Articles Archives - Dayton ICU Consulting

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 victim to legal liabilities in the ICU. The alarming reality is that when hospitals fail to train and support their teams in keeping patients as awake and mobile as possible, everyone from hospital administrators to bedside

Learn More > from How Failing to Practice the ABCDEF Bundle Creates Legal Liabilities in the ICU

Prehab vs. Rehab: Which Approach Should be Prioritized in the ICU?

For the past five years, I have been engrossed in exploring the history and current culture of the ICU, as they relate to the ABCDEF Bundle. As a result, I’ve been faced with having to compare my ingrained understanding of early mobility to the cultural “norms” I see at the bedside, as well as in

Learn More > from Prehab vs. Rehab: Which Approach Should be Prioritized in the ICU?

Why ICU Culture Is a Barrier to Early Mobility

While it’s clear that the ABCDEF Bundle saves lives and helps to restore the quality of life for ICU survivors, many intensive care units continue to standardize deep sedation and immobility. But why is this? Why does one ICU use sedation on less than 20% of intubated patients, while another sedates 100% of these patients

Learn More > from Why ICU Culture Is a Barrier to Early Mobility

Sedation by Race: How Outdated ICU Practices Are Exacerbating Health Care Inequality for Hispanic Patients

Health care inequality in critical care medicine is multifactorial and negatively impacts patient outcomes [18]. During COVID-19, for instance, it was noted that Hispanic patients were more at risk of having severe COVID-19 infections, and despite their younger age, they had a higher mortality rate. Socioeconomic disparities, lack of access to health care, timing, and

Learn More > from Sedation by Race: How Outdated ICU Practices Are Exacerbating Health Care Inequality for Hispanic Patients

How the ABCDEF Bundle Can Mitigate RN Burnout

How the ABCDEF Bundle Can Help Mitigate RN Burnout

Nurses enter critical care medicine to alleviate human suffering, support patients in their most vulnerable moments, be patient advocates, do no harm, and save lives. But being a critical care nurse is physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging. Many factors have resulted in the loss of thousands of expert nurses, creating the staffing crisis we’re currently

Learn More > from How the ABCDEF Bundle Can Help Mitigate RN Burnout

How ICU Staffing Ratios Relate to the Awake and Walking ICU Approach

The Awake and Walking ICU approach is deeply rooted in science, pathophysiology, and logic. Yet some of the best fruits of this method are humanity, compassion, dignity, and love. We use this approach to humanize the ICU, and I believe that is a desire of most ICU clinicians. But the reality is, no matter how

Learn More > from How ICU Staffing Ratios Relate to the Awake and Walking ICU Approach

The Financial Benefits of the ABCDEF Bundle

The ABCDEF Bundle is easily the best tool we have to improve patient care and outcomes in the ICU. If you know anything about these evidence-based practices, you’re probably well aware that they can decrease length of stay and readmissions, and reduce patients’ chances of dying, while making it more likely that they’ll return to

Learn More > from The Financial Benefits of the ABCDEF Bundle

Patients and Their Families Have the Right to Know the Risks of Sedation

Patient autonomy is a pillar of clinical ethics, and it’s vital to the integrity of any clinical practice. Observance of this principle works to uphold patients’ rights, fosters trust and collaboration, respects diversity, and empowers individuals to actively participate in decision-making regarding their healthcare. In our efforts to protect patient autonomy, one of the best

Learn More > from Patients and Their Families Have the Right to Know the Risks of Sedation

ICU Rounding Culture: What Needs to Change and How We Can Help

One of the biggest barriers to improving ICU patient care is a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration, especially when it comes to ICU rounding. In theory, rounding should give clinicians the opportunity to review and discuss each patient’s care, and then come together to ensure that care is a reflection of best practices and the patient’s

Learn More > from ICU Rounding Culture: What Needs to Change and How We Can Help

Unplanned Extubations: Dispelling the Fear and Understanding the Reality

When I think back to how I started my career as a nurse, it really does seem like a date with destiny. I could have gotten a job at any ICU, but for whatever reason, I landed my first nursing gig at a high acuity medical-surgical intensive care unit in Salt Lake City, Utah, which

Learn More > from Unplanned Extubations: Dispelling the Fear and Understanding the Reality

DOWNLOAD THIS VALUABLE FREE REPORT