RSS Feeds

Earth Science

Space Science

Life Science

Fields of Scientific Study

Nanotechnology

Cancer

Definitions of The Fields of Scientific Study

Spending time in the intensive care unit can traumatize kids

September 04, 2008

Children who spend time in the intensive care unit of a hospital can be traumatized by the experience even months after returning home. Dr. Janet Rennick from the Research Institute of The Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre and her colleagues have developed the Children's Critical Illness Impact Scale to measure psychological distress in children following hospital discharge. This is the first self-report scale ever created to measure the psychological impact of intensive care unit hospitalization on children. The Journal of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine recently published the study.

This 23-item questionnaire provides a tool that will allow health care professionals to pick up on and recognize those children who need psychological support as a result of their hospital stay. It is based on the results of 64 interviews conducted with children who had been hospitalized in an intensive care unit, their parents, and health care professionals. The study was conducted across three Canadian pediatric hospitals.

"We know some children suffer post traumatic stress symptoms after having spent time in the intensive care unit," explains Dr. Rennick, "Parents and children have described delusional memories of their hospital experience which continue to bother the child after they go home. In addition, parents have described behavioural changes and ongoing fears in their children, and children have told us they don't feel the same as they did before they were critically ill. This tells us something negative is going on with these children, but there was no way to capture the whole story since questionnaires had not been developed specifically for use with this population of children. As a result, we found that some kids were falling through the cracks and not getting the help needed to cope with the stress of hospitalization."

Dr. Rennick and her colleagues decided to develop a questionnaire specifically for children aged six to 12 years. It was a challenging exercise because they had to find a way of interviewing children that would encourage and allow them to share their feelings and fears.

The interviews were done in two ways, focus groups and individual interviews. For younger children, researchers used a storyboard with felt pieces and hospital play sets. The children were encouraged to use the felt pieces to tell a four part story about: being in the hospital, going home, going back to school, and returning to the hospital for a check up.

"This interviewing method worked well for younger children who created detailed stories of their experiences But we discovered that the storyboard method was less effective for children 10 years and older. While it helped them focus on their hospital experiences, they didn't interact with the storyboard in the same way the younger children did. They would handle the felt pieces, and simply tell their story as we changed the storyboards," says Dr. Rennick.

Dr. Rennick believes this child friendly, self-report questionnaire will allow health care workers to more effectively determine if children are bouncing back after an intensive care unit stay. "With this new scale we will be better able to pick-up and help the child whose life simply hasn't returned to normal."

McGill University Health Centre

Related Intensive Care Current Events and Intensive Care News Articles

Intensive Care Current Events and Intensive Care News RSS

U.S. and European Experts Applaud Creation of New Transatlantic Task Force on Global Antibiotic Resistance Threat
Experts on both sides of the Atlantic applaud President Barack Obama and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the European Union (EU) Presidency, for establishing a transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance, an urgent and growing problem that threatens patient safety and public health worldwide.

Initial Results Show Pregnant Women Mount Strong Immune Response To One Dose of 2009 H1N1 Flu Vaccine
Healthy pregnant women mount a robust immune response following just one dose of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, according to initial results from an ongoing clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.

Muscle weakness a common side effect of long stays in intensive care units
After decades of focusing on the management of respiratory failure, circulatory shock and severe infections that lead to extended stays in hospital intensive care units, critical care researchers are increasingly turning attention to what they believe is a treatable complication developed by many who spend days or weeks confined to an ICU bed: debilitating muscle weakness that can linger long after hospital discharge.

Stanford study recommends change in treating pulmonary embolisms
William Kuo, MD, was the on-call interventional radiologist one Friday night three years ago when he received a call from the intensive care unit at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.

Treating ROP in tiny preemies; better glaucoma follow-up in urban clinic
Highlights of today's Scientific Program of the 2009 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) - Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) Joint Meeting include: John T. Flynn, MD, Columbia University School of Medicine, discussing the ever-tougher challenges Eye M.D.s face in caring for the vision of the tiniest premature babies; and a report by Bradford W. Lee, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, on barriers to glaucoma follow-up as perceived by patients in an urban, culturally diverse clinic.

Patients in US 5 times more likely to spend last days in ICU than patients in England
Patients who die in the hospital in the United States are almost five times as likely to have spent part of their last hospital stay in the ICU than patients in England.

U-M researchers find those with severe H1N1 at risk for pulmonary emboli
University of Michigan researchers have found that patients with severe cases of the H1N1 virus are at risk for developing severe complications, including pulmonary emboli, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

CT scans show patients with severe cases of H1N1 are at risk for developing acute pulmonary emboli
Researchers utilizing computed tomography (CT) scans have found that patients with severe cases of the H1N1 virus are at risk for developing severe complications, including pulmonary emboli (PE).

More infants surviving pre-term births results in higher rates of eye problems
As more extremely pre-term infants survive in Sweden, an increasing number of babies are experiencing vision problems caused by abnormalities involving the retina.

