Clinical Pearls is designed to help implement evidence-based care at the bedside by summarizing some of the most clinically useful material from select articles in each issue. Readers are encouraged to photocopy this ready-to-post page and share it with colleagues. Please be advised, however, that any substantive change in patient care protocols should be carefully reviewed and approved by the policy-setting authorities at your institution.
Choi and colleagues examined health risk behaviors in family caregivers of critically ill patients during patients' stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study has implications for future research on the affect of caregivers' characteristics and patient care needs before ICU admission on the care givers health risk behaviors. Using dyads of caregivers and patients, where patients required mechanical ventilation of 4 days or longer, they found the following:
Critical care clinicians should be cognizant of health risk behaviors in caregivers under stress during...
.svg?versionId=1461)