Communicating with the ventilated patient--a literature review.

This review will directly examine the role of the intensive care nurse as a communicator in the provision of holistic nursing care to the ventilated patient Frequent occurrences of breakdown in the process of communication are identified In many cases nurse communication with the patient is only on a task-orientated basis A lack of effective communication may be attributable to psychological problems related to 'ITU syndrome' The critical care nurse is at the forefront in the delivery of a first class National Health Service and a breakdown in communication between the nurse and their patient can be perceived as poor nursing care.

Dependency scoring in a critical care area: a direct nursing assessment method.

The evaluation of dependency in a critical care area can be a difficult process. Often, dependency scoring systems involve time-consuming data completion and collection. The innovative method of dependency scoring described here uses bedside nurses' own assessment of patient needs to provide an accurate and usable scoring system based upon nursing process documentation.