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There are limited data describing mobility interventions provided to patients with femoral catheters. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of femoral catheter related adverse effects during physical therapy (PT) sessions in a cardiovascular intensive care unit (ICU).This was a prospective, observational study and included patients with at least one femoral catheter. Data were collected after each PT session.There were 77 subjects with a total of 92 femoral catheters (50 arterial, 15 central venous, and 27 dialysis) treated. A total of 210 separate PT sessions occurred with 630 mobility activities including sitting on side of bed, standing at the bedside, transfers to stretcher chair or regular chair, and walking. There were no catheter related mechanical or thrombotic complications during any of the PT sessions.Physical therapy sessions, including standing and walking were feasible and safe in cardiovascular ICU patients with femoral catheters who met the criteria for mobility interventions. The results from this study support the hypothesis that early mobilization in patients with femoral catheters is important to minimize functional decline and provide evidence that the presence of femoral catheters alone should not be a reason to limit progressive mobility interventions.

Human skeletal muscles are continually remodeled to match the function required of them. Diameter, strength, and vascular supply are altered when a muscle group experiences contraction and resistance. The purpose of this article is to describe selected muscle signaling pathways that contribute to muscle remodeling. Multiple factors affect the cellular and molecular remodeling of muscles and at least 2 of them-exercise and protein/calorie delivery-are under the direct care of intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians. Activating signaling pathways may promote preservation of muscle mass and function. Interventions to prevent muscle atrophy have potential to reduce ICU-acquired weakness and positively affect quality of life in survivors after ICU hospitalization. Exploring information generated by genomic and proteomic investigations about muscle signaling pathways can help the ICU clinician evaluate the benefits and risks of interventions to maintain muscle health early in critical illness.

The purpose of this review was to summarize the findings of published reports that investigated quality-related outcomes and emergency department (ED) crowding. Of 276 data-based articles, 23 reported associations between patient outcomes and crowding. These articles were grouped into 3 categories: delay in treatment, decreased satisfaction, and increased mortality. Although these studies suggest that crowding results in poor outcomes, it is possible that other factors such as nursing care contribute to these adverse outcomes. Nursing care has been shown to contribute to both positive and negative patient outcomes in other settings. Building an understanding of how ED crowding affects the practice of the emergency nurse is essential to examining how nursing care, surveillance, and communication impact outcomes of emergency patients. Investigation into nurse-sensitive quality indicators in the ED has potential to develop strategies that deliver high quality of care, regardless of crowded conditions.

Although therapeutic activity prevents functional decline and reduces mortality, little is known about typical levels of activity among intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This report of a preliminary study describes typical therapeutic activity and compares the use of two measures of activity in a small sample of chronically critically ill adults. Type, frequency, and duration of therapeutic activity were measured simultaneously with direct observation and actigraphy. The only consistent activity documented was turning (frequency: 3 turns/8 hours; duration: mean average of 11 minutes). Analysis demonstrated acceptable agreement between the two measures of activity for both frequency and duration of therapeutic but not for type of activity. Congruence between measures for duration of activity was also supported. This study provides information for investigators and practitioners who are interested in measuring or implementing therapeutic activity in selected critically ill adults.

Hyponatremia commonly occurs in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Two mechanisms have been proposed as causes: syndrome of inappropriate anti-diuretic hormone and cerebral salt wasting. Physical examination and laboratory results can assist a clinician in identifying which mechanism is responsible and thus determine proper treatment. When hyponatremia is treated promptly and appropriately, patients' sodium levels return to normal without detrimental effects.

Effect size is used in single studies to complement inferential statistical analysis. It also is used to compare and synthesize data across studies in meta-analysis. Effect size provides information about clinical importance of differences found in research observations. For researchers, effect size is useful in establishing support for the theoretical framework of a story and in planning for future research. Application of effect size to data in three studies about the effects of backrest position on ICP and CPP in brain-injured adults illustrates the utility of effect size analysis in neuroscience nursing research.