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Introduction: Cerebral infarction from delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a leading cause of poor neurological outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). We performed an international clinical practice survey to identify monitoring and management strategies for cerebral vasospasm associated with DCI in aSAH patients requiring intensive care unit admission. Methods: The survey questionnaire was available on the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (May 2021-June 2022) and Neurocritical Care Society (April - June 2022) websites following endorsement by these societies. Results: There were 292 respondents from 240 centers in 38 countries. In conscious aSAH patients or those able to tolerate an interruption of sedation, neurological examination was the most frequently used diagnostic modality to detect delayed neurological deficits related to DCI caused by cerebral vasospasm (278 respondents, 95.2%), while in unconscious patients transcranial Doppler/cerebral ultrasound was most frequently used modality (200, 68.5%). Computed tomography angiography was mostly used to confirm the presence of vasospasm as a cause of DCI. Nimodipine was administered for DCI prophylaxis by the majority of the respondents (257, 88%), mostly by an enteral route (206, 71.3%). If there was a significant reduction in arterial blood pressure after nimodipine administration, a vasopressor was added and nimodipine dosage unchanged (131, 45.6%) or reduced (122, 42.5%). Induced hypertension was used by 244 (85%) respondents as first-line management of DCI related to vasospasm; 168 (59.6%) respondents used an intra-arterial procedure as second-line therapy. Conclusions: This survey demonstrated variability in monitoring and management strategies for DCI related to vasospasm after aSAH. These findings may be helpful in promoting educational programs and future research.

Coma and disorders of consciousness (DoC) are highly prevalent and constitute a burden for patients, families, and society worldwide. As part of the Curing Coma Campaign, the Neurocritical Care Society partnered with the National Institutes of Health to organize a symposium bringing together experts from all over the world to develop research targets for DoC. The conference was structured along six domains: (1) defining endotype/phenotypes, (2) biomarkers, (3) proof-of-concept clinical trials, (4) neuroprognostication, (5) long-term recovery, and (6) large datasets. This proceedings paper presents actionable research targets based on the presentations and discussions that occurred at the conference. We summarize the background, main research gaps, overall goals, the panel discussion of the approach, limitations and challenges, and deliverables that were identified. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12028-021-01260-x.

Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rippled across the world from Wuhan, China, to the shores of the United States within a few months. Hospitals and intensive care units were suddenly faced with a “tsunami” warning requiring instantaneous implementation and escalation of disaster plans. Evidence Review An evidence-based question was developed and an extensive review of the literature was completed, resulting in a structured plan for the intensive care units to manage a surge of patients critically ill with COVID-19 in March 2020. Twenty-five sources of evidence focusing on pandemic intensive care unit and COVID-19 management laid the foundation for the team to navigate the crisis. Implementation The Critical Care Services task force adopted recommendations from the CHEST consensus statement on surge capacity principles and other sources, which served as the framework for the organized response. The 4 S’s became the focus: space, staff, supplies, and systems. Development of algorithms, workflows, and new processes related to treating patients, staffing shortages, and limited supplies. New intensive care unit staffing solutions were adopted. Evaluation Using a framework based on the literature reviewed, the Critical Care Services task force controlled the surge of patients with COVID-19 in March through May 2020. Patients received excellent care, and the mortality rate was 0.008%. The intensive care unit team had the needed respiratory and general supplies but had to continually adapt to shortages of personal protective equipment, cleaning products, and some medications. Sustainability The intensive care unit pandemic response plan has been established and the team is prepared for the next wave of COVID-19.

The Neurocritical Care Society and the Society of Critical Care Medicine have worked together to create a perspective regarding the Standards of Neurologic Critical Care Units (Moheet et al. in Neurocrit Care 29:145-160, 2018). The most neurologically ill or injured patients warrant the highest standard of care available; this supports the need for defining and establishing specialized neurological critical care units. Rather than interpreting the Standards as being exclusionary, it is most appropriate to embrace them in the setting of team-based care. Since there are many more patients than there are highly specialized beds, collaborative care and appropriate transfer agreements are essential in promoting excellent patient outcomes. This viewpoint addresses areas of clarification and emphasizes the need for collegiality and partnership in delivering the best specialty critical care to our patients.

