Animal lovers probably don’t need to be told about the benefits of pet ownership, but Cole and colleagues show that even a short (12-minute) interaction with a dog can reduce cardiopulmonary pressures, neurohormones, and anxiety in patients with advanced heart failure. Do you allow pets in your ICU? Do you have a pet protocol? Consider the following:

See Article, pp 575–588

Hyperglycemia in the critically ill results in adverse outcomes, so tight glycemic control protocols are regularly used to maintain patients’ blood glucose at optimum levels. Although “tight” glucose control (80–110 mg/dL) reduces morbidity and mortality in the critically ill, consistent achievement of this target may be difficult, time consuming, and increase the frequency of hypoglycemia.

Malesker and colleagues and Oeyen and colleagues evaluated insulin protocols. Here’s what they found:

See Article, pp 589–598; 599–608

What is the oral care practice in your unit? Is there great variation in products...

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