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Category: Quality and Patient Safety

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ABCDEF Bundle Delirium; Post Intensive Care Syndrome: PICS

ICU Liberation Bundle Zooming in on the "D" Delirium Component during COVID-19: Problem and Scope, Assessment featuring Management and Post-Intensive Care Syndrome: PICS. This is SCCM curated COVID-19 microlearning content.

Curriculum Topic: ICU Liberation Bundle Implementation & Challenges


Promoting Value in Critical Care by Implementing (Next Five) Choosing Wisely For Critical Care; ICU Liberation Bundle (E = Early Mobility)

Overview of the Next 5 Choosing Wisely Statements and how they intersect with the ICU Liberation Bundle. And, overview of the "E" element of the ICU Liberation Bundle. This is SCCM curated COVID-19 microlearning content.

Curriculum Topic: ICU Liberation Bundle Implementation & Challenges


COVID-19: Lessons from the Frontline

COVID-19 case presentation from the team at Mayo Clinic - Florida that brings together many of the STOP-VIRUS Collaborative lessons learned over the course of the past 6 months.


One-Year Outcomes of Postintensive Care Syndrome in Critically Ill Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients: A Single Institutional Study

From Critical Care Explorations  In this study, the authors found that Patients who suffered critical illness from coronavirus disease 2019 had a high frequency of postintensive care syndrome after 1 year. 


SCCM Diagnostic Excellence Program Seeks to Transform Sepsis Care With Support of CMSS Grant

Sepsis is the leading cause of hospitalization and hospital deaths in the United States. SCCM has received a grant from the Council of Medical Specialty Societies to improve diagnostic excellence. SCCM’s Diagnostic Excellence Program focuses on providing education and technology for accurate and rapid-cycle sepsis diagnosis via webcasts, podcasts, and toolkits.


SCCM Releases PANDEM Guidelines for Critically Ill Children and Infants

Emphasize importance of continual assessment, nonpharmacologic interventions, and family involvement. The PANDEM guidelines for children and infants were published in the February 2022 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.


Leapfrog Dashboard Tracking of Postoperative Sepsis: An Opportunity for Quality Improvement

This article describes the new Leapfrog quality metrics and their methodology, focusing on postoperative sepsis identification and the potential impact of dashboard performance tracking moving forward. Critical care professionals routinely encounter patients with sepsis and play an integral role in the formulation and implementation of management plans for postoperative sepsis, making them key participants in this effort.


Concise Critical Appraisal: Quality Improvement Intervention on Sleep and Delirium

Does your hospital use a checklist or bundle to minimize risk factors for delirium? Delirium is common in surgical and medical intensive care units (ICUs) and has shown to be associated with longer mechanical ventilation duration and longer ICU and hospital lengths of stay. This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a study that evaluated a multicomponent nonpharmacologic quality improvement intervention aimed at the sleep-wake cycle for reducing delirium in critically ill patients in the surgical critical care setting.


Improving Post-ICU Stay Outcomes: How SCCM’s Discovery Grant Helped Establish an NIH-Funded Study

Paul E. Wischmeyer, MD, EDIC, FASPEN, FCCM, has a highly personal understanding of the challenges of recovering from an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Diagnosed at age 15 with ulcerative colitis, his colon was removed when it perforated and caused septic peritonitis. Throughout his life, he has had 27 major surgeries and multiple ICU stays for bowel resections after bowel obstructions or to address complications from recurrent intestinal obstructions. These experiences have motivated his research to test a personalized, remotely monitored, coached exercise program to help patients recover after ICU discharge.


AHRQ Releases New Experience-Based Toolkit for Intensive Care Units

The new Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Toolkit for Preventing CLABSI and CAUTI in ICUs offers customizable tools and training resources to help your facility prevent dangerous infections. Its unique design gives users resources to assess current clinical and safety practices, implement a reduction plan, and overcome common cultural and technical challenges in reduction efforts. 


Updated Guidelines on Management of Clostridioides difficile Infection in Adults

Clostrididioides difficile infection (CDI) occurs in about 4% of ICU patients, causing fulminant colitis and death in nearly 60% of symptomatic critically ill patients, so it is imperative for ICU professionals to stay abreast of the evidence-based advancements of CDI management. In June 2021, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America updated their recommendations on the management of CDI in adults. This Concise Critical Appraisal offers a review of the updated guidelines.


SCCM Pod-485: Better Together: The Power of Collaboration

The power of scientific collaboration has a broad reach. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 7000 clinical trials were registered, with more than 100 different countries represented. Samantha Gambles Farr, MSN, NP-C, CCRN, RNFA, was joined by SCCM Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient John C. Marshall, MD, FRCSC, FACS, at the 2023 Critical Care Congress to discuss the importance of research and scientific collaboration. Dr. Marshall has been involved in research programs with researchers around the globe and is a well-known speaker with nearly 600 published manuscripts. This podcast is sponsored by Dompé Pharmaceutical.


SCCM Pod-461 PCCM: A Novel Machine Learning Model to Predict PICU Transfer

Unrecognized clinical deterioration during illness requiring hospitalization is associated with high risk of mortality and long-term morbidity among children. In this podcast hosted by Maureen A. Madden, DNP, RN, CPNP-AC, CCRN, FCCM, Anoop Mayampurath, PhD, discusses a novel machine learning model that identifies ICU transfers in hospitalized children more accurately than current tools. The discussion centers on the article “Development and External Validation of a Machine Learning Model for Prediction of Potential Transfer to the PICU,” published in the July 2022 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (Mayampurath A, et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2022 23:514-523). Dr. Mayampurath is an assistant professor of biostatistics and medical informatics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison Wisconsin.


SCCM Pod-460 CCE: Multiple PCR for Direct Detection of Bloodstream Infection After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Nosocomial infections are a prevalent cause of death and complications in critically ill children. Conventional cultures are able to detect only up to 25% of bacteremias. Several studies have suggested that molecular tests could be a faster and effective tool for detection of bacterial infections. Marilyn N. Bulloch, PharmD, BCPS, FCCM, is joined by Sylvia Belda Hofheinz, MD, to discuss the article, “Multiple Polymerase Chain Reaction for Direct Detection of Bloodstream Infection After Cardiac Surgery in a PICU,” published in the June 2022 issue of Critical Care Explorations (Checa RMC, et al. Crit Care Explor. 2022;4:e0707). Dr. Hofheinz is a physician in the pediatric ICU at University Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, Spain.


SCCM Pod-459: Processed EEG Monitoring in the ICU

This podcast educates clinicians on the unfamiliar parameters of processed EEG. Host Pamela M. Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, FACSM, is joined by Meghan B. Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM, to discuss the benefits of processed EEG for monitoring sedated mechanically ventilated patients and patients undergoing neuromuscular blockade. Dr. Lane-Fall is an associate professor of anesthesiology, critical care, and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. This podcast is sponsored by Medtronic.