The Neurocritical Care Society and the Society of Critical Care Medicine have worked together to create a perspective regarding the Standards of Neurologic Critical Care Units (Moheet et al. in Neurocrit Care 29:145-160, 2018). The most neurologically ill or injured patients warrant the highest standard of care available; this supports the need for defining and establishing specialized neurological critical care units. Rather than interpreting the Standards as being exclusionary, it is most appropriate to embrace them in the setting of team-based care. Since there are many more patients than there are highly specialized beds, collaborative care and appropriate transfer agreements are essential in promoting excellent patient outcomes. This viewpoint addresses areas of clarification and emphasizes the need for collegiality and partnership in delivering the best specialty critical care to our patients.

BACKGROUNDThe Brain Trauma Foundation has developed treatment guidelines for the care of patients with acute traumatic brain injury. The Adam Williams Initiative is a program established to provide education and resources to encourage hospitals across the United States to incorporate the guidelines into practice.OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship in hospitals between participation in the Adam Williams Initiative and adherence to the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines for patients with acute traumatic brain injury.METHODHospitals that participated in the Adam Williams Initiative entered data into an online tracking system of patients with traumatic brain injury for at least 2 years after the initial site training. Data included baseline hospital records and daily records on hospital care of patients with traumatic brain injury, including blood pressure, intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, oxygenation, and other data relevant to the 15 key metrics in the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines.RESULTSThe 16 hospitals funded by the Adam Williams Initiative had good overall adherence to the 15 key metrics of the recommendations detailed in the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines. Variability in results was primarily due to data collection methods and analysis.CONCLUSIONSThe Adam Williams Initiative helps promote adherence to the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines for hospital care of patients with traumatic brain injury by providing a platform for developing and standardizing best practices. Participation in the initiative is associated with high adherence to clinical guidelines, a situation that may subsequently improve care and outcomes for patients with traumatic brain injury.

Background: Post–intensive care syndrome (PICS) is a constellation of cognitive, physical, emotional, or psychiatric impairments that begins during or immediately after intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization and persists beyond discharge. This executive review summarizes literature on PIC

Background Critically ill patients are at marked risk of hospital-acquired infections, which increase patients’ morbidity and mortality. Registered nurses are the main health care providers of physical care, including hygiene to reduce and prevent hospital-acquired infections, for hospitalized critically ill patients. Objective To investigate a new patient hand hygiene protocol designed to reduce hospital-acquired infection rates and improve nurses’ hand-washing compliance in an intensive care unit. Methods A preexperimental study design was used to compare 12-month rates of 2 common hospital-acquired infections, central catheter–associated bloodstream infection and catheter-associated urinary tract infection, and nurses’ hand-washing compliance measured before and during use of the protocol. Results Reductions in 12-month infection rates were reported for both types of infections, but neither reduction was statistically significant. Mean 12-month nurse hand-washing compliance also improved, but not significantly. Conclusions A hand hygiene protocol for patients in the intensive care unit was associated with reductions in hospital-acquired infections and improvements in nurses’ hand-washing compliance. Prevention of such infections requires continuous quality improvement efforts to monitor lasting effectiveness as well as investigation of strategies to eliminate these infections.

A variety of technologies have been developed to assist decision-making during the management of patients with acute brain injury who require intensive care. A large body of research has been generated describing these various technologies. The Neurocritical Care Society (NCS) in collaboration with the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and the Latin America Brain Injury Consortium (LABIC) organized an international, multidisciplinary consensus conference to perform a systematic review of the published literature to help develop evidence-based practice recommendations on bedside physiologic monitoring. This supplement contains a Consensus Summary Statement with recommendations and individual topic reviews on physiologic processes important in the care of acute brain injury. In this article we provide the evidentiary tables for select topics including systemic hemodynamics, intracranial pressure, brain and systemic oxygenation, EEG, brain metabolism, biomarkers, processes of care and monitoring in emerging economies to provide the clinician ready access to evidence that supports recommendations about neuromonitoring.

Cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) is a key parameter in management of brain injury with suspected impaired cerebral autoregulation. CPP is calculated by subtracting intracranial pressure (ICP) from mean arterial pressure (MAP). Despite consensus on importance of CPP monitoring, substantial variations exist on anatomical reference points used to measure arterial MAP when calculating CPP. This study aimed to identify differences in CPP values based on measurement location when using phlebostatic axis (PA) or tragus (Tg) as anatomical reference points. The secondary study aim was to determine impact of differences on patient outcomes at discharge. This was a prospective, repeated measures, multi-site national trial. Adult ICU patients with neurological injury necessitating ICP and CPP monitoring were consecutively enrolled from seven sites. Daily MAP/ICP/CPP values were gathered with the arterial transducer at the PA, followed by the Tg as anatomical reference points. A total of 136 subjects were enrolled, resulting in 324 paired observations. There were significant differences for CPP when comparing values obtained at PA and Tg reference points (p

Neurocritical care depends, in part, on careful patient monitoring but as yet there are little data on what processes are the most important to monitor, how these should be monitored, and whether monitoring these processes is cost-effective and impacts outcome. At the same time, bioinformatics is a rapidly emerging field in critical care but as yet there is little agreement or standardization on what information is important and how it should be displayed and analyzed. The Neurocritical Care Society in collaboration with the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the Society for Critical Care Medicine, and the Latin America Brain Injury Consortium organized an international, multidisciplinary consensus conference to begin to address these needs. International experts from neurosurgery, neurocritical care, neurology, critical care, neuroanesthesiology, nursing, pharmacy, and informatics were recruited on the basis of their research, publication record, and expertise. They undertook a systematic literature review to develop recommendations about specific topics on physiologic processes important to the care of patients with disorders that require neurocritical care. This review does not make recommendations about treatment, imaging, and intraoperative monitoring. A multidisciplinary jury, selected for their expertise in clinical investigation and development of practice guidelines, guided this process. The GRADE system was used to develop recommendations based on literature review, discussion, integrating the literature with the participants' collective experience, and critical review by an impartial jury. Emphasis was placed on the principle that recommendations should be based on both data quality and on trade-offs and translation into clinical practice. Strong consideration was given to providing pragmatic guidance and recommendations for bedside neuromonitoring, even in the absence of high quality data.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe nursing practice in the care of patients with intracranial pressure monitoring. Although standards for care of such patients have been established, there continue to be variations in the nursing practice. Methods This was an observational study in which data were collected from 28 nurse-patient dyads at 16 different hospitals across the United States. Each dyad was observed for 2 hours; nursing actions and patient responses including intracranial pressure readings were documented. Results Differences in the care of patients with intracranial pressure monitoring were prevalent. Variations in practice were prompted by healthcare provider prescriptions as well as nursing decisions. Prescriptions and interventions were often not supported by the available scientific evidence. Video abstract For more insights from the authors, see Supplemental Digital Content 1, at http://links.lww.com/JNN/A7.

Therapeutic temperature modulation, which incorporates mild hypothermia and maintenance of normothermia, is being used to manage patients resuscitated after cardiac arrest. Methods of modulating temperature include intravenous infusion of cold fluids and surface or endovascular cooling. During this therapy, the shiver response is activated as a defense mechanism in response to an altered set-point temperature and causes metabolic and hemodynamic stress for patients. Recognition of shivering according to objective and subjective assessments is vital for early detection of the condition. Once shivering is detected, treatment is imperative to avoid deleterious effects. The Bedside Shivering Assessment Scale can be used to determine the efficacy of interventions intended to blunt thermoregulatory defenses and can provide continual evaluation of patients’ responses to the interventions. Nurses’ knowledge and understanding of the harmful effects of shivering are important to effect care and prevent injury associated with uncontrolled shivering.

In the critical care setting, the focus of care during the first few weeks following acute brain injury is prevention of secondary brain injury by optimizing cerebral perfusion. Ensuring adequate oxygenation and perfusion of cerebral tissues requires attention to all of the body systems. Chest percussion therapy (CPT) promotes pulmonary hygiene and optimizes gas exchange by opening the alveoli. However, many patients with brain injury have intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring, and conventional wisdom supports limiting activities such as CPT that may stimulate the patient and increase ICP. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of CPT on ICP. Thirty participants were enrolled over a 6-month period. Data were collected at 1-minute intervals for 1 hour. Each patient was randomized to receive automated CPT (using specialty beds) for 10 minutes, starting at 10, 20, 30, or 40 minutes into the hour. There were no differences in mean ICP values before, during, or after CPT. This study provides evidence that it is safe to perform CPT in patients with ICP monitoring in situ.

