ICU

September 25, 2019

Researchers explore music’s effect on ICU patients, staff

A group of Vanderbilt researchers is launching a pilot study on the effect of live music on patients, families and staff in the adult intensive care unit and is inviting musical members of the Vanderbilt community to help.

By Nancy Wise
Emily Bilbrey, left, engages her son Chandler as pediatric physical therapist Kat Hedden, PT, performs an early mobility intervention in the pediatric intensive care unit.
March 7, 2019

Mobility protocol yields positive results in pediatric ICU

For years Kristina Betters, MD, assistant professor of Pediatric Critical Care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has been aware of the value of getting patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) moving during their critical illnesses to prevent muscle breakdown, weakness and delirium.

By Jessica Pasley
March 27, 2018

Alzheimer’s proteins in ICU survivors

The cognitive impairment that affects patients who survive a stay in the ICU does not appear to have a similar mechanism to Alzheimer’s disease, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

By Meredith Jackson
nurse marking chart in intensive care unit
September 19, 2017

Medication safety in the ICU

Facilitated reporting of medication-related events in the intensive care unit can provide opportunities for optimizing quality of care and patient safety.

By Bill Snyder
September 13, 2016

Risk factors for delirium

High levels of blood markers for vascular endothelial dysfunction were associated with longer periods of confusion in ICU patients, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

By Leigh MacMillan
October 20, 2015

A bundle, a dashboard and lasting pneumonia reduction

A “bundle” of electronically implemented care guidelines reduced intensive care unit patient complications related to mechanical ventilation.

By Paul Govern
October 15, 2015

Risk of death in the ICU

The irregular heart rhythm atrial fibrillation increases the risk of death in patients in the intensive care unit.
By Bill Snyder
April 17, 2014

Physical signs of depression common among ICU survivors

Depression affects more than one out of three survivors of critical illness, according to a Vanderbilt study released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and the majority of patients experience their symptoms physically rather than mentally.
By Craig Boerner
March 17, 2014

Delirium increases long-term disability

Patients who suffer a longer duration of delirium in the intensive care unit are more likely to experience long-term disability after discharge.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 15, 2013

A role for blood vessels in delirium?

Dysfunction of the endothelial cells that line blood vessels may contribute to delirium and coma in critically ill patients – and could be a target for therapy.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 15, 2012

Grant to bolster care of ventilated ICU patients

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have received a $2.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to continue studying ways to improve sedation management for intensive care unit patients who are on mechanical ventilators.
By Jill Clendening
April 17, 2012

Pathways to delirium in the ICU

Study suggests that the “kynurenine” biochemical pathway could be a target for reducing delirium and coma in critically ill patients.
By Leigh MacMillan
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