Determinants of digital ICU diary implementation and use by ICU professionals: A cross-sectional survey analysis.

Objectives: To identify the key determinants for implementing and utilizing a digital intensive care unit (ICU) diary among ICU professionals.

Background: Despite the advantages of digital diaries over traditional paper ones, their implementation presents challenges that necessitate tailored strategies considering the influencing factors.

Design: A multicentre, cross-sectional survey study.

Daily routines, short-term priorities, and nurses' role hamper self-management support in a hospital setting: A mixed methods study.

Background: Self-management support is widely considered a critical aspect of nursing. Still, many studies indicate that nurses frequently experience difficulties in daily practice.

Objective: To gain a deeper understanding of the factors perceived by nurses to impede or promote their support of patients' self-management within the dynamic environment of the in-patient hospital setting.

[Descriptive analysis of the steering potential in the internal medicine in Germany based on an international comparison].

Background: Healthcare in Germany is not always needs-based and has considerable potential for optimization. Internal medicine (IM) plays a special role in the German healthcare system due to its long tradition. Against this background, a look at the optimization potential to achieve better quality and higher efficiency care seems particularly relevant.

The inner struggle of nurses, exploring moral distress among hospital nurses: A cross-sectional study.

Background: As frontline caregivers, nurses often find themselves at the crossroads of complex ethical decisions that can significantly impact patient outcomes and their own well-being. Identifying the areas of experienced moral dilemmas in the workplace and gaining insight into the prevalence of moral distress can lead to a healthier workplace environment.

Objective: This study aims to examine the frequency, intensity and level of moral distress among nurses who work in a hospital, and to identify the variables associated with the level of moral distress.

[Specialised treatment of colorectal cancer in certified cancer centres: Do patients really have to travel further?].

Introduction: In Germany, many cancer patients are treated outside of cancer centres certified by the German Cancer Society (DKG) resulting in underuse of these facilities and inferior oncological treatment. One way to address this issue would be to restructure the healthcare landscape by following the Danish approach that limits cancer treatment to specialized hospitals. Such an approach would have an impact on the travelling times to treatment centers.

The media's coverage and framing of hospital reforms: The case of Denmark.

The Danish hospital landscape has been continuously restructured since the early 2000s. A structural reform reorganized the public sector, and a hospital reform restructured the hospital landscape, closing hospitals and concentrating specialized treatment in so-called super-hospitals. Reforms can generate considerable debate, including in the media, especially regarding sensitive topics like healthcare.

Effectiveness of an intensive care telehealth programme to improve process quality (ERIC): a multicentre stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: Supporting the provision of intensive care medicine through telehealth potentially improves process quality. This may improve patient recovery and long-term outcomes. We investigated the effectiveness of a multifaceted telemedical programme on the adherence to German quality indicators (QIs) in a regional network of intensive care units (ICUs) in Germany.

Health care patterns and policies in 18 European countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has developed into an unprecedented global challenge. Differences between countries in testing strategies, hospitalization protocols as well as ensuring and managing ICU capacities can illustrate initial responses to a major health system shock, and steer future preparedness activities.

Methods: Publicly available daily data for 18 European countries were retrieved manually from official sources and documented in an Excel table (March-July 2020).

A country-level analysis comparing hospital capacity and utilisation during the first COVID-19 wave across Europe.

Background: The exponential increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections during the first wave of the pandemic created an extraordinary overload and demand on hospitals, especially intensive care units (ICUs), across Europe. European countries have implemented different measures to address the surge ICU capacity, but little is known about the extent. The aim of this paper is to compare the rates of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in acute and ICU care and the levels of national surge capacity for intensive care beds across 16 European countries and Lombardy region during the first wave of the pandemic (28 February to 31 July).

Enhanced Recovery after Intensive Care (ERIC): study protocol for a German stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a critical care telehealth program on process quality and functional outcomes.

Introduction: Survival after critical illness has noticeably improved over the last decades due to advances in critical care medicine. Besides, there is an increasing number of elderly patients with chronic diseases being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). More than half of the survivors of critical illness suffer from medium-term or long-term cognitive, psychological and/or physical impairments after ICU discharge, which is recognised as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS).

Stroke units, certification, and outcomes in German hospitals: a longitudinal study of patient-based 30-day mortality for 2006-2014.

Background: Treatment of stroke patients in stroke units has increased and studies have shown improved outcomes. However, a large share of patients in Germany is still treated in hospitals without stroke unit. The effects of stroke unit service line, and total hospital quality certification on outcomes remain unclear.

Gadolinium-based contrast media compared with iodinated media for digital subtraction angiography in azotaemic patients.

Background: To determine whether gadolinium-based contrast media (CM) could be used safely for angiographies in patients with renal dysfunction we investigated renal function after gadobutrol exposure and compared the results with standard iodinated CM (iohexol) in a randomized clinical study.

Methods: Twenty-one patients (aged 67+/-11 years, nine female and 12 male) with severely impaired renal function [mean serum creatinine 3.2+/-1.

Reduction of proteinuria; combined effects of receptor blockade and low dose angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition.

Objective: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) show an antiproteinuric and thus nephroprotective effect in patients suffering from glomerulonephritis. Angiotensin II-receptor-antagonists (AT1RA) are also efficacious in reducing proteinuria. The study was performed to investigate the antiproteinuric effect of AT1RA candesartan in patients diagnosed with chronic glomerulonephritis by biopsy, and who were already being treated with an ACEI.

Changes in renal and systemic hemodynamics after NO-synthase inhibition in males with family history of hypertension.

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure and renal hemodynamics.

Methods: To further investigate the role of NO in human hypertension, we studied the effect of systemic injection of N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) on renal hemodynamics, urinary sodium excretion (FE(Na)), systemic hemodynamics and several vasoactive hormones in 5 healthy male subjects with (group H) and without (group N) family history of hypertension. An intravenous infusion of L-NMMA (3 mg/kg over 10 min) or placebo was given in a randomized, double-blinded manner.

Naltrexone does not relieve uremic pruritus: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study.

Improvement of uremic pruritus was reported under short-term administration of the mu-receptor antagonists naltrexone and naloxone. The aim of the present study was to confirm the efficacy and safety of the oral mu-receptor antagonist naltrexone during a 4-wk treatment period in patients on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. A placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study of uremic patients with persistent, treatment-resistant pruritus was performed.