Article-at-a-Glance Background From 2003–2005, a comprehensive review of all cardiac/respiratory arrests at Mission Hospital (Mission Viejo, California) uncovered deficits in knowledge and judgment in the hours preceding 75% of our non-ICU patients. Nearly half of all arrests were occurring outside the ICU, with an overall mortality rate of 60%. In addition, transfers into ICU from the floor averaged 96 patients per month. Methods A multidisciplinary team met for 12 months to develop a specialized nurse-driven rapid response team (RRT) to reduce the incidence and mortality of non–ICU arrests, reduce transfers to the ICU from the floor, and provide ICU–level nursing care for emergency department (ED) patients in extremis. The team developed an RRT protocol, a methodology for rounds and calls, and a data collection system. After gaining consensus among the nursing managers, 4.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) RRT nurse positions were created by each unit contributing portions of an FTE. Results Prospective data collected demonstrated an inpatient call frequency averaging 118 calls per 1,000 discharges; 138 calls per month were in support of the ED. Floor codes were reduced from 36 to 17 per year, and the mortality rate in the floor-code patients decreased from 61% to 26%. Unanticipated transfers from the floor units to the ICU decreased significantly. Discussion The RRT initiative delivered measurable outcomes demonstrating the hospital's commitment to saving the vulnerable hospitalized patient population. In addition, the identification of critical system and clinical issues resulted in efforts to improve processes and identify patient subpopulations at risk (for example, patients with congestive heart failure, end-stage heart disease, high-dose narcotics).

Introduction: Standard monitoring of severe traumatic brain injury patients (TBI) by intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) monitoring fails to recognize episodes of cerebral oxygen desaturation. We found and characterized frequent episodes of desaturation of jugular venous oxygen (SjO2) in the face of normal ICP and CPP. Methods: Fifty six patients with severe TBI had SjO2 and ICP monitors placed. The charts were retrospectively reviewed and all episodes of desaturation were recorded and characterized. Results: Nineteen patients had episodes of desaturation with normal ICP and CPP. The average GCS score was 5.8. 63% of desaturations occurred in the first 24 hours, 17% of desaturations occurred in 24-48 hours, and 20% occurred in 48-72 hours. The depth of desaturation was 50-54% in 50% of instances, 45-49% in 37% of instances, and 40-44% in 13% of in- stances. The duration of the desaturation episodes was less than 10 minutes in 47%, 10-30 minutes in 17%, 30-60 minutes in 23%, and greater than 50 minutes in 13%. Treatment of the desaturation was elevation of FIO2 in all patients, elevation of pCO2 in 15 patients, volume expansion in 9 patients, pressors in 9 patients, and Propofol in 5 patients. Conclusions: The monitoring of severe TBI patients with ICP and CPP alone is insufficient to recognize cerebral oxygen de- saturation episodes in 34% of patients. The monitoring of SjO2 facilitates the recognition and treatment of these episodes.

Cessation of circulation during cardiac arrest causes critical end-organ ischemia. Although the neurological consequences of cardiopulmonary arrest can be catastrophic, an aggressive “push fast and push hard” resuscitation technique maintains blood flow until the return of spontaneous circulation. However, reperfusion to the cerebrum leads to cellular chaos and further neurological injury. Use of moderate hypothermia after cardiac arrest mediates these cellular and chemical processes, reducing the impact of the arrest and reperfusion phenomena. A 43-year-old man had 2 asystolic arrests with 20 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation as a result of massive, multiple pulmonary emboli. After the cardiac arrest, the patient was comatose and posturing. The 2005 American Heart Association guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation were used along with moderate hypothermia in an attempt to minimize the neurological consequences of the cardiopulmonary arrest and to optimize the patient’s outcome.

Careful patient monitoring using a variety of techniques including clinical and laboratory evaluation, bedside physiological monitoring with continuous or non-continuous techniques and imaging is fundamental to the care of patients who require neurocritical care. How best to perform and use bedside monitoring is still being elucidated. To create a basic platform for care and a foundation for further research the Neurocritical Care Society in collaboration with the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the Society for Critical Care Medicine and the Latin America Brain Injury Consortium organized an international, multidisciplinary consensus conference to develop recommendations about physiologic bedside monitoring. This supplement contains a Consensus Summary Statement with recommendations and individual topic reviews as a background to the recommendations. In this article, we highlight the recommendations and provide additional conclusions as an aid to the reader and to facilitate bedside care.

Patients with severe traumatic brain injury resulting in increased intracranial pressure refractory to first-tier interventions challenge the critical care team. After exhausting these initial interventions, critical care practitioners may utilize barbiturate-induced coma in an attempt to reduce the intracranial pressure. Titrating appropriate levels of barbiturate is imperative. Underdosing the drug may fail to control the intracranial pressure, whereas overdosing may lead to untoward effects such as hypotension and cardiac compromise. Monitoring for a therapeutic level of barbiturate coma includes targeting drug levels and using continuous electroencephalogram monitoring, considered the gold standard. New technology, the Bispectral Index monitor, utilizes electroencephalogram principles to monitor the level of sedation and hypnosis in the critical care environment. This technology is now being considered for targeting appropriate levels of barbiturate coma.

