A bedside communication tool did not improve the alignment of a multidisciplinary team's goals for intensive care unit patients.

Purpose: Establishing well-understood daily patient care goals should improve healthcare team (HCT) communication, reduce errors, and improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that implementation of a daily goals "Door Communication Card" (DCC) would improve goal alignment between members of the HCT.

Methods: As part of a process improvement project, HCT members listed their top care goals for a patient on a given day.

Loss of protein, immunoglobulins, and electrolytes in exudates from negative pressure wound therapy.

Background: A relatively new technology in wound care, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), has become widely used for the management of open abdomens and soft tissue wounds and provides a means to collect wound exudate to quantify protein loss.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in surgical, trauma, or burn patients (8 patients with open abdomens and 9 patients with acute soft tissue wounds on NPWT). NPWT exudate was collected and assayed to characterize loss of protein, electrolyte, and immunoglobulins over multiple days of NPWT.

Novel use of a portable ventilation device with low-flow tracheal insufflation of oxygen in a Swine model.

Introduction: Mechanical ventilation of intubated patients is standard to meet oxygenation and ventilation goals. This can require significant energy and oxygen resources. In military operations and mass casualty disasters, oxygen conserving strategies may be important.