Critical Care Nursing News

• California Nurse Strikes Highlight Shortages, Pandemic Strains As one California nursing union accepts a new contract to end a weeklong strike, other unions continue to negotiate amid recent strikes demanding better safety, staffing, and support.
  Medscape Medical News, May 03, 2022
• SCCM 2022 Shortage of ICU Beds Did Not Drive COVID-19 Deaths A nationwide data review showed no impact between ICU bed scarcity and COVID-19 deaths.
  Medscape Medical News, April 25, 2022
• Doc Accused of Killing 14 Patients Found Not Guilty Was it an act of mercy or murder when a doctor gave dying patients large does of fentanyl? The verdict was just declared in the 7-week Ohio trial.
  Medscape Medical News, April 21, 2022
• Age and Ferritin Levels May Predict MIS-C Severity Children older than 5 years and those with ferritin levels greater than 500 μg/L had greater risk of severe illness in MIS-C in a multinational study.
  Medscape Medical News, April 18, 2022
• Direct Discharge Home From Critical Care Units Feasible for Selected Patients Discharge directly to home from a critical care unit can be just as safe as discharge within 48 hours of transfer to a hospital ward, a large study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, April 05, 2022
• Early Mobilization of Critically Ill Kids Appears Safe Early mobilization of critically ill kids, which can help prevent the sequelae of immobility during stays in pediatric intensive-care units, appears to be safe, a new study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, April 05, 2022
• Diabetes and High SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load a Deadly Combination in ICU Patients In COVID-19 patients, a high viral load (SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia) on admission to the ICU is common in patients with diabetes and strongly associated with poor outcome, suggests a study from France.
  Reuters Health Information, March 22, 2022
• Crisis Care Scoring System Highlights Racial Inequities Analysis of crisis standards of care scores during a COVID-19 surge showed that significantly more Black patients were in the lowest priority group.
  Medscape Medical News, March 16, 2022
• Air Trapping: Common in Patients With Long COVID Long-lasting air trapping found to be highly prevalent in long COVID.
  Medscape Medical News, March 15, 2022
• Ivermectin Does Not Stop Progression to Severe COVID: Study "The study findings do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19," study authors conclude.
  Medscape Medical News, February 18, 2022
• 'We've Given Our Heart and Soul': Doc Honored for COVID Efforts Although recently named 'Physician of the Year,' Thomas Yadegar, MD, feels that the bond between patient and doctor, especially during a pandemic, surpasses any need for recognition.
  Medscape Medical News, February 03, 2022
• Palliative-Care Triggers Inefficient in Critically Ill Using clinical triggers to prompt palliative-care consultations in ICUs appears inefficient at identifying unmet care needs in critically ill patients, according to a new study.
  Reuters Health Information, February 01, 2022
• Two Pediatric Nurses Charged With Making Fake COVID Cards The owner of a pediatric practice and her employee were arrested after a home search turned up $900,000 in cash and a ledger showing profits from alleged illegal activity over the past 2 months.
  Medscape Medical News, February 01, 2022
• To Help Process the Pandemic, One Doctor Turns to Art For one ICU physician, painting has proved to be an invaluable tool in helping him understand what he has experienced during the pandemic.
  Medscape Medical News, January 28, 2022
• Doc Accused of Killing 14 Patients in the ICU Patients were removed from ventilators after receiving large doses of painkillers. Several nurses, pharmacists, and executives were disciplined for helping the accused doctor or overlooking his actions.
  Medscape Medical News, January 27, 2022
• Most COVID ICU Survivors Show Adverse Effects 1 Year Later: Study Nearly 60% of former ICU patients reported continuing sickness-related problems at work. Three-fourths reported physical problems, and 26% reported mental problems.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2022
• Saline and Electrolyte Solutions: Similar Benefits in the ICU A randomized trial of more than 5000 individuals showed no difference in the primary outcome of 90-day mortality between the two types of solutions.
  Medscape Medical News, January 19, 2022
• Are Hospital Admissions Still the Best Way to Gauge the COVID Crisis? Using the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 to gauge the severity of the pandemic may not give an accurate picture in the Omicron era as more and more patients with the virus are being admitted for other reasons, some scientists say.
  Reuters Health Information, January 19, 2022
• ICU Adults: Sicker, More Disabled Now Than Before Older adults admitted to ICUs now in the US are older, more frail, and more likely to have pre-existing disabilities and multimorbidities than 17 years ago.
  Medscape Medical News, January 19, 2022
• Almost All Teens in ICU With COVID Were Unvaccinated, Study Shows Nearly all teenagers admitted to intensive care units because of COVID-19 were unvaccinated, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
  WebMD Health News, January 14, 2022