ICU projects?

Greetings,

Does anyone care to share a project that you or someone else has completed in your ICU. I'm on the Central Line Blood Stream Infection (CLABSI) team. However, I'd like to come up with something original. I continue to think of ways to improve the efficiency in the ICU. However, nothing doing.

Thanks.

A co-manager in our ICU started an early rehabilitation and mobilization project, stimulated in part by a recent AACN journal covering the importance of such early rehab.

I think the journals are a good place to start; what are current national critical care topics, are they relevant to your ICU, do you see a need or gap...

Have you thought about examining how much (or actually how little) sleep ICU patients get? Measuring total hours of sleep / 24 and longest uninterrupted sleep? (I would love to see how the rates vary based on how close to the nurses' station the patient's room is)

Have you thought about examining how much (or actually how little) sleep ICU patients get? Measuring total hours of sleep / 24 and longest uninterrupted sleep? (I would love to see how the rates vary based on how close to the nurses' station the patient's room is)

For my nursing research class, we did a research study on sleep in ICU patients and it was very interesting.

Greetings,

I apologize for my late reply. I appreciate the recommendations. Sleep has already been covered. Thanks Mary.

Aaron, that's a swell idea. I'll start there. As much as we, the staff, complain about our work environment. There are plenty of opportunities for improvement in our SICU. I look forward to getting back to you all in the future!

Thanks!

You might team up with your pharmacist and form an anti-microbial stewardship team. It is not easy work, but it makes a HUGE difference in the amount of "junk" antibiotics given to patient. (today we were able to stop abx on a patient who has infiltrates due to cancer (no antibiotic will cure the cancer), a patient who had no signs and symptoms and was hospitalized for chest pain, but was placed on abx "just in case"...and another patient with a lung nodule (looked like latent TB or lung ca) that was 100% not pneumonia.

If you were in my ICU, I'd want you to become a VAP prevention champion. Because I am sick and tired of VAP and the mess it seems to cause.

VAP, noise and visitation are big projects in our hospital ICU's.