Seeking American Society of Clinical Oncology-Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (ASCO-QOPI) certification in a northern New England rural health system and cancer care network.

In 2006 following several years of preliminary study, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) launched the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI). This cancer-focused quality initiative evolved considerably over the next decade-and-a-half and is expanding globally. QOPI is undoubtedly the leading standard-bearer for quality cancer care and contemporary medical oncology practice.

Transition from dexmedetomidine to enteral clonidine for ICU sedation: an observational pilot study.

Introduction: Enteral clonidine represents a potentially less costly alternative to dexmedetomidine for sedation in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This study describes our practice of transitioning selected adult ICU patients from dexmedetomidine to clonidine with a focus on efficacy, safety, and drug acquisition costs.

Methods: We conducted a single-center prospective observational pilot study from January through March 2014.

Assessment of satisfaction with care among family members of survivors in a neuroscience intensive care unit.

Many prior nursing studies regarding family members specifically of neuroscience intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) patients have focused on identifying their primary needs. A concept related to identifying these needs and assessing whether they have been met is determining whether families explicitly report satisfaction with the care that both they and their loved ones have received. The objective of this study was to explore family satisfaction with care in an academic neuro-ICU and compare results with concurrent data from the same hospital's medical ICU (MICU).

Consistency of communication among intensive care unit staff as perceived by family members of patients surviving to discharge.

Purpose: We hypothesize that intensive care unit (ICU) families frequently perceive that they have received inconsistent information from staff about their relatives and that these inconsistencies influence abilities to make medical decisions, as well as satisfaction.

Materials And Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study in the neurosciences and medical ICU at a university hospital. One hundred twenty-four family members of adult patients surviving to ICU discharge completed a questionnaire regarding perceptions of inconsistent information.

Anxiety and depression symptoms among families of adult intensive care unit survivors immediately following brief length of stay.

Purpose: Prior studies of anxiety and depression among families of intensive care unit patients excluded those admitted for less than 2 days. We hypothesized that families of surviving patients with length of stay less than 2 days would have similar prevalence of anxiety and depression compared with those admitted for longer.

Materials And Methods: One hundred six family members in the neurosciences and medical intensive care units at a university hospital completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at discharge.