Use of technology in the management of the severely brain-injured patient has increased over the past decade and can be confusing and overwhelming to the critical care nurse clinicians who are new to the field of neurology. This article will describe normal physiology and cerebral dynamics and potential abnormal physiology encountered after brain injury. The technology reviewed will include intracranial pressure monitoring, cerebral blood flow monitoring and autoregulation, cerebral oxygen consumption and tissue oxygen monitoring, metabolism, sedation, and temperature monitoring. Integration of appropriate technology into patient management will be discussed using a case study to explore the utility of information at the bedside. Recognizing the difficult task of trying to control secondary injury in our patients is the first step to better outcomes. Implementing the use of technology to mitigate the situation must be done with careful consideration and a team approach to achieve the greatest benefit for the patient.

Trauma teams strive to provide care based on best practice. Exploring the clinical outcomes of patients sustaining severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) at our trauma centre from 1994–97 we found that the outcomes were marginal at best: 43% of our patients expired and 30% suffered severe disability. These results were consistent with those of some studies on TBI published in the 1980s. Researchers in the past decade have used new technology for monitoring the effects of secondary brain injury and examined the effects of various treatment modalities on the outcomes of patients with TBI. In 1995, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) evidence-based clinical guidelines for managing severe TBI were published.1 The guidelines recommended changes in the care of patients with TBI and challenged caregivers to evaluate their practices and examine the clinical outcomes of this high risk group. Motivated by the new practice recommendations and the potential for greatly affecting patient outcomes, Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center’s (MHRMC) multidisciplinary neurotrauma team convened in 1997 to begin performance improvement. Current practice was examined and new hospital based clinical guidelines were developed. Numerous changes were recommended as the team dismantled current practice patterns and constructed new care priorities. The result was a series of algorithms with established outcomes at every phase of the patient’s hospital course. Four years after integrating the changes in practice, the team evaluated prospectively collected data to determine outcomes for patients with severe TBI. Current outcomes (2001 data) indicated that 72.8% of patients had a good outcome (no disability to moderate disability), 13.6% had severe disability to persistent vegetative state, and 13.6% died. We will present a FOCUS-PDCA performance improvement approach to show the processes used to apply national scientific guidelines to the clinical setting. Statistical analysis using an ordinal regression model will show outcome …

BackgroundTraumatic brain injury poses a serious public health challenge. Treatment paradigms have dramatically shifted with the introduction of the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons (AANS) Guidelines for the Management of Severe Head Injury. Implementation of the AANS guidelines positivel

One of the greatest challenges for critical care nurses and the multidisciplinary team is caring for patients with severe traumatic brain injuries. Interventions to reduce intracranial pressure, optimize cerebral perfusion, and minimize secondary brain injury are implemented in an effort to keep the brain protected after severe head injury. This article provides critical care nurses with practical clinical algorithms and protocols developed from recommendations in the scientific literature that will arm the multidisciplinary team with the necessary tools to maximize outcomes. The team must be prepared to revise the algorithms and protocols based on measured outcomes and new scientific advances.

The treatment options and management of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke are expanding. Neuroradiologic interventions are being used in acute care settings to change the course of these devastating processes. These interventions include the injection of intra-arterial urokinase for ischemic stroke, use of coils to secure aneurysms, and balloon angioplasty for increasing the lumen of spastic cerebral arteries in patients with cerebral vasospasm. Using a case study approach, these three options for managing stroke patients will be integrated, and nursing strategies for delivering care to the stroke patient will be profiled.

An important aspect of nursing care is to assist patients in the process of adaptation as proposed by Roy. An individual's response to the diagnosis of stroke and the everchanging environment affords the nurse a tremendous opportunity to assess the patient and factors that may ultimately influence quality of living. Given the devastating consequences of stroke, the efforts directed at improving patient compliance are well placed. Nurses have the opportunity to teach those patients under their direct care as well as those individuals in the community setting. Nurses can also play an instrumental role in health promotion strategies, incorporating lifestyle modifications as well as information based on medication therapy. Taking advantage of professional organizations such as the National Stroke Association, the American Heart Association, and the multiple neuroscience organizations who have developed the Brain Attack Coalition, materials can be accessed and used for acute care and community health education programs. Acute care nurses interact with a variety of women on a daily basis. Each patient presents with her unique physiology and associated risk factors. Acute care nurses must be attuned to these factors and be ready to intervene with assessment, education, and collaboration with the health care team in order to reduce the incidence of stroke in women.

