Critical Care News

Many individuals who presented to the ED with suicidal ideation or attempts did not have a documented assessment for home access to lethal means, according to recent findings.

Development and implementation of a delirium protocol for patients who were not in the ICU was attainable, according to research presented at the Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting.

A decision support intervention resulted in discontinuations of cardiac monitoring in line with American Heart Association guidelines, according to findings presented at the Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting.

Recent findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggested that 26.9% of general medicine patient readmissions are potentially preventable. Also, the most common factors that contributed to preventable readmissions were premature discharge, ED decision making, inability to keep appointments after discharge, and patient lack of awareness of whom to call after discharge.

Being previously hospitalized for syncope was associated with an increased risk for future motor vehicle accidents over a period of 5 years, and physicians should consider prior fainting as one of several factors in determining whether patients are fit to drive, according to data published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

More than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year, killing nearly 130,000, according to the CDC.

Physicians should consider a diagnosis of antibiotic-associated encephalopathy in patients who present with delirium after taking antibiotics, according to findings from a review published in Neurology.

New technology may allow physicians to more accurately identify various respiratory sounds, according to an observation published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

In the United States, an estimated 900,000 Americans contract pneumococcal pneumonia every year, with a mortality rate of approximately 5% to 7%, according to the CDC.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women, according to the CDC, and approximately 610,000 people in the United States die from the disease every year.