Trends in Critical Care

Safety is in the details

February 8, 2017

Critical care is one of the most challenging and important areas of healthcare. Nurses, doctors, and researchers are constantly looking for new ways to improve patient care, worker safety, and efficiency in critical care units like the ICU.

As a result, trends in critical care are among the hottest topics in the healthcare industry. With the 7^th EfCCNa conference just around the corner, we want to highlight some of the trends up for discussion.

EfCCNa Congress 2017 in Belfast

EfCCNa is one of the world’s leading conferences for critical care nursing. The 2017 conference is located at the award-winning Belfast Waterfront Hall in Northern Ireland between February 15^th and 18^th.

Among other experts in the field of nursing, the conference begins with a keynote presentation from Dr. Paul Fallbrook – the President of the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses, a Professor of Nursing at the Australian Catholic University, and Nursing Director of Research at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, Australia.

The following are a few of the workshops closely related to trends in critical care that look interesting and useful.

Caring for a Child in Adult ICU

Although not as common in many hospitals, there are circumstances where a child ends up in the adult ICU. In these cases, the nursing staff has to make adjustments from the protocols they commonly use to protocols that are better suited for children.

The objectives of this workshop include:

Providing adult ICU nurses with an understanding of the differences in nursing critically ill children
Highlighting physiological and developmental differences in children that require alternative approaches, drug and fluid therapies, drug dosing, resuscitation and safety issues
Explaining the different roles of the family in critically ill children

The two specific scenarios up for discussion are based around a couple of the most common cases – a 12-year-old head trauma child and a two-year-old child with respiratory failure.

Manual Hyperinflation

Manual hyperinflation is a useful maneuver that nurses can apply to mimic a cough in the patient, which mobilizes secretions for removal and clears the airway. However, this technique comes with potential side effects, and more research is required to determine the benefits for critically ill intubated and mechanically ventilated patients.

The objectives of this workshop include:

Demonstrating the important factors for safety and efficacy while following proper technique in a controlled fashion
Providing the opportunity to practice with flows, volumes, and pressures in simulation
Educating participants about clinical indications and contraindications

The hands-on experience is one of the things that makes EfCCNa so valuable to critical care nurses.

Standardized Critical Care Resuscitation and Emergency Airway Management

Nurses are participating in hospital CPR response teams more often than ever due to shortages of physicians. As a result, nurses require experience in emergency airway management to avoid ventilation-related complications.

The objectives of this workshop include:

Presenting the practical application of the Difficult Airway Society, 2015 Guidelines and the National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP) Guidelines for the management of a blocked tracheostomy tube
Demonstrating difficult clinical emergency simulations with active participation
Exploring the non-technical skills necessary for emergency airway management

After this workshop, nurses can feel confident when joining a CPR response team because they will be well aware of the potential risks and how to mitigate them.

Using Better Tools in the ICU

In addition to improving techniques, another growing trend is the use of better tools in the ICU. New innovative equipment improves safety for patients and practitioners, as well as improving the quality of care patients receive.

As the leading stopcock provider in the US and Europe, Elcam Medical continues to strive for better critical care by creating better tools such as the Marvelous Stopcock. Research shows that the Marvelous Stopcock improves patient and worker safety with its unique design.

Learn more about Marvelous Stopcock and how it helps critical care nurses.

We will be happy to meet you at out booth # S2. Contact us to schedule a meeting.

Safety is in the details