in an intensive care unit. METHODS: Over a period of 2.5 years (May 2007 to November 2009), seven overlapping interventions to improve medication safety and reporting were implemented: a poster tracking 'days since last medication error resulting in harm', a continuous slideshow showing performance metrics in the staff lounge, multiple didactic curricula, unit-wide emails summarising medication errors, computerised physician order entry, introduction of unit-based pharmacy technicians for medication delivery, and patient safety report form streamlining. The reporting rate of medication errors and errors with harm were analysed over time using statistical process control. SAQ responses were collected annually. RESULTS: Subsequent to the interventions, the reporting rate of medication errors increased 25%, from an average of 3.16 to 3.95 per 10,000 doses dispensed (p<0.09), while the rate of medication errors resulting in harm decreased 71%, from an average of 0.56 to 0.16 per 10,000 doses dispensed (p<0.01). The SAQ showed improvement in all 13 survey items related to medication safety, five of which were significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Actively developing a transparent and positive safety culture at the unit level can improve medication safety. System-level mechanisms to promote medication safety are likely important factors that enable safety culture to translate into better outcomes, but may be independently ineffective in the face of poor safety culture.