What is the Role of Humor in the ICU?

Humor can play an essential role in the most serious healthcare settings, even when patients are receiving intensive or end-of-life care, according to research published in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. Canadian researchers spent nearly 300 hours observing and interviewing staff, patients and families in intensive and palliative care units to see how they used and perceived humor. Researchers found that humor helped promote team relationships among staff and helped patients and families see a human dimension to caregivers. Staff said they used humor to cope with and sometimes to distance themselves from difficult situations and to connect with colleagues. While the report lists a number a situations where humor was helpful, researchers also found that it could create distance and prevent serious discussion. One nurse told researchers, "If I'm joking with you, I'm interacting with you. We're talking, but I don't ask you what's bugging you ... I'm not really finding out why you're upset."

Read the full Science Daily article here.

Back to top

---

Neonatal ICUs Facing New Challenges

Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across the country are trying to cope with the growing number of babies needing care, putting added pressures on staff, space and budgets. In its April 2 issue, The San Diego Union-Tribune examined the reasons for this trend and the challenges it presents to local hospitals.

The spike in babies needing neonatal care is blamed mostly on more premature births, which have increased nationally from 10.6% in 1990 to 12.7% in 2005. Increased use of in vitro fertilization and ovulation induction, as well as a trend toward delaying pregnancy, contribute to these climbing rates.  Higher rates of obesity and diabetes among pregnant women also equate to more babies with metabolic problems requiring extended care. In addition, doctors are trying to keep alive  infants born at very young gestational periods. Today, babies at 23 weeks' gestation can be saved, while a decade ago the threshold was 25 weeks. More babies are being admitted to the ICU for longer periods of time.

The increased demands are hitting hospital bottom lines. In San Diego, California, UCSD Medical Center is adding nine beds to its NICU at a cost of $2.6 million. The number of newborns who need intensive care there has grown 5% to 7% each year. UCSD is not the only example; hospitals throughout the area are making adjustments to meet demand.

Additional Resources
Has your NICU seen an increase in patients? How is your unit coping? What challenges are you facing? Start a discussion and share your experience in the Critical Care Forum. Log in using your customer ID and password to find colleagues with similar experiences and questions.

Back to top

SCCM Steps into the Interactive World of YouTube^TM!

The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) has launched its own YouTube^TM channel, offering even easier access to several of its informative videos. The new channel features videos about end-of-life care and the value of providing the Right Care, Right Now^TM. Subscribe to the channel to rate videos, share them with colleagues and offer comments.

After you visit SCCM on YouTube!, check out these other tech-savvy ways to connect to your society. The SCCM Yahoo! Widget and the SCCM Internet Toolbar both allow easy access to SCCM's Web sites and RSS feeds, or display SCCM news on your iGoogle homepage.

Back to top

---

Easy Tips to Celebrate NCCARM This May

Each year, the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) offers tips on how to celebrate National Critical Care Awareness and Recognition Month (NCCARM). Many institutions use the opportunity to educate staff and unite them in a show of appreciation. Below are a few easy tips on how to celebrate NCCARM this May:

• Arrange speaking engagements to address hot topics in critical care such as patient safety, quality improvement and evidence-based critical care. SCCM’s LearnICU.org can be a resource for clinical content.
• Hold a Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) course at your institution to train non-critical care professionals on the basics of caring for critically ill and injured patients during the first 24 hours.
• Display and distribute SCCM's Patient and Family Support Brochures to help educate patients and families about critical care.
• Wear blue on Friday, May 16, 2008, to show your support of both critical care and the Society. SCCM offers a wide selection of blue apparel for sale.

Click here for more ideas and resources that you and your hospital staff can implement.

Back to top

Weaning from Mechanical Ventilation: Strategies to Improve Patient Outcomes

Mechanical ventilation is one of the most common interventions in critical care. As many as one third of patients have difficulty discontinuing its use, and prolonged dependence is associated with greater risk of mortality, increased morbidity and a longer length of stay.

Obtain the latest quantitative and qualitative data to maximize patient outcomes at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) new conference, Mechanical Ventilation: Trends in Adult and Pediatric Practice. Gain strategies for weaning from mechanical ventilation as well as evidence-based information on the following topics:

• Risks and benefits of invasive and noninvasive mechanical ventilation
• Lung recruitment strategies
• Goals and ventilatory strategies in common disease conditions
• And more!

Register today to attend this conference June 19 to 21, 2008, in Seattle, Washington, USA. To register, click here and log in using your customer ID, or contact SCCM Customer Service at +1 847 827-6888. Click here for additional information or to download the brochure.

Additional Resource
Visit LearnICU.org to find various resources related to mechanical ventilation, including guidelines, publications and iCritical Care Podcasts.

Back to top

---

Attend One of the New Pre-Courses at Critical Care Academy

The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) has added two new beneficial courses to its Critical Care Academy. Fundamentals of Critical Care Ultrasound and Nutrition Therapy in the ICU – Saving Lives Safely will be held August 3 and 4, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, prior to the Adult and Pediatric Multiprofessional Critical Care Review Courses (MCCRC).

Fundamentals of Critical Care Ultrasound
With the power of real-time ultrasound examinations, you can make faster, better-informed decisions that can improve patient outcomes. Learn how to recognize imaging characteristics of common critical care cases and how to guide treatment based on your findings. Topics to be covered will include ultrasound artifacts and pitfalls, advantages and disadvantages of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, and echocardiographic evaluation of shock and assessment of volume status. Space is limited for this course so register today to guarantee your spot.

Nutrition Therapy in the ICU – Saving Lives Safely
Studies have shown that provision of adequate nutritional support in critically ill patients reduces complication rates and improves outcomes. However, many controversies exist about the appropriate assessment of nutritional status and the choice of substrate, timing, route, and amount of nutritional support in this population. Gain effective strategies and investigate current controversies associated with the application of nutrition therapy. Topics to be covered will include current nutrient controversies, benefits and limitations of nutrition delivery routes, safety provisions of nutrition therapy, and more!

To register, click here and select the pre-course for which you would like to register. Or, contact SCCM Customer Service at +1 847 827-6888. Download the course brochures here.

Back to top

Critical Care Medicine: Editor's Picks

Log into MySCCM to access Critical Care Medicine online. Check out these choice features from Critical Care Medicine editor, Joseph Parrillo, MD, FCCM.

April Critical Care Medicine Features:

• Veterans Affairs intensive care unit risk adjustment model: Validation, updating, recalibration.  Abstract
• Feasibility of very high-frequency ventilation in adults with acute respiratory distress syndrome.  Abstract
• Quality of professional society guidelines and consensus conference statements in critical care.  Abstract
• Ethyl pyruvate decreased early nuclear factor-kappa B levels but worsened survival in lipopolysaccharide-challenged mice.  Abstract

Join SCCM today to receive full access to Critical Care Medicine.

Back to top