Clinical Pearls

Abstract

The death of a loved one in the intensive care unit may cause prolonged grief, social distress, and even symptoms of posttraumatic stress in family members. End-of-life interventions, such as grief education materials, telephone follow-up, and cards, are an important part of bereavement care for families. However, use of these interventions varies across institutions, and research findings on their effectiveness are conflicting.Takaoka and colleagues examined the use of multiauthored, customized handwritten sympathy cards mailed to families 2 to 8 weeks post mortem. They interviewed family members and clinicians and identified 3 themes: The use of personalized, written condolences from staff was experienced as a meaningful and compassionate intervention for bereaved families.See Article, pp 422-428Pressure injuries occur twice as often in intensive care unit (ICU) patients as in other acute care patients, with estimated costs of care exceeding $26.8 billion in the United States. Although there are known risk factors for hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI), such as decreased mobility, having surgery, and age greater than 65 years, little research has examined the relationship between skin status and HAPI in ICU patients.Alderden and colleagues examined data from routine nursing skin assessments to identify risk factors for HAPI in adult surgical ICU patients. They found the following: Although further study is warranted to examine intraoperative risk factors, the authors recommend nurses consider the impact of skin changes on the development of HAPIs and remove causes of skin irritation.See Article, pp e128-e134Catheter-associated urinary tract infections continue to occur in both intensive care unit (ICU) patients and non-ICU patients, despite national prevention initiatives. Use of bladder scanning and ultrasound technology has helped to decrease the number of indwelling urinary catheter days, but the technology yields inaccuracies in patients with acute kidney injury, especially those with abdominal fluid/ascites.Schallom et al compared the accuracy of new bladder scanning technology and 2-dimensional ultrasound in measuring bladder volume in ICU patients unable to void 6 hours after catheter removal or patients receiving dialysis. They found Both bladder scanning and ultrasound can be used to measure bladder volumes accurately, but findings suggest that ultrasound should be used to measure bladder volume in patients with ascites.See Article, pp 458-467Many intensive care unit (ICU) patients require feeding tubes for nutritional support and medication delivery. Traditional practice includes every-4-hour assessment to verify tube placement. However, complications from malplaced feeding tubes continue to occur owing to inaccurate verification methods and lack of knowledge about tube migration.Using an electromagnetic placement device (EMPD) for tube placement, Bourgault and colleagues explored the factors associated with tube migration in adult ICU patients. They found See Article, pp 439-447