Cardiac arrhythmias are a common problem encountered in the intensive care unit (ICU) and represent a major source of morbidity. Arrhythmias are most likely to occur in patients with structural heart disease. The inciting factor for an arrhythmia in a given patient may be an insult such as hypoxia, infection, cardiac ischemia, catecholamine excess (endogenous or exogenous), or an electrolyte ab...

1 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand 2 Intensive Care Unit, Wellington Regional Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand 3 Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia 4 Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand 5 Department of Critical Care Medicine, Auckland City H...

background there are different risk factors that affect the intensive care unit (icu) stay after cardiac surgery. objectives the aim of this study was to evaluate possible risk factors influencing prolonged icu stay in a large referral hospital. patients and methods we conducted a case-control study to determinate causes of prolonged icu stay in 280 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery in ...

OBJECTIVE Cardiac operations with cardiopulmonary bypass can be associated with postoperative lung dysfunction. The present study investigates the incidence of postoperative hypoxia after cardiac surgery, its relationship with the length of intensive care unit stay, and the role of body mass index in determining postoperative hypoxia and intensive care unit length of stay. DESIGN Single-cente...

aims: endotracheal suctioning is a vital process to keep the airways open. the method of performing endotracheal suctioning has a great effect on its complications and effectiveness. this study was carried out with the aim of assessing gap between the knowledge and performance of nurses' working in intensive care units (icu) in tracheal suctioning.   methods: in this cross sectional study,...

a bstract background: mechanical ventilation is one of the supporting treatments that are used for different reasons. to reduce patients’ inconvenience caused due to using tracheal tube and ventilator, sedation is routinely used. using scales for the sedation, for example, richmond agitation sedation scale (rass), may reduce dose of sedation and length of mechanical ventilation.   materials and...

abstract background: patient safety is considered as the most important quality for healthcare. one of the main factors that play an important role in the promotion of healthcare institutes is patient safety. this study describes the nurses’ awareness of patient safety culture in neonatal intensive care units (nicus). materials and methods: in this descriptive study, 83 nurses working in neonat...

background: malnutrition is an important factor in the survival of critically ill patients. the purpose of the present study was to assess the nutritional status of patients in the intensive care unit (icu) on the days of admission and discharge via a detailed nutritional assessment.  methods: totally, 125 patients were followed up from admission to discharge at 8icus in shiraz, iran. the patie...

background: attention to organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction is effective in improving employees’ performance and quality of services in health care organizations. due to higher job pressure and dissatisfaction among nurses, it seems like evaluating the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction among nurses is important.   methods: in thi...