Critical Connections Blog

Concise Critical Appraisal: Temperature Management After Cardiac Arrest
Critical care practitioners frequently seek innovative treatments to improve mortality and functional outcomes in patients after cardiac arrest. The only neuroprotective effort previously shown to provide benefit has been targeting patient temperatures to hypothermic levels. Recently published guidelines have replaced the recommendations on temperature management after cardiac arrest included in the 2021 post-resuscitation care guidelines co-issued by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). This Concise Critical Appraisal examines the previously reported recommendations and evidence, reviews the ERC-ESICM updated recommendations, and highlights the areas that still lack investigation and clarity.
 
Posted: 5/10/2022 | 1 comments |

Best Practices for Mentorship and Burnout Mitigation
More than 75% of healthcare professionals have self-reported burnout as well as increased frustration and feeling overwhelmed at work. Andrea Sikora, PharmD, BCCCP, MSCR, FCCM, discusses what can be done and highlights three recent articles offering recommendations on how to prevent burnout and establish effective mentorship opportunities.
Posted: 4/19/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, Burnout, Mentorship, Well-Being

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. 
Posted: 4/18/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, Infection Control

SCCM ICU Heroes: The Love Army
The ICU Heroes Award recognizes that patients and families are an integral part of intensive care unit (ICU) care. The award is given to an ICU patient and family and to the multiprofessional team that delivered the care.
Posted: 4/15/2022 | 0 comments | Awards, COVID-19, Patient and Family

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.
Posted: 4/13/2022 | 0 comments | Concise Critical Appraisal, Delirium

SCCM Demonstrates Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at 2022 Critical Care Congress
The Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) will be on full display at the 2022 Critical Care Congress. Congress will feature a number of sessions that delve deep into DEI topics, offering attendees suggestions for providing equitable care for all patients, as well as advocating for themselves and others in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Posted: 4/7/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, Diversity

Five Years of Discovery, the Critical Care Research Network
Several years before the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted healthcare worldwide, the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) launched a task force to identify gaps in critical care research and determine how SCCM could address them. Within two years, this effort led to the establishment of Discovery, the Critical Care Research Network, and the timing could not have been more fortuitous.
Posted: 4/7/2022 | 0 comments | Discovery Research Network

2022 Critical Care Congress Plenary: Health System Readiness 2.0
Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS, will address some of the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and how health systems can prepare during the Peter Safar Memorial Lecture at the 2022 SCCM Congress.
Posted: 3/30/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, COVID-19, Disaster Preparedness

2022 Critical Care Congress Thought Leaders: Data Science and Critical Care
Matthew Churpek, MD, MPH, PhD, will share the top 10 things he wished someone had told him about clinical predictive modeling as part of the thought leader session Data Science and Critical Care at the 2022 Critical Care Congress.
Posted: 3/15/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, Data Science, Electronic Health Records

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.
Posted: 3/10/2022 | 0 comments | Quality, Sepsis

Increased Mental Disorder Diagnoses in Children After Invasive Mechanical Ventilation
This Concise Critical Appraisal highlights an article in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine that sought to determine the association between invasive mechanical ventilation—a known predictor of adverse outcomes in children—and subsequent new neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders after pediatric intensive care unit hospitalization by reviewing Texas Medicaid Analytic eXtract data.
Posted: 3/9/2022 | 0 comments | Concise Critical Appraisal, Mechanical Ventilation, pediatric

An Update on SCCM Relief Efforts in Ukraine
SCCM President Sandra L. Kane-Gill, PharmD, MSc, FCCP, FCCM, provides an update on the SCCM emergency response efforts in Ukraine.
Posted: 3/4/2022 | 0 comments | Disaster Response, Donor Supported, Emergency Response, Message from the President, Ukraine

2022 Critical Care Congress Plenary: What Has COVID-19 Taught Us About ECMO?
Peta M.A. Alexander, MBBS, FRACP, FCICM, will present the Max Harry Weil Memorial Lecture titled, “What Has COVID-19 Taught Us About ECMO?” during SCCM’s 2022 Critical Care Congress.
Posted: 3/3/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, COVID-19, ECMO

Effect of Bougie Versus Endotracheal Tube With Stylet on Successful Tracheal Intubation
Tracheal intubation is a high-risk procedure that is frequently performed in the emergency department and intensive care unit. Failure of first-pass success (FPS) when intubating has been shown to be associated with major adverse events, so maximizing FPS is paramount for improving patient outcomes. This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a study published in JAMA that sought to determine the effect of using a bougie (tracheal tube introducer) versus an endotracheal tube with stylet when intubating.
Posted: 2/16/2022 | 0 comments | Concise Critical Appraisal, Intubation

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.
Posted: 2/2/2022 | 0 comments | Delirium, ICU Liberation, PANDEM Guidelines, pediatric

Concise Critical Appraisal: Vasopressin and Methylprednisolone for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Although several trials have examined in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), only two trials in the past decade have examined the use of vasopressin and glucocorticoids for IHCA. Both trials found improved survival and favorable neurologic outcome with a vasopressin-epinephrine-methylprednisolone combination. Because of a lack of additional supporting evidence, neither the American nor European international guidelines have recommended this combination for IHCA. This Concise Critical Appraisal examines an article by Andersen et al that attempted to validate the results of these trials.
 
Posted: 1/19/2022 | 0 comments | Cardiac Arrest, Cardiovascular, Concise Critical Appraisal

2022 Critical Care Congress Thought Leaders: Critical Care Nurses and COVID-19
John J. Gallagher, DNP, RN, CCNS, CCRN-K, TCRN, RRT, FCCM, will bring his experiences and teaching enjoyment to SCCM’s 2022 Critical Care Congress, where he will lead the thought leader session “Critical Care Nurses and COVID-19.”
Posted: 1/13/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, Congress, COVID-19, Nursing, The Future of Critical Care

SCCM 2022 Critical Care Congress Is Now Virtual
SCCM has announced the cancelation of the 2022 Critical Care Congress in-person event and the postponement of the virtual event to April 18 through 21, 2022.
Posted: 1/10/2022 | 0 comments | 2022 Congress, Congress

2022 Critical Care Congress Thought Leaders: Genetics and Genomics
During the 2022 Critical Care Congress, Karin Reuter-Rice, PhD, NP, FAAN, FCCM, will talk about precision health, and specifically the role omic technologies play in critical care in a thought leader session titled “Genetics and Genomics.”
Posted: 12/17/2021 | 0 comments | Basic Science, Congress, Genetics, Genomics, The Future of Critical Care

Managing Moral Distress During a Pandemic
To help understand what moral distress looks like and how to manage and prevent it, the Society of Critical Care Medicine recently hosted the webcast Managing Moral Distress During a Pandemic.
Posted: 12/17/2021 | 0 comments | COVID-19, Moral Distress, Well-Being