Possible honors research topic

[TarheelGirlx3]

So I want to work in the PICU after graduation (graduating May 2015), and I am going to do honor's research starting this fall and I am looking for a possible topic. Does anyone have ideas of current controversial topics, etc. in the PICU world? Thanks!

[icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN]

Treatment of pulmonary embolisms in children with Sickle Cell disease.

[TarheelGirlx3]

Thanks for input! Is this something that happens fairly often?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

The vaildity of commonly used pain scales in sedated/ intubated children.

Comparison of current ecmo technologies (roller head vs. centrifugal).

Proning ventilated children

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

meanmaryjean's topics are all excellent choices. There's lots of conflicting research out there about all three. (I personally don't have much faith in the pain scales we currently use, there are too many other reasons kids could have a scowl on their face or be crying that don't involve pain, for example.)

One topic that keeps recurring with my unit's population is outcomes for children with renal failure who undergo solid organ transplant despite their poor renal function pre-transplant. We often require CRRT for these kids for weeks or months because peritoneal dialysis isn't effective, with the hope that eventually the patient will tolerate intermittent hemodialysis. At a guess, I'd say the mortality rate for this scenario is about 67%. Reasonable? Ethical?

[TarheelGirlx3]

Thanks for the input! I have considered pain scale assessments before and I see it coming up repeatedly. That will probably be the way that I go. I also get frustrated when I see doctors or other providers not talking or even acknowledging the patient's existence if they think they can't hear, but I am not sure how to word that into a research topic or find literature on it.