Making of a Successful Early Mobilization Program for a Medical Intensive Care Unit.

Objectives: To provide a guideline for intensive care unit (ICU) early mobilization program development and implementation and to describe the patient characteristics and endpoints for those who participated in our hospital's early mobilization program.

Methods: An ICU early mobilization program was developed with five guiding principles: analgesia/sedation optimization, sedation minimization, protocol of progressive mobility, physical therapy and occupational therapy recruitment, and nursing education. This program began in April 2014, and the initial 32 patients who ambulated while receiving mechanical ventilation were retrospectively assessed and their characteristics described.

Glucose Levels in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure Requiring Mechanical Ventilation.

Background: Recent studies suggest that patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently develop hyperglycemia, which has been linked to adverse outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively collected information about patient demographics, admission diagnosis, comorbidities, use of insulin, and glucose levels and related tests in 174 patients who required mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure.

Results: These patients had a mean age of 57.

Complications and Resource Utilization Associated With Mechanical Ventilation in a Medical Intensive Care Unit in 2013.

Introduction: Evolving strategies for ventilator management could reduce the frequency of complications, but there is limited information about complications in contemporary intensive care units.

Methods: We retrospectively collected information about patient demographics, chest x-ray abnormalities, complications, including pneumothoraces, ventilator-associated events, self-extubation, and resource utilization in 174 patients who required mechanical ventilation in 2013.

Results: The mean age was 57.