Want to improve ICU patient care, but don’t know where to start?

You’re dedicated to the survival of your patients and the safety of your staff, but trying to change deep-rooted mentalities and methods can be daunting.

Our team will work with you to transform your ICU into an Awake and Walking ICU by helping you master the cost-effective, evidence-based protocols found in the ABCDEF Bundle.

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Patient awake and walking in the ICU

When patients are so ill that they require a ventilator in the ICU, the antiquated approach of heavy sedation and immobilization should be avoided in order to help prevent the immense burden of physical and cognitive disabilities suffered during survival.

Kali is leading ICU teams to become Awake and Walking ICUs through true mastery of the ABCDEF Bundle. I endorse her mission and look forward to the standardization of this evidence-based approach in ICUs all over the world.

– Dr. Wes Ely, author of Every Deep Drawn Breath, leading founder of the ABCDEF Bundle and ICU CAM delirium screening tool, and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Creating Awake and Walking ICUs: Master the ABCDEF Bundle

Hospitals that invest in training and resources to master the ABCDEF Bundle can achieve millions in annual savings while improving conditions for clinicians and outcomes for patients.

What’s more, the Awake and Walking ICU approach can help you decrease:

7-day mortality by 68%
ICU readmission by 46%
Health care costs by 30%
Comas and delirium by 50%
Physical restraint use by 60%
Discharges to anywhere but home by 36%

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Consulting Services

Medical Professionals in the ICU

Modernizing ICU patient care methods will ensure a better work environment for my team, and improved outcomes for my patients, but I’m already overwhelmed. I need someone who’s an expert in this field.

I am a clinician.

Working with our team of experts will take some of the weight off your shoulders, and help you to:

Ensure patients have a greater chance of survival
Reduce burnout by improving the working conditions and morale of your staff
Align your ICU with current research and benefit your bottom line by implementing the most up-to-date, cost-effective practices
Formulate evidence-based sedation and mobility protocols, which will vastly improve patient outcomes

SEE HOW

Family member in the ICU

My loved one is in the ICU, and I want to understand what’s going on and ensure we’re doing everything possible to give them the best chance, but I’m not a doctor. I need support, and I need someone I can trust.

I am a family member.

Our consultants will give you the guidance you need to put your mind at ease, and ensure you can:

Be more involved in your family member’s care
Decrease your loved one’s chances of dying or experiencing other complications
Make sure your family member has a better quality of life once they leave the hospital
Have the knowledge to understand how you can help improve your loved one’s care and outcomes

SEE HOW

Speaking

Presentation Topics

How an Awake and Walking ICU Saves Lives
Optimizing the ABCDEF Bundle for each ICU Specialty
Financial Benefits of an Awake and Walking ICU
Delirium Management in an Awake and Walking ICU
Redefining Early Mobility in an Awake and Walking ICU

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Presentation Settings

Kali is available to present at a variety of settings, including:

Grand Rounds
Medical Conferences
ICU Team Meetings
Hospital Administrative Meetings

Upcoming Appearances

2025 INW-AACN Spring Symposium

March 5th-6th, 2025

2025 ASPHP National SPHM Conference

March 12th-13th, 2025

NurseCon at Sea

April 7th-11th, 2025

About Kali

Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP, is a critical care nurse practitioner, host of the Walking Home From The ICU and Walking You Through The ICU podcasts, and critical care outcomes consultant. She is dedicated to creating Awake and Walking ICUs by ensuring ICU sedation and mobility practices are aligned with current research. She works with ICU teams internationally to transform patient outcomes through early mobility and management of delirium in the ICU.

Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP

Resources

How Failing to Practice the ABCDEF Bundle Creates Legal Liabilities in the ICU

As a nurse and a nurse advocate, I am passionate about protecting nurses and all ICU clinicians from falling [...]

Diane’s Story: An Unfortunate Example of the Risks of Immobility and Sedation

Despite their widespread use in the ICU, decades of research have proven the risks of immobility and sedation. And [...]

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 173: ICU Outcomes by Dose of Mobility

We know that for each additional 10 minutes of early mobility in the ICU, hospital length of stay decreases [...]

My dad came down with COVID pneumonia at the end of September. We did our best to treat him at home but eventually we realized we needed to get him to a hospital. After about four days in the hospital on oxygen he crashed and needed to be put on a ventilator. We were devastated.

When they put a person on a ventilator, hospital protocol generally is to sedate and paralyze the patient. My dad was sedated and paralyzed for a total of about 17 days. He was completely immobilized. One doctor told us that my dad had one of the worst cases of COVID pneumonia he had seen in a long time. We were, of course, extremely worried. As time went on, his condition worsened. Through a series of miracles, my dad stabilized enough that they were able to give him a tracheostomy. This was the turning point where he was able to get transferred to a LTAC facility (which is a critical care facility for COVID patients).

Fortunately, through a friend, we were put in touch with Kali Dayton. We were told she has had amazing success helping people come down off sedation and the paralytic. One of the side effects of sedation is the patients experience extreme delusions and hallucinations. While we were at the LTAC, Kali was extremely helpful in helping us understand the importance of getting my dad off the paralytic and sedation quickly. She informed us that every day he was on the sedation added weeks onto his recovery. We began pressuring the staff at the LTAC to get him off the sedation. Kali has found that it is critical to get a ventilated patient up and moving and you can’t unless they are off sedation. The staff at the LTAC were very hesitant to take my dad off sedation, at times even telling us he was off it, when in fact, he was still on sedation.

Heidi Lanthen
Utah, USA