ABCDE bundle can reduce ventilation time for ICU patients

(HealthDay)—Use of the awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early mobility (ABCDE) bundle can reduce ventilation time for patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), according to a study recently published in AACN Advanced Critical Care.

Jennifer Bardwell, D.N.P., from Taylor Medical Center Urgent Care in Longview, Texas, and colleagues examined the effects of implementing the ABCDE bundle, Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool, and the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale for patients in neurosurgical, medical, and surgical ICUs. The ABCDE bundle was implemented on Feb. 1, 2018; data were included for patients admitted to the ICU from Feb. 1, 2017, to April 30, 2017 (16 patients) and for those admitted Feb. 1, 2018, to April 30, 2018 (34 patients).

The researchers found that the nursing staff bundle compliance rate was 76.5 percent after implementation. After implementation of the ABCDE bundle, there was a significant decrease noted of nearly 50 percent in mean ventilation time (mean ventilator days, 3.92 to 1.94; change, −49.5 percent). All patients experienced a decrease in ventilation time. Sedation time was reduced by nearly 50 percent using the ABCDE bundle (mean sedation days, 3.68 to 1.75; change, −47.6 percent).

"Continued staff education and permanent implementation of these protocols could continue to decrease ventilation and sedation times for patients in the ICU, resulting in substantial cost savings and successful patient outcomes," the authors write.

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