Assignment 2: Diagnostic Devices In The ICU

Since the introduction of automatic blood pressure equipment, manual blood pressure monitoring is becoming less common. Automatic blood pressure monitors are becoming predominant in clinical settings. This move towards technology is decreasing the exposure to manual blood pressure measurements (Cork, 2007). Manual blood pressures are an essential nursing skill that can affect a patient’s health and care. Providing the best patient care is the optimal outcome for all healthcare providers.

2.7 Monitoring physiological measurements it´s important to make sure the individual health status and also necessary after surgery, as patients in intensive care units require continuous monitoring, and sometimes have medications that requires physical measurements taken. These are measurements we take to ensure that they are functioning in the way they are supposed to. When we carry out physiological measurements, such as measuring temperature, pulse and respiration, we are monitoring for signs of abnormality. Then be able to draw conclusions about the health status of the individual and any treatments they may

There are 9 types of health care facilities that are accredited by the Joint Commission. The Ambulatory Health Care accreditation, encompassing organizations and facilities that provide outpatient services of medical/dental nature as well as diagnostic, surgical, and therapeutic services. Other types of facilities that are accredited are critical access hospitals, hospitals, laboratories, office-based surgical centers, and nursing care centers. There is also Home Care services, the Opioid Treatment Program, and the Behavioral Health Care Program. Critical Access Hospitals meet special requirements regarding patient beds and LOS. Hospitals that are accredited include general and specialty hospitals.

o Monitor central venous pressure, oxygen, glucose, electrolytes, lactate, renal function, urine output o Fluid resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, broad-spectrum antibiotic

First you would assess the patient’s level of consciousness and orientation (LOC).LOC determines the patients level of consciousness by assessing the patients alertness by asking the patient simple questions i.e : what’s is your name and birth date? Do you know where you are? Do you know why you are here? Do you know what year it is? By asking those questions a nurse can determine a patient’s responsiveness, remote memory, speech pattern and mental status. If the patient is alert, the nurse may check the patient’s cranial nerves. If the patient successfully completes the cranial nerve exam, there is a high chance that the patient didn’t sustain any brain/nerve damage

The progress of my project to develop a nurse driven sepsis screening tool and an algorithm for implementation on the intensive care unit (ICU) for early identification and prompt treatment of septic patients has progressed remarkably well. I have been productive in gathering current guidelines for sepsis with the aid of my preceptor who is a critical care nurse practitioner on the ICU. With his help, I have been able to assemble key pieces of research to create a sepsis screening tool, and a treatment algorithm with sepsis resuscitation bundles. Extensive research has been conducted to integrate evidence-based practice in my project. I have also spent time with the unit educator, critical care intensivists, and my colleagues in brainstorming and collecting ideas about my project.

Sepsis is a severe complication of an inflammatory response due to various pathogens with the mortality rates ranging anywhere between twenty-five to thirty percent (Epstein, Dantes, Magill, & Fiore, 2016). Sepsis can be precipitated by various infections including some of the most common ones, like urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and cellulitis. An early sepsis recognition is crucial in improving patient outcomes and decreasing mortality rate. Thus, it is very important for a health care provider to start the necessary diagnostics and implementation of fluids, antibiotics, vasopressors and other necessary treatments based on the

* Monitor fluid and electrolyte status. Disturbances can have an adverse effect on ICP. Closely monitor IV fluids with the use of an accurate intravenous infusion

The name of their electronic monitoring system is the VitalPAC. The VitalPAC allows nurses to plug in information about their patients easily onto an iPAD. This accurately records what time treatment was giving and what dosages were given. This method helps staff members do their jobs but also holds them accountable for their actions. With electronic monitoring a timestamp records exactly when a patient received treatment. Electronic monitoring records who the caregiver was taking care of the patient and where the treatment took place. The benefits of electronic monitoring are immeasurable. “We welcome technology that improves the care we can offer, but it will never replace the face-to-face contact that our patients value” (Downey, 2015). Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital is the first orthopaedic provider to adopt the electronic system. The system replaces all paper charts and makes everything paperless which is beneficial to the facility keeping everything organized and taking up less space. Electronic file saving also reduces the loss of records in case of a fire or other natural disaster. VitalPAC is very helpful to nurses producing an observation chart automatically and calculating an early warning score. Calculating a warning score can be very time consuming if done manually. “Recording vital signs data regularly and accurately is central

A Glasgow Coma Score of 8 or less also is an indication that the patient will need to be intubated soon. Once the tube is placed the ventilation may be useful in controlling the intracranial pressure as an intervention. Hyperventilation is a method used to reduce the carbon dioxide concentration in the vessels causing vasoconstriction which lessens the amount of blood circulating in the brain resulting in a decreased ICP (Zink and McQuillan, 2005). According to Zink and McQuillan, this intervention should only be utilized 24 hours after the initial injury because cerebral blood flow is often reduced at this point and constricting the vessels more may cause ischemia to occur. While using this technique it is important to monitor oxygenation to the brain tissue to assure no irreparable damage is

My Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis; that’s what set my mind to being a Medical Lab Technician. As an optimistic freshman, I had a mindset that my 4 years of high school would go smoothly with flying colors; I was taking my first college class, AP World History. However, mid-year that mindset changed. I had been having major knee pain for 2 weeks with high fever, it was agony. My parents immediately took me to the hospital because my primary physician thought I had Kawasaki. As we were waiting in the emergency room, I could feel my parent’s consternation. I’m the first born with one younger sister. I can’t picture how distraught my parents would be if their first child passed away at such a young age with so much academic potential. Along with that, it had been less than a year that my grandmother passed away so my mom was truly

The anesthetist assessed the patient’s vitals by comparing the values to what is normal and what was normal for the patient when it was measured at the beginning of anesthesia. The vitals were taken every 10 minutes with a blood gas analysis performed every 30 minutes to monitor the electrolytes. These parameters would not only help to maintain the patient at a surgical plane of anesthesia but also help the anesthetist maintain the patient at a steady state physiologically and metabolically. In addition, the patient’s potassium levels were specially monitored throughout the anesthesia due to his HYPP status. An arterial catheter would also be placed in the patient’s metatarsal artery for measurement of direct blood pressure and would also be used for blood collection for IRMA blood gas

A patient is conscious during an intravenous sedation, being able keep an open airway and respond to physical stimulation and/or verbal commands. Most of the time they do not remember.

The RN used probing technique which is a non-therapeutic by persisting questioning the patient; pushing for answers to issue the patient does not wish to discuss.

With the information found with what a patient’s blood pressure is, it helps health care