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1 AnswerA cardiac event monitor records the electrical activity of the heart when cardiac (heart) symptoms are experienced by a person. When symptoms are present the subject wearing the monitor presses a button to start recording. Some event monitors start automatically if the monitor senses changes in the heart electrical activity.
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1 AnswerThe information gained includes patient vital signs. Also, both cardiac and pulmonary functioning can be monitored using telemetry. This type of monitoring is beneficial to inpatients that wish to move around while hospitalized rather than staying bed bound. In addition, the monitors can be "watched" by one staff member (e.g. nursing assistant, vocational nurse, registered nurse, etc.), which is cost effective for the hospital and beneficial to staffing.
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3 Answers
You can and should ask all persons caring for you to wash their hands. Hand-washing is an easy way to prevent infection. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands. However, it is important to remember that Hand sanitizers are not effective when hands are visibly dirty. While the hands will never be germ free, hand-washing is the best defense to prevent the spread of germs that can lead to infection.
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4 AnswersTriStar StoneCrest Medical Center answered
It's difficult to predict when a baby will be born prematurely and need specialized care. Therefore, it’s essential that a hospital be ready. Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have high-risk doctors available for infants who are born prematurely or with medical conditions. They also have ventilator support for preterm deliveries where the baby's lungs are still immature.
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1 Answer
There are three primary reasons for the use of a ventilator in the NICU:
- Apnea
- Inability to oxygenate
- Inability to ventilate
The goal of mechanical ventilation is to assist the infant to maintain physiologic stability to keep the arterial blood gas values in the desired range while minimizing iatrogenic lung injury.
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4 Answers
In the NICU infants and families are cared for by a team of healthcare professionals. based on the individual needs of the infant and family. The types of healthcare professionals involved in caring for infants in the NICU include:
- Neonatologists: a pediatrician with additional education in the care of neonates.
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioners: a registered nurse with an advanced degree and certification in the care of neonates.
- Neonatal Nurses: registered nurses who provide most of the day to day care of the infants in the NICU. Some nurses have certification in the care of high-risk infants. Sometimes nurses are specially designated to work with infants and families on specific needs such as lactation, parent education or discharge planning.
- Respiratory therapists: The individual who manages the ventilator, CPAP machine and other respiratory equipment according to the doctor’s orders.
- Social Workers: Individuals who support and work with the parents as the cope with the infant’s special needs and address the financial, medical care and other needs of the family.
- Pharmacists: individuals who prepare medications for babies in the NICU.
- Others: depending on the needs of the individual infant and family the team may include physical or occupational therapists, chaplains, counselors, nutritionist, medical equipment vendors and others.
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2 AnswersA certified emergency nurse is a registered nurse who has received additional training to care for emergent situations. To become a certified emergency nurse the registered nurse must take a certification test. Passing the test indicates that the registered nurse has acquired advanced knowledge and skills to care for patients in emergency situations.
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1 AnswerThe primary types of ventilation performed in the NICU are:
- CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) is used to keep the infant’s lungs open, to make expansion easier and to prevent collapse. CPAP decreases the work of breathing for the infant while increasing functional residual capacity, thereby improving both oxygenation and ventilation
- Conventional mechanical ventilation is used to deliver breaths. Mechanical ventilation can be either IMV (intermittent mandatory ventilation) where the rate of breathing in determined by the machine; SIMV (synchronized IMV) where the ventilator times breaths to coincide with the baby’s inspiratory effort; or assist control where the infant determine the rate but the machine determine the size of the breath.
- High Frequency Ventilation is reserved for infants not responding to conventional mechanical ventilation. High Frequency Ventilation allows for effective ventilation with smaller tidal volumes but has some negative effects on cardiac function.
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3 AnswersMethodist Hospital Stone Oak answered
It's suggested that mothers hold their premature baby as much as possible.
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1 AnswerChippenham Hospital - HCA Virginia answered
A director of trauma focuses on the patient care aspect and process improvement aspect of the department.