Utility of Simulation as a Teaching Tool for Nursing Staff Involved in Code Blue Management.

Background: The responsibility of nurses is early clinical deterioration and taking appropriate action. Knowledge and proficiency in Code Blue protocols come handy, which lacks in most nurses recognizing. Simulation-based learning plays a role in improving performance and confidence in handling such situations. This goal-based method of program evaluation aims to examine Code Blue training programs and compare them with current literature and established professional standards while assessing participants' experience and change in knowledge to this educational method. Materials and methods: Following ethical approval, a prospective interventional study was conducted in the simulation center of a private medical college in Mangalore on 65 nursing students. A pretest was given to the participants on the day of the session to assess their baseline understanding followed by prebriefing, all previously having received didactic lectures on Code Blue protocol, crash cart, and cardiac arrest algorithms. They were divided into three batches and each batch performed on crash cart and cardiac arrest stations using an electrocardiogram simulator. A simulated drill was enacted by the faculty on managing a Code Blue event and a discussion was followed. Nurses underwent two simulated scenarios, shockable and nonshockable cardiac arrest algorithms, followed by debriefing. Posttest and feedback form was asked to be filled. Results: A significant increase in mean% from pretest to posttest (55.69-77.33%) following simulated drills. Conclusion: The use of simulation to train nurses in Code Blue scenarios records greater satisfaction and improvement in clinical reasoning, knowledge, and skills. Hence, the incorporation of simulation teaching in training of those involved in caring for high-risk patients is the need of the hour. How to cite this article: D'Cunha RJ, Fernandes SF, Sherif L. Utility of Simulation as a Teaching Tool for Nursing Staff Involved in Code Blue Management. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(8):878-880.

Peripheral venous pressure as a reliable predictor for monitoring central venous pressure in patients with burns.

BACKGROUND: Optimizing cardiovascular function to ensure adequate tissue oxygen delivery is a key objective in the care of critically ill patients with burns. Hemodynamic monitoring may be necessary to optimize resuscitation in serious burn patients with reasonable safety. Invasive central venous pressure (CVP) monitoring has become the corner stone of hemodynamic monitoring in patients with burns but is associated with inherent risks and technical difficulties. Previous studies on perioperative patients have shown that measurement of peripheral venous pressure (PVP) is a less invasive and cost-effective procedure and can reliably predict CVP. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present prospective clinical study was to determine whether a reliable association exists between changes in CVP and PVP over a long period in patients admitted to the Burns Intensive Care Unit (BICU). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The CVP and PVP were measured simultaneously hourly in 30 burns patients in the BICU up to 10 consecutive hours. The predictability of CVP by monitoring PVP was tested by applying the linear regression formula and also using the Bland-Altman plots of repeated measures to evaluate the agreement between CVP and PVP. RESULTS: The regression formula revealed a reliable and significant association between CVP and PVP. The overall mean difference between CVP and PVP was 1.628 ± 0.84 mmHg (P < 0.001). The Bland-Altman diagram also showed a perfect agreement between the two pressures throughout the 10 h period. CONCLUSION: Peripheral venous pressure measured from a peripheral intravenous catheter in burns patients is a reliable estimation of CVP, and its changes have good concordance with CVP over a long period of time.

Emergency laparotomy for necrotising enterocolitis in a newborn with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) and congenital heart disease are two distinct disease processes, but they appear to be inter-related, particularly in patients with the congenital heart condition known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Both NEC and HLHS are causes of significant morbidity and mortality in the neonatal population. As medical and surgical advances allow for the palliation and correction of complex heart lesions at an earlier gestational age and lower birth weight, the already high-risk of NEC in this population is likely to increase. In this article, we report a case of a neonate with unpalliated HLHS who underwent emergency laparotomy for NEC. We also discuss the pathophysiology of these two diseases and the perioperative care of this rare group of patients.

A suspected case of transfusion-related acute lung injury.

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a rare but serious complication of blood transfusion. We present a suspected case of TRALI in a 39-year-old female patient who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy under uneventful general anesthesia. The patient developed acute desaturation due to noncardiogenic pulmonary edema while receiving compatible blood transfusion on the second postoperative day. As her symptoms were refractory to supportive treatment, she was mechanically ventilated for 3 days and successfully extubated on the fourth day. By exclusion, a clinical diagnosis of TRALI was made. The treatment for TRALI requires discontinuing transfusion and giving respiratory and cardiovascular support. Most cases show clinical improvement in first few hours and resolve completely within 96 h.