H1N1 critical illness can occur rapidly; predominantly affects young patients
Critical illness among Canadian patients with 2009 influenza A(H1N1) occurred rapidly after hospital admission, often in young adults, and was associated with severely low levels of oxygen in the blood, multi-system organ failure, a need for prolonged mechanical ventilation, and frequent use of rescue therapies.

More Intensive Care Current Events and Intensive Care News Articles

	Irwin and Rippe's Intensive Care Medicine 6e (Intensive Care Medicine (Irwin & Rippe's)) by Richard S Irwin (Editor), James M Rippe (Editor) Thoroughly updated for its Sixth Edition, this classic reference remains an unsurpassed source of definitive, practical guidance on adult patient care in the ICU. It provides encyclopedic, multidisciplinary coverage of both medical and surgical intensive care and includes a "how-to" atlas of procedures and a new section on noninvasive monitoring. Each Sixth Edition chapter, for the first time, identifies Advances in Management based on randomized controlled clinical trials. The cardiology section has been completely rewritten to reflect advances in management of acute coronary syndromes. Also included are extensive updates on management of COPD, diabetes, oncologic emergencies, and overdoses and poisonings. A companion Website will provide instant access to the complete and fully...
	Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse by Echo Heron (Author)
	The Washington Manual of Critical Care (Spiral Manual Series) by Marin H Kollef (Author), Timothy J Bedient (Editor), Warren Isakow (Editor), Chad A Witt (Editor) Prepared by residents and faculty at the Washington University School of Medicine, this pocket manual contains easy-to-read algorithms for the management of more than 80 medical and surgical problems arising in the intensive care unit. Chapters focus on specific problems and the algorithms provide straightforward approaches to the management of these issues. Coverage includes a section on procedures commonly performed in the intensive care unit. Appendices include common equations in the ICU, drug-drug interactions, and common drug dosages and side effects. "Doody's Core Titles™ 2009."
	Intensive Care by Robbie Williams After two years of continuous writing with Stephen Duffy, the album, which was recorded exclusively in Los Angeles, will be released, preceded by the first single ‘Tripping’. 'I'm a huge fan of The Lilac Time, so I thought I'd spend a couple of days writing some folk songs with Stephen Duffy, just for a change,'' says Robbie. EMI. 2005.
	Oh's Intensive Care Manual by Andrew Bersten MB BS MD FANZCA FJFICM (Editor), Neil Soni MB ChB FANZCA FRCA MD FJFICM MD (Editor) The sixth edition of Oh's Intensive Care Manual provides practical, concise information on all aspects of intensive care. Written in a clear and accessible style and now for the first time presented in colour throughout, this book enables the user to manage a patient in an ICU setting effectively without recourse to large text/reference works or specialized monographs. This thoroughly revised and updated edition reflects the best and most current practice from leading centres in Australia, the UK and Western Europe. Although primarily intended for the trainee and practitioner in intensive care, nurses and other allied health professionals will find that this is an invaluable tool in helping to deal with a broad spectrum of conditions encountered in the ICU. Represents a...
	Civetta, Taylor and Kirby's Critical Care (Critical Care (Civetta)) by Andrea Gabrielli (Author), A. Joseph Layon (Editor), Mihae Yu (Editor) The leading critical care textbook since 1988, Civetta, Taylor and Kirby's Critical Care is now in its Fourth Edition, with a new editorial team, over thirty new chapters, and completely updated information. The book addresses every problem encountered in the intensive care unit and covers surgical critical care more thoroughly than any other text. Each chapter begins with immediate concerns and proceeds to broader-based discussions of relevant pathophysiologic and clinical issues.
	Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion Total Moisture Conditioning Body Lotion with Vitamins E & A, Packaging May Vary, 24.5oz. . (Pack of 3) by Vaseline Vaseline Intensive Care Total Moisture Dry Skin Lotion gives you healthy , smooth and touchable skin everyday.
	Intensive Care: A Doctor's Journal by John F. Murray M.D. (Author) Intensive Care is an affecting view from the trenches, a seasoned doctor's minute-by-minute and day-by-day account of life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a major inner-city hospital, San Francisco General. John F. Murray, for many years Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division of the hospital and a Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, takes readers on his daily ward rounds, introducing them to the desperately ill patients he treats as well as to the young physicians and medical students who accompany him. Writing with compassion and knowledge accumulated over a long career, Murray presents the true stories of patients who show up with myriad disorders: asthma, cardiac failure, gastrointestinal diseases, complications due to AIDS, the effects of drug and...
	Intensive Care by Robbie Williams After two years of continuous writing with Stephen Duffy, the album, which was recorded exclusively in Los Angeles, will be released, preceded by the first single ‘Tripping’. "I'm a huge fan of The Lilac Time, so I thought I'd spend a couple of days writing some folk songs with Stephen Duffy, just for a change,'' says Robbie. EMI. 2005.
	Intensive Care [Explicit] Robbie Williams (Primary Contributor)