v The first critical care units in South Africa were established in the early 1960s. v Critical care nursing education is provided on two levels: as a post-registration diploma and as a post-graduate (Masters) degree. v South African critical care nurses are independent, accountable practitioners who function within a professional ethical framework. v Currently there is an acute shortage of cri...

background: underlying diseases and aggressive procedures, such as different types of surgery and care, for patients with critical conditions in intensive care units (icu) may be associated with physiological disorders. objectives: this study intended to determine the effect of therapeutic touch on physiological variables of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in icu. methods: this rando...

INTRODUCTION The measurement of quality and patient safety continues to gain increasing importance, as these measures are used for both healthcare improvement and accountability. Pediatric care, particularly that provided in pediatric intensive care units, is sufficiently different from adult care that specific metrics are required. BODY: Pediatric critical care requires specific measures for b...

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of AKI in adult critically ill patients in the University Hospital, Regensburg, Germany. Furthermore, we searched for the most common ICU conditions associated with AKI, evaluated the length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and in the hospital and calculated the additional inhospital costs associated with AKI in Diagnosi...

Delirium is prevalent among intensive care unit patients. It prolongs length of stay, increases costs, and is independently associated with higher mortality rates. While its specific biological pathways are largely unknown, environmental and iatrogenic determinants have been repeatedly recognized. Removal of the known triggers and pharmacologic intervention constitute available therapies. This ...

Background. Despite increasing adoption of active warming methods over the recent years, little is known about the effectiveness of these interventions on the occurrence of abnormal postoperative temperatures in sick infants. Methods. Preoperative and postoperative temperature readings, patient characteristics, and procedural factors of critically ill infants at a single institution were retrie...