intensive care unit Archives
Patients’ stories of recovery bring joy to care teams
Mar. 21, 2019—Former Vanderbilt Health patient Chris Peters remembers the day he found the motivation he needed to fight for recovery after nearly dying from complications from the flu.
Alzheimer’s proteins in ICU survivors
Mar. 27, 2018—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.
Delirium, benzos and the pediatric ICU
Oct. 2, 2017—With other risk factors held equal, children who received a benzodiazepine sedative drug were nearly three times more likely to experience delirium – confused thought – the following day.
Medication safety in the ICU
Sep. 19, 2017—Facilitated reporting of medication-related events in the intensive care unit can provide opportunities for optimizing quality of care and patient safety.
Device helps ICU patients by filtering out noise from medical alarms
Jun. 21, 2017—A team of investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) wants to improve patient outcomes in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) settings by silencing audible medical alarms in hospital rooms.
Program aims to help patients thrive following ICU stay
Feb. 9, 2017—The phrase “working twice as hard for half as much” is one that sadly rings true for many patients who have had significant stays in an intensive care unit (ICU). Surviving a lengthy critical care experience can result in depression, weakness, fatigue and other cognitive and physical deficiencies.
Study shows veteran, civilian patients at risk of ICU-related PTSD
Jan. 12, 2016—In a first-of-its-kind study of veterans and civilians, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center found that one in 10 patients is at risk of having a new post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following their time in the intensive care unit (ICU).
ICU Recovery Center helps ease burden of critical illness
Oct. 29, 2015—Quinton Smith doesn’t remember much of what happened one Sunday evening last March. He was disoriented, unable to stand and could not even recognize his girlfriend’s face after she returned home from work.
Findings do not support chlorhexidine bathing in ICUs
Jan. 21, 2015—Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have found that bathing critically ill patients with disposable chlorhexidine cloths did not decrease the incidence of health care-associated infections when compared to less expensive nonantimicrobial cloths, according to a study appearing online in JAMA this week.
Delirium increases long-term disability
Mar. 17, 2014—Patients who suffer a longer duration of delirium in the intensive care unit are more likely to experience long-term disability after discharge.
VUCast: Startling brain-related study on critically ill patients
Oct. 16, 2013—In the latest VUCast: ICU patients are leaving hospitals with a dementia-like disease; What’s the fate of the Republican Party?; Hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Distinguished Visiting Professor Jon Meacham; and It's time to celebrate -- the Rate My Professor 2013 rankings are in. All this and more in Vanderbilt’s online newscast. Watch now.
Pathways to delirium in the ICU
Apr. 17, 2012—Study suggests that the “kynurenine” biochemical pathway could be a target for reducing delirium and coma in critically ill patients.