To evaluate the duration of subsyndromal delirium (SSD) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and the factors associated with SSD duration.
This retrospective study included adult patients admitted to the ICU of Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University between December 2019 and June 2020. All patients with Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale scores of ≥−2 were evaluated every 8 h using the confusion assessment method of the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU) until the patients with SSD were negative, progressed to delirium, fell into a coma, died, or were discharged from the ICU. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with SSD duration.
Of the 388 patients, 53.6% had SSD, and 20.7% progressed from SSD to delirium. The duration of SSD ranged from 8 to 248 h, and the median duration was 48 h (interquartile range, 24–72). Age (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.985, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.971–0.999, p = 0.035), surgery or not (HR = 0.514; 95% CI, 0.310–0.850; p = 0.010), duration of ventilation (HR = 1.003; 95% CI, 1.000–1.006; p = 0.044), duration of hypoxia (HR = 0.212; 95% CI, 0.103–0.438; p < 0.001), and adapted cognitive exam scores (HR = 1.057; 95% CI, 1.030–1.085; p < 0.001) were independently associated with the duration of SSD.
The duration of SSD was associated with age, surgery, duration of ventilation, duration of hypoxia, and cognitive function. SSD has a high incidence among ICU patients, and many patients progress to delirium.
The study team met with public members of the evaluation teams throughout the project in a series of workshops. Workshops informed study design, data collection tools and data interpretation.
ICU staff should pay attention to SSD patients with older age, history of surgery, longer duration of ventilation, prolonged duration of hypoxia, and lower ACE scores.
This study evaluates the effects of endotracheal suctioning duration on cerebral oxygenation and physiological parameters in preterm infants in intensive care.
Prospective and observational study.
In this study, 51 preterm infants born at 28–34 weeks of gestation in NICU were evaluated. Cerebral oxygenation was measured before, during, and after endotracheal suctioning with near-infrared spectroscopy. Pain levels of the infants were with N-PASS scale.
A negative correlation was found between the lowest cerebral oxygenation value during endotracheal suctioning and the duration of endotracheal suctioning. Cerebral oxygenation levels during endotracheal suctioning were lower than pre- and post-endotracheal suctioning levels. Higher cerebral oxygenation was observed in infants whose endotracheal aspiration time was less than 13 s. The duration of endotracheal suctioning was positively correlated with pain and cerebral oxygenation stabilization time.
Prolonged endotracheal suctioning duration negatively affects cerebral oxygenation in preterm infants. The study suggests an optimal endotracheal suctioning duration under 13 s.
Properly executed endotracheal suctioning, with the correct technique and knowledge, can alleviate the adverse physiological effects observed in preterm infants and contribute to routine nursing care in intensive care units.
This study has been reported in line with STROBE checklists.
No patient or public contribution was required to design or undertake this research. Patients contributed only to the data collection.
This study contributes to defining the ideal endotracheal aspiration duration, as there is not enough data so far. It showed the effect of prolonged endotracheal aspiration time on cerebral oxygenation, pain and physiological parameters in preterm infants.
To determine the effect of immersive virtual reality (VR) on perceived pain and fear in children during vaccination and parental satisfaction with the procedure.
Virtual reality can reduce the perception of pain by children but only three studies have analysed its use during vaccination to date; these had small sample sizes and imperfect methodological designs.
A randomised controlled clinical trial.
One hundred and sixty participants from the Tres Forques Health Center were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG) (n = 82) in which distraction with immersive VR was used during the vaccination, while standard distraction techniques were used for the control group (n = 80). The primary outcome was pain (Wong–Baker FACES). Secondary outcomes included (Children's Fear Scale) and parental satisfaction with the vaccination procedure. Chi-squared tests were used for qualitative variables, relationships between quantitative variables were tested with Spearman correlations, and Mann–Whitney U- or Student t-tests were employed to assess the relationship between quantitative and qualitative variables.
Compared to the controls, the children in the IG reported significantly less pain and fear, while parental satisfaction was significantly higher. Reported pain and fear did not differ according to the sex of the patient. Child age was not linked to fear but was related to pain: the younger the patient, the greater the pain they described.
Immersive VR effectively controlled pain and fear in children during vaccination and increased parent satisfaction with the vaccination process. Patient sex did not influence the level of pain and fear but age did.
Improving vaccination experiences can reduce perceived pain and fear in children and increase parent satisfaction, thereby enhancing vaccination schedule adherence and improving group immunity.
The CONSORT Statement for non-pharmacological randomised clinical trials were followed.
This study aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of nurses in implementing advance directives (ADs) for older patients and analyze the influencing factors before the establishment of the first advance directives act in China.
Multicenter cross-sectional survey. The standards for reporting the STROBE checklist are used.
This cross-sectional study developed a self-designed structured questionnaire to assess nurses' knowledge, attitudes and practices about ADs. Nurses were recruited by stratified random sampling through the Nursing Departments of 12 hospitals in southwest China and were asked to fill out the questionnaire face to face about knowledge, attitudes and practices. Data were analyzed following descriptive statistics, rank-sum test and multiple linear regression.
This study included 950 nurses. The study found that nurses were extremely supportive of ADs. Unmarried nurses had better knowledge of ADs than married ones. Nevertheless, there was a discrepancy between the participants' knowledge, attitude and practice. The participants' practice was lower (4.3%) compared with their attitude (81.9%) and knowledge (42.2%). Knowledge on, attitudes towards and standardized procedures for ADs in the workplace affected nursing practice.
The study recommends that courses on ADs and appropriate support from medical institutions should be provided to nurses to increase their knowledge and confidence in implementing ADs. Healthcare professionals should be sufficiently equipped to implement ADs and handle their execution appropriately to provide adequate end-of-life care corresponding to patients' wishes.
The study results inform rich insights as it discusses the numerous interrelating factors influencing these three fundamental aspects that affect the success of any AD policy by surveying the knowledge, attitudes and practices of clinical nurses. Furthermore, our results hint at distinct areas of improvement in the nursing practice to facilitate the wider implementation and acceptance of ADs in China.
This study involved no patient.