Integrating Palliative Care Screening in the Intensive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement Project.

BACKGROUND: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit have complex medical problems and increased rates of mortality and recurrent hospitalization for the following 10 years compared with patients without a history of critical illness. Delayed access to palliative care can result in untreated symptoms, lack of understanding of care preferences, and preventable admissions. Despite studies supporting palliative care screening, there is no standardized method to assess palliative care needs of patients admitted to critical care units. LOCAL PROBLEM: A community hospital critical care team identified a need for an improved palliative care process for patients admitted to the intensive care unit. METHODS: The aim of this quality improvement project was to improve patient access to timely palliative care consultation while increasing the reach of the palliative care team. Guided by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model of plan-do-study-act cycles, the team created a palliative care screening tool with clinical indicators for nurses to use upon patient admission. Patients with numeric scores indicating positive screening tool results could be automatically referred for palliative care consultation. RESULTS: Of 267 patients, 59 (22%) had positive screening tool results, compared with 31 (11.6%) identified with the traditional consultative method. Descriptive analysis revealed that patients identified for referral without use of the screening tool were hospitalized a mean of 6 days until consultation was requested. CONCLUSION: The screening process can maximize the benefit of palliative care services with early patient identification, improved consultation efficiency, decreased critical care resource use, and reduced readmission rates.

Mentoring novice NPs: Recommendations for navigating the transition to autonomous practice.

ABSTRACT: The transition to professional practice is a challenging time for the novice NP. Mentorship is an effective strategy to ease this transition and increase success in the role. This article provides recommendations for best practice in mentoring the transitioning novice NP.

Endotracheal Tube Cuff Pressures in the Operating Room of a Pediatric Hospital: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff pressures are frequently out of the recommended range of 20-30 cm H2O. This can lead to multiple iatrogenic complications ranging from cough, sore throat, and tracheal edema to more serious medical issues such as tracheal stenosis, aspiration, nerve injuries, and tracheal rupture. Additionally, current methods to inflate ETT cuffs vary between anesthesia providers and are not consistent in the recommended range. The objective of this quality improvement project was to increase the percentage of cuff pressures between 20 and 30 cm H2O. Methods: Four plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles were completed in the operating rooms at Nationwide Children's Hospital over 9 months to assess ways to improve the accuracy of obtaining recommended ETT cuff pressures. Control charts were used to evaluate the primary outcome measure. Results: Preimplementation, ETT cuff pressures were out of the recommended range 76% of the time. Cuff pressures were out of the recommended range 64% of the time with the addition of the air method, 84% of the time in the tidal volume ratio cycle, and 50% of the time using the removal of air technique. The removal of air method was the most effective in achieving cuff pressures within the recommended pressure range (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Using quality improvement methodology, the percentage of ETT cuff pressures falling within the recommended pressure range increased using the removal of air technique. This approach is a simple and practical method that can be easily implemented in the clinical setting and would provide additional safety in the anesthetic management of pediatric patients.

Application of Primary Care Guideline for Chronic Low Back Pain in the Emergency Department.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a primary care condition that overflows into the emergency department (ED). No ED-specific practice guideline exists for the management of patients with CLBP in the ED setting. Back pain is a common chief complaint, with cases of CLBP making up to 50% of the patients seen with back pain in an urban, freestanding ED affiliated with a multicampus health system in the Midwest where 25% of patients live below the poverty line and 21.8% do not have primary care. Kolcaba's Theory of Comfort guides the implementation of an evidence-based practice application project. The Guideline for the Evidence-Informed Primary Care Management of Low Back Pain from the National Guideline Clearinghouse is introduced. Interprofessional collaboration for immediate referrals was implemented. The plan-do-study-act model was applied with descriptive analysis of the data. Reflective of established specific aims of the project, there was increased (1) support for the use of evidence-based practice guideline among the ED providers and staff, (2) use of evidence-based practices, (3) connection of patients to community resources, (4) evidence-based education for patients, and (5) overall satisfaction with pain management. The effectiveness of the application of this primary care guideline in the ED opens the way both for region-wide application of the guidelines and for the introduction of other primary care practice guidelines for patients who present to the ED with other chronic conditions.