UNLABELLED Developing processes to create a culture of safety. BACKGROUND It's estimated that as many as 98,000 hospitalized patients lose their lives each year in the United States because of medical errors that could have been prevented. While standardized reporting and safety checklists have been shown to improve communication and patient safety, implementation of these tools in hospitals remains challenging. OBJECTIVE To implement standardized nurse-to-nurse reporting along with safety checklists at Mission Hospital, a 522-bed facility in Mission Viejo, California, using Lewin's change theory and Knowles's adult learning theory. METHODS Nurses were tested to assess their knowledge of the standardized nurse-to-physician reporting method called SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), their understanding of the concept of the nurse-to-nurse reporting method called SBAP (Situation, Background, Assessment, Plan), and the use of safety checklists. Then, after viewing a 22-minute educational video, they were retested. RESULTS A total of 482 nurses completed the pretest and posttest. On the pretest, the nurses' mean score was 15.935 points (SD, 3.529) out of 20. On the posttest, the mean score was 18.94 (SD, 1.53) out of 20. A Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test was performed; the two-tailed P value was < 0.001. CONCLUSION The application of Lewin's change theory and Knowles's adult learning theory was successful in the process of implementing standardized nurse-to-nurse reporting and safety checklists at Mission Hospital.

Phenytoin is a medication administered for the treatment or prophylaxis of seizures in head-injured patients. When enterally administered, serum phenytoin levels fall dramatically and are often subtherapeutic. The exact cause for this phenomenon has not been determined. The purpose in this case study was to evaluate the effect of two methods of administering phenytoin suspension in head-injured patients receiving concurrent enteral feedings by measuring subsequent serum phenytoin levels. Purposive sampling was used which included two female participants. For participant 1, data revealed dilution of the suspension and irrigation of the tube produced higher phenytoin levels than administering the suspension undiluted. Both serum phenytoin levels were profoundly subtherapeutic in participant 2. Factors such as simultaneous administration of other enteral medications to the second participant might have interfered with phenytoin absorption.

Managing the critical neuroscience patient population challenges practitioners because of both the devastating injury involved and the complexity of care required. Emerging technology provides the neuroscience intensive care unit team with better information on the intricate physiology and dynamics inside the cranium. In particular, the team is better able to detect changes in pressure, oxygen, and blood flow. With improved data in hand, the team can intervene to optimize intracranial dynamics, possibly reducing disability and death among such patients.

Ischemic stroke patients presenting to acute care hospitals require an organized response from multiple disciplines and clinical areas. Patients presenting within 6 hours of stroke onset constitute a category of stroke patient known as the "hyperacute stroke patient." This category of stroke patients is eligible for treatment using intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator when treated within 3 hours, or interventional treatment options when treated within 6 hours of stroke onset. Guidelines have been established identifying critical elements for hospitals in order to be designated as primary or comprehensive stroke centers. Research studies exploring treatment options for stroke, as well as general care priorities exist in the scientific literature but must be integrated into hospital-based protocols. Recommended interventions are highlighted to assist critical care practitioners in the delivery of care for stroke patients. Coordinated teams using an evidence-based approach can optimize the outcomes of the stroke patient population.

This article describes the potential application of brain tissue oxygen monitoring technology in the care of patients who have sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). To accomplish this objective, a review of the intracranial dynamics that are created by primary and secondary brain injury, and the challenges of optimizing oxygen delivery to the injured brain are presented. Furthermore, interventions that facilitate cerebral oxygen supply and reduce oxygen consumption are identified. Finally, application of this technology is highlighted by using case vignettes of patients who have TBI or SAH.

New neurointerventional procedures affect patient outcomes following stroke. Intraarterial thrombolysis, cerebral angioplasty, coils placed inside aneurysms, and vessel occlusion with embolic agents serve as options for stroke patients with conditions not as amenable to traditional surgical or medical management. By understanding these new neurointerventional therapies, critical care nurses can utilize a focused neurological assessment to intervene and maintain perfusion to the brain following the procedures.